{"id":570694,"date":"2026-07-27T17:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/570694\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T17:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T17:00:14","slug":"former-republic-of-ireland-star-pays-heartfelt-tribute-to-mayo-after-all-ireland-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/570694\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Republic of Ireland star pays heartfelt tribute to Mayo after All-Ireland win"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former Premier League and Republic of Ireland star Kevin Kilbane has released a heartfelt statement congratulating Mayo on their All-Ireland triumph.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kilbane, who earned 110 caps for the Republic of Ireland and played Premier League football for 11 years, has long cherished his deep family roots in Mayo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite being born and raised in Preston, England, Kilbane grew up in a traditional Irish household where Mayo football was an obsession, inheriting the fandom directly from his father, who was born and raised on Achill Island.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kerry-Mayo-19.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1796192\"  \/>Mayo captain Jack Coyne and teammates celebrate with the Sam Maguire cup. Pic: Stephen McCarthy\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Directly after the game, Kilbane posted on X: \u2018Honestly. So much to say but, never in my lifetime. What a day. What a moment in time. Delighted. Absolutely delighted. 75yrs too long.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After reflecting on the win overnight, Kilbane posted a heartfelt message on social media on Monday morning, congratulating the team and saying what it means to him and his family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201975 years in the making with many living their whole lives without ever seeing this day. Like my father Patrick Farrell, born on September 27th 1951, only a few days after Mayo\u2019s most famous All-Ireland win (until now). He passed away just over 10 years ago without ever seeing his beloved team get hold of Sam Maguire.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kevin-Kilbane-Mayo-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1796191\"  \/>Kevin Kilbane at the All-Ireland final in 2016. Pic: Daire Brennan\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2018This means so much to everyone across the world with Mayo blood in their veins. To everyone who left in search of work and a better life. Whether they found it or not, most had a deep love for <a href=\"https:\/\/extra.ie\/2026\/07\/27\/sport\/kobe-mcdonald-earn-aussie-rules\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mayo GAA<\/a> which has been passed down through generations. I hope to do the same for my daughters even though I\u2019m far away.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kilbane paid tribute to all of his family in the west of Ireland, including cousins across the island and the world, and his brother and sister growing up as proud Irish people, even though they grew up in England.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He concluded the message by saying: \u2018To a county decimated with emigration for centuries but always having a love for home. This one is for its people. Mayo is one of the greatest places on earth with the greatest people of all. This one\u2019s for Mayo people wherever you are in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A truly touching message from the son of an Irish emigrant, who never forgot his roots in the west of Ireland. You can read Kevin Kilbane\u2019s full message below.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Trying to put it all into context. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/mayogaa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#mayogaa<\/a> \ud83d\udc9a\u2764\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CLz1zuyK7C\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/CLz1zuyK7C<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kevin Kilbane (@kdkilbane77) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kdkilbane77\/status\/2081599492185379031?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 27, 2026<\/a><br \/>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Premier League and Republic of Ireland star Kevin Kilbane has released a heartfelt statement congratulating Mayo on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570695,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-570694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}