County Mayo ended a 75-year wait for All-Ireland Senior Football Championship glory on Sunday, defeating Kerry to claim the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time since 1951 and, in the eyes of many supporters, finally breaking one of sport's most enduring supposed curses.
The victory sparked jubilant scenes at Croke Park as thousands of Mayo supporters celebrated a triumph generations had begun to wonder if they would ever witness.
For decades, Mayo had played second fiddle in the competition. The county reached 11 All-Ireland finals after its last title in 1951, only to fall at the final hurdle each time, turning the so-called Curse of Mayo -- which arose 75 years ago -- into an object of serious worry for many.
Whether believers see it as destiny fulfilled or sceptics as the inevitable end of an extraordinary drought, Mayo are All-Ireland champions once again.
What is the Mayo curse?
The legend dates back to Mayo's victorious team returning home after winning the 1951 All-Ireland championship.
According to an oft-told version of the tale, the players, still celebrating on their journey through the county, passed a funeral procession on their open-top lorry, interrupting the ceremony with their celebrations.
A priest is then said to have pronounced a curse, declaring that Mayo would not win another All-Ireland title while any member of the 1951 team remained alive.
No contemporary evidence has ever surfaced to prove the incident happened, however, and the account of what occurred that day varies by historian or outlet.
Many researchers believe the tale only gathered momentum decades later, fuelled by Mayo's remarkable sequence of final defeats. As the heartbreak mounted, so too did the legend.
The last surviving member of Mayo's 1951 championship-winning side, Paddy Prendergast, died in 2021 aged 95. Many therefore wondered if that would be that for the curse.
In 2021, Mayo lost to Tyrone in the final, just two weeks before his death -- and had not reached the final again until this year.
In the first final since Prendergast's passing, which would have supposedly ended the curse, they beat the league's most successful side Kerry 1-20 to 1-17 in Dublin.