Capacity crowd defies the weather for launch of Mayo All-Ireland book

A capacity crowd braved dreadful weather at the Festival Dome in Castlebar last Thursday for the launch of Never Stop Dreaming – Mayo’s Story of All-Ireland Glory, a commemorative book capturing Mayo’s unforgettable 2026 season.

“We’re blown away by the crowd,” said MC Stephen Grealis, Midwest Radio’s sports editor, as he welcomed those attending the launch as part of the Wild Atlantic Words Literary Festival.

“I was wondering would the weather curtail things a little bit, but the answer to that is a straight-up no.” Grealis also praised the publication, describing it as ‘an incredible book’ as he introduced the evening’s speakers: authors Edwin McGreal and Anthony Hennigan, photographer and picture editor Michael McLaughlin, Mayo football great Aidan O’Shea and Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation CEO Martina Jennings.

The book is published by Mayo Books Press and supports the foundation’s Sunflower Children’s Hospice project in Castlebar, with a portion of the proceeds going towards the development.

Jennings paid tribute to the three men behind the publication, saying she was overwhelmed when she was contacted about the partnership.

“This book is amazing,” she said. “You couldn’t get three better men to come together and put a book about the summer we’ve just experienced.” She said the team’s generosity in deciding to support the hospice project had left the foundation ‘overwhelmed and so grateful’.

“You will relive the summer on every page of this book,” she added.

O’Shea, who is an ambassador for the Sunflower Children’s Hospice, said he was honoured to come on board when Jennings spoke to him about the role.

“As a parent, you can really appreciate the vision that she shared with me,” he said. “To see it in her own town and being able to put a service on this side of the country for kids, right up and down this coast, is an unbelievable thing.” 

The planned hospice will be the first dedicated children’s hospice outside Dublin, serving children and families across the western region. The partnership with the book aims to help raise funds and awareness for the project.

O’Shea officially launched the publication, congratulating the team on what he said he is feels will be ‘an unbelievable read’ to document a remarkable year in Mayo sport.

For Michael McLaughlin, documenting the celebrations that followed the final whistle on July 26 was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Having covered Mayo through years of All-Ireland campaigns, he said the scenes across the county after victory were on a different scale.

“Actually, Italia 90 was the closest thing, just multiplied by a thousand,” he said. “That’s the only thing I could describe it as. I thought, this has to be documented.” McLaughlin travelled to communities throughout Mayo to photograph the homecomings and celebrations, capturing the joy of supporters who had waited so long to see their team crowned All-Ireland champions.

Anthony Hennigan said one of the greatest challenges in producing the book had been finding a way to capture the collective emotion Mayo people experienced when the hooter sounded on July 26.

“I’m not sure has there ever been a group of people, and I mean Mayo as a collective, that ever felt that over a sporting occasion,” he said. “How you try and capture that in words has been the challenge. Can words do it justice?” He said that the experience has only been enhanced by how the players and management have carried themselves since.

“There’s not a part of the county they haven’t gone to; there hasn’t been an aspect of society that they haven’t visited, be it the nursing homes, be it the national schools, the private visits to homes, that nobody’s going to hear about. That’s the mark of true champions.” 

The book combines a game-by-game account of the season as it unfolded with reflections from inside the Mayo camp, interviews with players and management, and extensive photographic coverage of the season and the homecoming celebrations.

Edwin McGreal said it had been a privilege to document a season which brought joy far beyond the football field.

“It started with Jack Coyne’s magnificent speech. He really brought everyone into what has been a collective embrace, and it has stayed that way since.

“But what makes this so good is the GAA, and the fact that these guys are part of us, they’re part of who we are as Mayo people.” 

McGreal said the title, Never Stop Dreaming, reflected the resilience of Mayo footballers and people and their determination to keep believing despite years of disappointment.

“Despite all the setbacks, they all kept coming back. They never stopped dreaming, and we never stopped dreaming as a county,” he said.

The book is dedicated to the Mayo team and management whose achievement brought such joy across the county. Never Stop Dreaming – Mayo’s Story of All-Ireland Glory is available in bookshops and online at mayobooks.ie, with a portion of the proceeds supporting the Sunflower Children’s Hospice project.