{"id":606971,"date":"2026-07-27T19:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T19:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/606971\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T19:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T19:34:15","slug":"mayos-kobe-mcdonald-im-sure-therell-be-a-time-in-the-future-where-ill-be-home-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/606971\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayo\u2019s Kobe McDonald: \u2018I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be a time in the future where I\u2019ll be home\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It sat there on a small ledge, like a chalice upon an altar, in a hotel lobby that was still yawning itself awake. Sam Maguire. Mayo<\/a>\u2019s Sam Maguire. So, this is what all the fuss was about. <\/p>\n

It was shortly after 9am, the morning after the 75 years before, and the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Dublin on Golden Lane was starting to stir. A digital sign just inside the revolving doors congratulated the Mayo team.<\/p>\n

Just beyond that, on the way to the breakfast room, was Sam. There were several moments when it sat there completely undisturbed. But nobody could resist passing without glancing over, some even offering a nod that seemed to say, \u201cMorning, there you are now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others paused to check whether it was okay to touch it, to lift it, to get a photo with it. Some just stopped and stared as if examining an artefact in a museum. This was the bounty of Mayo\u2019s obsession, but perhaps in the pursuit of it, they never fully considered what happens when it was theirs. \u201cWhat are we meant to do with it now?\u201d<\/p>\n

In dribs and drabs, the Mayo players arrived down \u2013 the sight of Sam a reassurance it had not all been a dream this time.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Decades of hurt, hope and loss melt away as Mayo win sweetest All-Ireland title imaginableOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Andy Moran<\/a> held court in the corner, chatting and smiling and posing for photos. Jordan Flynn was there too, Colm Boyle and Keith Higgins as well. <\/p>\n

There was a surprising calmness to it all. No sign of stragglers stumbling around outside in search of taxis, nobody roaring from inside a taxi asking whether anybody knew where their home even was, nobody asleep on a hotel couch, nobody yahooing, no green-and-red headbands tied around door handles.<\/p>\n

\"Mayo'sMayo’s Kobe McDonald with patient Coby Smith (eight months), and his mother Emma Smith, from Ballybrack, as Mayo team members visited Temple Street Children’s Hospital with the Sam Maguire. Photograph: Tom Maher\/Inpho <\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t take long to realise the mood in the hotel was simply deep satisfaction. Mayo had been burnt in the past by arranging massive post All-Ireland final banquets, so this one had been a much smaller event for families and close friends. The mayhem would come, this was the calm after the storm before the storm.<\/p>\n

And then, shortly before 10am, a noticeable hum of activity surfaced at the far end of the lobby. Mayo\u2019s teenage tempest. Kobe McDonald<\/a>. <\/p>\n

On a weekend of firsts, the 18-year-old even poked his head inside the doors of Coppers on Sunday night too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said we\u2019d do the experience,\u201d he smiled, fresh-faced and beaming from ear to ear. The boundless energy of youth. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe he only made his Mayo senior debut five months ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I thought it would sink in this morning, I thought I\u2019d realise what we\u2019ve done, but I still find I\u2019m pinching myself,\u201d he said of becoming an All-Ireland winner.<\/p>\n

\"Mayo'sMayo’s Jordan Flynn and Kobe McDonald take in the atmosphere in Croke Park after the All-Ireland final win. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, Eoin McGreal [19] and Darragh Beirne [19], we probably don\u2019t understand the magnitude of what we\u2019ve done. The only word I can [use to] describe the year is a whirlwind, you know. I feel like I blinked and it was all over, it\u2019s been immense.\u201d<\/p>\n

As has he been. He finished the championship with a scoring tally of 1-28. And he got to walk up the steps of the Hogan Stand with his brother, Jordan Flynn, and lift Sam Maguire. <\/p>\n

