The Dublin-Mayo rivalry is a Gaelic football rivalry between Irish county teams Dublin and Mayo, who first played each other in 1906.
Initially, meetings between the two teams were rare, with only seven championship matches taking place between 1906 and 1985. In the modern era, however, it has more recently been considered a significant rivalry in Gaelic games due to the increased frequency of matches between the two teams in the 21st century. Championship matches between the two teams usually take place in the latter stages of the championship and as a result attract high interest.
The rivalry reached its greatest intensity in the 2010s for a variety of reasons: the increased frequency in which the teams competed against each other in high stakes matches, each county having what was considered to being one of their strongest ever teams, the closeness of the matches, the involvement of high-profile players such as Bernard Brogan, Diarmuid Connolly and Philly McMahon for Dublin and Cillian O'Connor, Lee Keegan and Aidan O'Shea for Mayo, and the controversial incidents that have occurred in these matches.
Dublin's home ground is Parnell Park and Mayo's home ground is MacHale Park, however, all of their championship meetings have been held at neutral venues, usually Croke Park.
Dublin have the highest number of Leinster titles and have won 31 All Ireland football championships. In 2020 they became the first county ever to win 6 consecutive All Ireland championships in either Gaelic football or hurling.
Mayo have won the Connacht championship a total of 48 times. They have won the All Ireland football championship 4 times, most recently in 2026.
History
1906–1985: Sporadic encounters, Dublin dominance
Championship encounters between Dublin and Mayo were rare in the first 100 years of the GAA Championship. They played each other only 7 times in total during this period. Mayo failed to win any of these games. The closest they came was in 1955 and 1985 when they took Dublin to a replay before losing.
2006: The mill on the hill, Mayo's first win
The sides met in the championship for the first time in 21 years in the 2006 All-Ireland Semi-final. There was controversy during the warm-up before the game when Mayo defied tradition by warming-up at the Hill 16 end of Croke Park. Up to this point it had been customary for Dublin to warm-up at that end. Upon seeing Mayo warming-up at the Hill 16 end, Dublin decided to warm up at the Hill 16 end anyway, causing an unusual situation where both teams warmed up at the same end. Mayo's apparent pre-match mind games, which became known as the "mill on the hill" appeared to bother Dublin manager Paul Caffrey who was seen on camera shoulder charging Mayo selector John Morrison before the match.
Mayo started the match strong and scored the first 4 points of the game. Dublin did not score their first point until Conal Keaney scored in the 17th minute. A goal by Keaney 5 minutes later rejuvenated Dublin but a strong finish to the half by Mayo meant that they led at half time by 0-9 to 1-5.
Dublin started the second half strong with a goal by Jason Sherlock within 2 minutes of the restart. After 46 minutes they lead by 2-11 to 0-10 and looked on course to reach the All-Ireland final. However Mayo came back and with the help of a goal by Andy Moran they were level after 55 minutes and took the lead after 57 minutes due to a Conor Mortimer free. Alan Brogan equalised for Dublin before the iconic winning point was kicked by Ciaran McDonald.
The 2006 encounter between the two sides has been regarded by many journalists as being one of the greatest Gaelic football matches of all time.
2012–present: The rivalry reaches its zenith
Dublin and Mayo met for the first time in 6 years in the semi-final of the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Dublin went into the game as the reigning All-Ireland champions and were favourites to reach the final however Mayo came in with confidence having beaten Down by 12 points in the quarter final. The first half was pretty even until a late first half rally by Mayo left them going in at half time leading by a score of 0-12 to 0-6. In the second half they extended their lead to 10 points with 20 minutes to go. A spirited comeback by Dublin led to them scoring the next 8 points of the match to reduce the deficit down to 2. With Dublin needing a goal, Mayo adopted a strategy of fouling the Dublin players whenever they got near the goal causing some to accuse them of cynicism. The final point of the match was scored by Mayo's Seamus O'Shea as Mayo recorded an upset 0-19 to 0-16 victory to advance to the final against Donegal. The match proved to be the Dublin manager Pat Gilroy's last match in charge of Dublin as he resigned shortly after Dublin's loss.
