Mayo for Sam, UL for Cian: All Ireland champion bags another title as he graduates from University of Limerick
All-Ireland winning footballer Cian McHale, a Moy Davitts clubman, pictured at his graduation from University of Limerick. Cian was conferred with a Bachelor of Arts. He was also a star of UL’s historic Sigerson Cup win this year and is pictured with the trophy. Picture by Alan Place
Weeks after making sporting history with his county, All Ireland football champion Cian McHale was ready to add another title to his name as he graduated from University of Limerick.
Mayo man Cian joined more than 3,000 students as he was conferred with a Bachelor of Arts (English and History) as part of the University’s autumn graduation ceremonies.
It was a proud moment for the Moy Davitts footballer, made extra-special by his incredible sporting achievements over the past 12 months. Cian collected his parchment exactly one month after winning the All-Ireland with Mayo, having secured UL’s historic first-ever Sigerson Cup victory earlier in the year.
Unsurprisingly, Cian – a UL Sports Scholar and one of Mayo’s brightest rising stars – is still coming down from the high of All-Ireland glory.
“I can’t put it into words. This is probably the first time I’ve sat down and talked to someone properly about it. It’s been crazy in Mayo. We were nine days celebrating after the final. You’re going around to towns and families; you’re doing events every day with the cup. It’s been so special.
“It’s probably only sinking in for us now, a month after. We don’t know the magnitude of what we have done with this. In the days after, you’re meeting older people who are in tears.
“It’s a lot more than just us who have done it in the end – it’s the decades before us as well. To be on [the panel] is ridiculous. I can’t even put it into words; it’s what you were dreaming of growing up.” Recalling the euphoric moment when the final whistle was blown in Croke Park, ending the 75-year wait for Sam’s return to Mayo, Cian – who secured a brace of points in the semi-final against Louth – said: “We were actually on the pitch about five seconds before the final whistle went, and they were trying to hold us back!
“I ran straight to Tommy Conroy. When I got to him, we were just grabbing each other – we didn’t know what to do. There were no words, you were just jumping around the place – pure relief and emotion.
“Then we went down to The Hill after lifting the cup, and the whole place was packed. We were just looking up; the place had gone mad.” The agony of the wait and the ecstasy of the glory is something that UL has in common with Mayo when it comes to football; and it’s wonderfully poetic that in the same year he won the All-Ireland with his county, Cian played a pivotal role in securing the University’s first-ever Sigerson Cup win.
Cian was a standout star of the campaign, scoring five points in the final against University College Cork and ending the competition as its top scorer. He would go on to take up a well-earned spot on the 2026 Electric Ireland GAA Higher Education Championship Football Team of the Year.
Being viewed as the “underdogs” of the competition suited the team well, said Cian.
“No one was talking about us, and I think David [Power, team manager] brought that in brilliantly – we were the underdogs, and no one gave us a chance.
“We won the league back in December, and that was first one for UL as well; but even when we won that, going into Sigerson, no one was giving us a chance. And it was similar to Mayo – we knew that with the players we had, we would be able to do something; but we didn’t really know, until it got closer to the final, how close we could get.” The team was “completely confident” stepping into that game against UCC, knowing that they had the freedom to play and express themselves completely – “if we lost, we did it the right way”.
Cian reserves special praise for UL GAA Development Officer Jason Coffey and Noreen O’Connell from UL’s Sport Scholarship Academy for their support and encouragement throughout his time at the University.
“The sense of togetherness at UL is unbelievable … It became a family thing, and I think that helped us along the way. We knew we had backing from everyone, and we could just go out and enjoy ourselves,” he said.
While sport has played a huge role in Cian’s UL journey, he has maintained the same level of dedication to his studies. With a keen interest in English and history at school, and ambitions to enter the teaching profession, Arts was a natural choice for him.
His career choices were cemented, he says, after being given the opportunity to explore primary school teaching during his co-operative placement at Le Chéile National School in Southill, Co. Limerick.
“I always thought I would do secondary school teaching, but I wanted to try the primary side,” he explained.
“[The school was] brilliant to me. They were lovely kids, and I still think of them often. I actually met a teacher from the school a few days after we won the All-Ireland, and he said that they still ask about me, which is really special.
“Co-op was a great experience for me. In the end, I decided to stick with secondary teaching, but I’m delighted that I had the opportunity to try out both.” Up next for Cian is a two-year masters, after which he hopes to get straight into teaching. As for football, he admits that Mayo’s All-Ireland success has only made him hungrier.
“Everyone thinks you win one and that’s enough, but a lot of us are thinking of more now. We have to wait and see – there’s a lot of hard work that goes into it; it doesn’t just happen overnight. But I want to keep playing and enjoying my football.”