\n

\u2018I like being the underdog, I like when no one really gives you a chance. But you see what Ois\u00edn Mullin has been able to do over there, that gives you serious belief\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Kobe McDonald on move to AFL in Australia<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cJordo actually got me after [the game] and said he had a dream the night before that he was on a particular side [lifting the cup], so he had to go on that side. He pulled rank there.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yeah, look, I could never in my wildest dreams imagine climbing the Hogan with him and looking out to a sea of green and red, it\u2019s an image I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald provided images over the course of the championship that have formed memories Mayo fans will never forget. And not just the quality of his scores \u2013 but the exuberance of how he celebrated them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been a bit of a running joke,\u201d he smiled. \u201cMyself and Beirne have brought in this kind of celebrating. Ryan [O\u2019Donoghue] was saying he\u2019d never done it before, now he even finds himself doing it. <\/p>\n

\"Mayo'sMayo’s Kobe McDonald celebrates in front of fans after the All-Ireland final win against Kerry, at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cThinking back, I\u2019ve never really been a big celebrator, but something just took hold of me this year when I had a crowd around me. Andy always said if you give the crowd energy, they\u2019ll give it back to you. The Mayo people are amazing at that.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The price of history: Mayo\u2019s odds, the pundits\u2019 miss and another long wait endsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

All of this comes just a few weeks after he sat his Leaving Certificate. He had trained with Mayo through the exams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got one day off for Maths, so I was under a bit of pressure for Maths \u2013 so he gave me that day off. The rest of it I trained,\u201d he smiled.<\/p>\n

If he was sticking around these parts, the plan was to explore the teaching route \u2013 PE and Geography \u2013 with UL the preferred choice if the results allowed.<\/p>\n

\"KobeKobe McDonald’s father, former Mayo footballer and coach Ciar\u00e1n McDonald (centre), celebrates after the All-Ireland final win. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be in Australia by the time the Leaving Cert results come out, however, embarking on a new chapter of his life as an AFL player with St Kilda. His mam and dad, former Mayo footballer Ciar\u00e1n McDonald, will travel out with him for about six weeks to help him settle.<\/p>\n

St Kilda had two representatives at Sunday\u2019s All-Ireland final.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the club did a post yesterday congratulating me too,\u201d he added. \u201cThey\u2019ve been unbelievable. They had every right to pull the plug after the Leaving Cert, that was the plan before I joined Mayo. They were so good to let me do this, it was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

And his aims Down Under?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to go there and just blend in, that\u2019s not my nature. You obviously strive to be the best, strive to be one of the best at least. But there are no guarantees. I\u2019ll try my best to see what happens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like being the underdog, I like when no one really gives you a chance. But you see what Ois\u00edn Mullin has been able to do over there, that gives you serious belief.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he never plays for Mayo again, his one and done intercounty career will become the stuff of legend. But on this Monday morning, he can see himself tangled up in the green and red again somewhere down the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, look, I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be a time in the future where I\u2019ll be home. I don\u2019t look too far ahead, I look to the next step. <\/p>\n

\"Mayo'sMayo’s Kobe McDonald and Ryan O’Donoghue with the Sam Maguire during the team visit to Temple Street Children’s Hospital. Photograph:
\nTom Maher\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m an All-Ireland champion with this Mayo team. In three weeks\u2019 time that will be done and I\u2019ll be a St Kilda footballer, and we\u2019ll see what happens after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moments later, McDonald is smiling for a photo with a young boy in a Mayo jersey. Two kids, truth be told. Only one whose name is already immortal. <\/p>\n

Across the way, a woman is staring at Sam Maguire. She steps forward and pats it gently. Nods to herself. Yeah, it\u2019s real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It sat there on a small ledge, like a chalice upon an altar, in a hotel lobby that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[76],"tags":[10416,167029,18,131567,19,17,165046,26710,132,169677],"class_list":["post-606971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-kerry-gaa","tag-andy-moran","tag-eire","tag-football-championship","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kobe-mcdonald","tag-mayo-gaa","tag-sports","tag-weekend-that-was"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}