'That speech will go down in history’ – Proud Mayo woman gets Jack Coyne’s infamous words tattooed

The Mayo fever has not slowed down one bit, with GAA fans still keeping the 75-year dream alive more than three weeks after the county bought Sam Maguire home.

For some, memories of that historic day will live on through photographs, videos and stories shared for years to come.

For others, those memories have taken a more permanent form – a piece of art to carry with them for life.

At Ink Collective in Ballina, Edwina Doherty chose to mark Mayo’s historic All-Ireland victory with a tattoo inspired by the now infamous words of Mayo captain Jack Coyne:

‘Never stop dreaming. Stick your chest out, and be proud to be from Mayo’

Her tattoo features the words in script, with a scene of the Mayo landscape beneath them.

“Its the classic Mayo countryside. I feel like it just makes the tattoo, the fields, the mountain. It brings everything into one. It sums up Mayo in one picture,” she told the Western People.

“Its the most special tattoo I probably have. It came out better than I even imagined.” 

“The speech just really stood out to me. When Jack was giving the speech after they won, I don’t know just, all the emotions came out. It was so surreal,” she said.

“That speech will go down in history and I am so grateful to be one of the first people to get it tattooed. I knew I wanted it straight away and Liya couldn’t have done a better job. She brought it to life. I am so in awe of it,” she said.

Edwina was watching the final with her five-year-old son Noah, and described Mayo’s victory as one of the most special things she has ever witnessed.

“I actually ended up on top of the seats and my head hit off the ceiling a few times with how excited I was,” she laughed.

The moment was made even more special by having Noah there with her.

“My son was with me and it was lovely to experience that feeling with him. Even me showing him the tattoo yesterday he knew it was from Jack’s speech, he remembered it and he’s only five years of age,” she said.

Edwina said the speech has stayed with her and her son in the week since the final.

“I have listened back to that speech I don’t know how many times, a hundred times probably since the match, and my son knows it nearly word for word,” she said.

“It says everything that I feel about being from Mayo, how proud I am to be from Mayo, just being a proud Mayo woman.” 

GAA has always been a big part of Edwina’s life, having played with Kilmoremoy herself, while her brother Ronan represented Mayo at junior and minor level and went on to win a county title with Ardnaree Sarsfields in 2014, when he was also named man of the match.

“I have been a Mayo supporter all my life, and my Dad was at the game too. The fact that he got to see them win made the whole day even more special for me.” 

Her father, Billy Doherty, has attended every Mayo All-Ireland final since 1989, making the long-awaited victory all the more meaningful for the family.

“GAA is in our blood like, it’s in the Doherty's blood,” Edwina said.

Even Billy, who is not usually a fan of tattoos, approved of his daughter’s latest piece.

“He doesn’t really like tattoos, but he said it was actually nice. I was surprised he even said that,” she laughed.

At the time of writing, the Instagram post showing Edwina’s tattoo had generated more than 102,000 views and been shared more than 4,000 times, making it the most viewed tattoo post Ink Collective has ever shared.

Edwina was shocked when she heard how far the post had travelled.

“I am so proud of that, that is amazing. I am in shock by the response I have been getting from people,” she said.

The artist behind the tattoo, Liya Nastashchuk, said the response had also brought a huge amount of attention to her work.

“It has reached so many people, the amount of views, and likes are incredible. There have been some lovely comments on the post on Instagram, genuinely I am so grateful,” she said.

Liya explained that the tattoo took just three hours to complete, with the original concept for the design coming from Edwina.

“Together we made a few small changes and refined some details to make everything work beautifully as a tattoo,” she said.

For Liya, the tattoo was particularly special as it allowed her to create something that represented both 75 years of Mayo history and the deep love people have for their county.

“What makes this piece especially meaningful to me is that I’m not originally from Mayo, or from Ireland even, but since I have been living here, one thing that has really inspired me is seeing how deeply people love where they come from,” she said.

“The pride people have for their county, their home, their memories and their roots is something really special to see, as a person and as an artist.” 

“There is something so beautiful about loving your home so much that you want to carry a piece of it with you forever, literally on your skin,” she added.

Liya thanked those who have left comments online in support of her work.

“Of course as well thank you to my client Edwina for trusting me with such a personal and meaningful piece," she added. 

The tattoo has prompted of enquiries from other Mayo fans, with lots people messaging Ink Collective to see how quickly they can book in for their own Mayo-inspired pieces.

“I am delighted that Liya’s work has reached so many people, and it just shows that the Mayo buzz is still going,” said owner Luke Ruane.

“Hopefully we will see lots more people now. Tattoos like these ones that have so much meaning behind them are always fun for us as artists to do.” 

The team at Ink Collective are offering discounts to anyone booking in for their own Mayo-inspired tattoo.