Dublin and Mayo met again 12 months later in the 2013 All-Ireland final. The match was highly anticipated due to the attacking play exhibited by both teams and the two teams being regarded as the two best teams in the country. Mayo had knocked out reigning champions Donegal in the quarter-final by trouncing them by 16 points while Dublin under new manager Jim Gavin reached the final be overcoming Kerry in a classic semi-final. The final itself proved to be quite a nervy encounter with many basic errors being made by both sides. Bernard Brogan scored the first goal of the match however Mayo led at half time by 0-8 to 1-4. A strong start to the second half by Dublin led to them leading by 3 points with 20 minutes to go before a goal by Andy Moran levelled the match. Dublin would respond almost immediately with a second goal from Brogan. Dublin were effectively reduced to 13 players for the closing stages of the match after Eoghan O'Gara and Rory O'Carroll became injured after Dublin had already used all of their substitutions. In a reversal of last year's match, Dublin resorted to fouling in order to defend their lead, meaning it was now their turn to be accused of cynicism. Dublin ultimately won by a scoreline of 2-12 to 1-14 to win their 24th All-Ireland title and record their first championship win over Mayo since 1985. The loss for Mayo meant that they had now lost 7 All-Ireland finals in a row starting in 1989.
The two sides would next meet in 2015 at the semi-final stage. The match featured a number of controversial incidents which provoked a great deal of discussion. Incidents that would occur during the match include: an altercation between Cillian O'Connor and Rory O'Carroll which resulted in O'Carroll needing 10 stitches and not returning to the field of play, Philip McMahon appearing to headbutt Aidan O'Shea, and an altercation between Lee Keegan and Diarmuid Connolly which led to Keegan receiving a yellow card and Connolly being sent off having been adjudged to have punched Keegan. The unequal punishment given to Keegan and Connolly enraged Dublin fans while Mayo fans would accuse McMahon of feigning injury later in the match. Referee Joe McQuillan came in for criticism for his performance from both sets of fans however he also received a lot of sympathy from neutral viewers due to the difficulty it was to referee such a match. Dublin looked to be on course for victory having led 2-12 to 0-11 after 62 minutes but failed to score for the rest of the match. Mayo came back to score 1-4 and level the match at 2-12 to 1-15. Stephen Cluxton missed a long range free kick which would have won it for Dublin and the match ended in a draw. The replay was scheduled for the following Saturday.
Due to the dramatic events of the drawn match, the replay was highly anticipated. The music festival Electric Picnic was on at the same time as the replay and due to overwhelming demand the festival broke with tradition and allowed the match to be broadcast on two large screens at the festival. The build-up to the replay was dominated by Diarmuid Connolly appealing his suspension after receiving a red card in the drawn match which resulted in a one match ban. He looked set to miss the replay after the ban was upheld by the Central Hearings Committee on the Tuesday before the match until a final appeal to the Central Appeals Committee resulted in him being cleared to play. Connolly only found out that he was cleared to play at 2AM on the morning of the match. In contrast to the unsavoury events of the drawn match, the replay was a much more attractive game and a high scoring first half resulted in the sides going in level at half time at 0-10 each. The rate of scoring slowed down in the second half and a strong start by Mayo meant that they led by 1-12 to 0-11 with just over 15 minutes to go. Lee Keegan had a chance to increase the lead to 5 but his effort fell short. An incredible next ten minutes for Dublin saw them score 2-3 without reply to go from 4 points down to 5 points up. A third Dublin goal by Kevin McManamon ensured a Dublin victory and the final score ended Dublin 3-15 Mayo 1-14. Dublin would go on to defeat Kerry in the final.
Dublin and Mayo would face each other again in 2016. This time in the All-Ireland final. Dublin advanced to the final by beating Kerry in the semi-final while Mayo overcame Tipperary in the other semi final. There was a minor scuffle between the two sides in the tunnel before the match. Dublin had been due to run out onto the pitch first however their delayed entrance caused the two teams to run out at the same time which resulted in the two sets of players pushing and shoving each other in the tunnel. Mayo started the final stronger and went 2 points up early on but conceded two own goals in the first half to allow Dublin to lead. A Dublin player did not score in the match until the 31st minute when Dean Rock scored from a free kick. Dublin would finish the first half leading 2-4 to 0-5. Mayo started the second half strong and were level after 45 minutes. Like many Dublin-Mayo matches, there were a number of off the ball incidents and the personal duel between Diarmuid Connolly and Lee Keegan had many flashpoints. An altercation between the pair after 61 minutes led to both of them receiving yellow cards. Dublin led by 3 points after a point by Connolly in the 69th minute however 3 late points by Mayo led to the match ending in a draw. The equalising point was scored by Cillian O'Connor in the 7th minute of injury time. The final score was Dublin 2-9 Mayo 0-15 and was the first All-Ireland football final to end in a draw since 2000. The final score was unusual for a drawn match in that, taking own goals into account, 21 of the 30 points were scored by players of one team. The replay was scheduled for two weeks later.