Joe Brolly on the hilarious welcome he received at a Mayo pub
Joe Brolly has given a glimpse into the hilarious welcome he received at a Mayo pub over the weekend.
The Derryman has moved to the West of Ireland, where he lives in the Knockmore area with his wife and radio host Laurita Blewitt.
Brolly is on the coaching team for Knockmore GAA and has seemingly left a big impression on the local community.
The former RTE pundit went to O'Tooles pub in Tourmakeady to watch his beloved Derry take on Galway on Sunday.
And Brolly was greeted by a hilarious series of signs that stated his claim to many objects in the pub.
Brolly was recently bemoaning the Mayo footballers for ruining a multiple bet he had put on with a friend across a number of GAA matches over the course of a weekend.
The All-Ireland winner explained on his Free State Podcast: "I'm the GAA guy. He's the horses guy, I don't know anything about horses. But I'm the GAA guy.
"We're really careful with it. Built up a lovely kitty. It's a lovely kitty. So we're sitting with it.
"I said, look, I am telling you every fibre of my being is screaming to me that Limerick hurlers are going to beat Cork.
"I said 'I know this in the way that a man knows when he's in love that Limerick are going to beat the Cork hurlers'.
"They're stinging from last year. This is one of the greatest dynasties that's ever been, never mind in hurling or f***ing Gaelic football or anything else. A truly exceptional, frightening, demolition job of a team that can play it whatever way you want to. And I said, they're going to beat Cork. Great odds.
"And I said, why don't we pad it out? We'll fire in a few more certs. He said, 'we'll build it up'.
"We brought the whole package up to 11/1 with Down footballers to beat Clare and that was a good one
"Down footballers to beat Clare, which we had surprisingly good odds on, I think because it was in Clare.
"Tipp to beat Waterford in the hurling. Tipp always beat Waterford in the hurling.
"And then the fourth vote. I said, like, come on 'there's absolutely no way that Cavan can beat Mayo in MacHale Park in Mayo'. I said it to him and he said, 'even I know that and I don't know anything about football, but you're right'.
"Tick the box. Off he went, he's the wee online thing with the bookies. 11/1 for the package.
"And there they came rolling in. There they came rolling in. Down slaughtered Clare, Tipp beat Waterford. He said, 'fair play to you Brolly'. He said, 'Limerick are already sort of 1-3 to no score up against Cork'.
"And then the word runs through from McHale Park. Cavan are stuffing Mayo.
"Martin Carney, the great Martin Carney, the inimitable Martin Carney, one of the great people of the GAA apparently, he was raging after the match because the Mayo super fans are all out in the pitch getting the autographs of the players after being beat by Cavan. Like, f*** me.
"He says, 'those people out there, I wouldn't be surprised to see them climbing the Himalayas naked waving a Mayo flag'.
"Oh, bloody Mayo. We put two-thirds of the kitty on. Substantial kitty. This was a good kitty. A very, very good kitty.
"The only risky one was Limerick and Cork. People would say I mean, come on, Limerick. I was so certain. That was the foundation of the bet.
"That was the foundation. I didn't even tune in to Midwest Radio for the Mayo game, so certain was I.
"To be fair, I love the Cavan boys. And I've always had a great grá for the Cavan clubs and the Cavan people. I was truly delighted for them."
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