201 not out: How Aidan O'Shea has kept the Mayo faith over 17 seasons
In 2015, as a member of the Breaffy management backroom team, he got up close and personal to it all.
They were playing a starred league game against Garrymore, eight days out from the Connacht final against Sligo. O'Shea, naturally was there in the dressing room and wearing a tracksuit. It was a filthy night, so management thought his football boots were on account on the heavy underfoot conditions.
Playing for Breaffy. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
With five minutes left, Breaffy were trailing by two points. O'Shea walked over to the management and insisted he wanted to play. They weren't aware he was fully kitted out under his tracksuit.
In such a tight game, he thought he could add something. In the end, the management recognised that his participation could spark a huge war in what was meant to be a starred game, and just imagine what could happen if he picked up an injury so close to a provincial final.
They told him it wasn't in his best interests. He wasn't impressed with their stance.
In late June, O'Shea will turn 35. Against Leitrim in the Connacht semi-final, he made his 200th appearance for Mayo; a record for an outfield player and second only to Stephen Cluxton who started his career eight years previous.
200 & Counting Aidan O'Shea marks his 200th appearance across league and championship for Mayo. A true warrior in the Green and Red. 💚❤️ pic.twitter.com/0Vtq2xXdvQ — Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) April 19, 2025
His championship debut came in 2009 against New York. He was no bolter, having won Man of the Match in the previous years' minor All-Ireland defeat to Tyrone. He got his senior career off to a start with 1-2 away to New York. The very next week, he began writing a column for The Irish Times as a Leaving Cert Diary.
The only championship game he missed was in 2012. He was struggling with Osteitis pubis, a notorious injury afflicting players trying to do too much.
It kept him out of the national league final loss to Cork, but manager James Horan felt it would be prudent to keep him in reserve for the Connacht opener against Leitrim, a game they won by 22 points.
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Celebrating the 2009 Connacht title with Tom Parsons. Michael McGurrin / INPHO Michael McGurrin / INPHO / INPHO
O'Shea wasn't impressed and felt he could have played.
How's that for confidence?
That year, he scored 3-5 in four championship games, straight out of minors. The only other Mayo players to have managed that since are the O'Connor brothers, Cillian (2011) and Diarmuid (2014).
Playing for Mayo wasn't an aspiration. It was an expectation.
Around Breaffy from just 10 years old, he was well known. His father Jim and wife Sheila came from outside Killorglin in Kerry to settle in Breaffy and for a time he was the senior manager. Aidan came along as part of the package, acting a waterboy.
One league game with Breaffy ended with a forward missing a routine free. On the Tuesday night after, the senior team came out of the dressing room to start training and spotted the young O'Shea standing in the same spot, stroking over frees with his left foot.
Heading into the 2012 All-Ireland final, he made the bold claim that playing in finals was what he expected with Mayo. The other side of that claim is that he has struggled in a lot of those games. But it never stopped him coming back.
'Basically he has structured his entire life around playing for Mayo,' says McGreal.
'Particularly now, he has gotten smarter and cuter about how he looks after himself. He is in the shape of his life. I saw an interview with him and Billy Joe Padden from eight years ago and he looked older.
'It wasn't weight. Just looked more stressed. He's enjoying it more now.
'He was never going to look for a career that would take him away from Mayo, he was always going to get a relatively straightforward number to facilitate his football career.
'I don't know what he will do when he finishes playing as he gets so much out of it.'
An O'Shea retirement would trouble more than just himself.
This Sunday, Mayo's second most famous American fan, Jim Zoldy will take his seat in section 102 of McHale Park, Castlebar for the final against Galway.
After being bitten by the Mayo bug almost a decade ago, he has been at every Connacht final since 2017, making the journey from Connecticut.
Andrew Paton / INPHO Andrew Paton / INPHO / INPHO
Ask him about O'Shea and can't help his exuberance spilling over.
'I'm glad he's playing well. As Joni Mitchell sang, 'You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.'
'Aidan's stature will only grow once he retires because supporters will see the gaping hole he has filled so valiantly for so long. I love his competitiveness and his otherworldly durability. Mind-blowing how dependable he's been.'
There is no doubt he is a very different animal to the one who started out as a confident outgoing teenager who came into the Mayo set-up and made his debut coming off the bench against Derry in the first league game.
Have a bit of a think there, and ask yourself if there is another Gaelic footballer or hurler as derided as O'Shea has been?
This despite three All-Stars and eight Connacht titles, having played in every central position for Mayo including, famously, at full-back on Kerry's Kieran Donaghy in 2017.
But by then, he had been questioned.
The messy removal of Pat Holmes and Noel Conneely, joint-managers in the 2015 was played out and resurrected in late 2016 when the pair outlined their grievances.
Among their complaints was the attitude of O'Shea towards pursuing a role in 'The Toughest Trade' programme, and team selection.
Joe Brolly became a vocal critic of O'Shea. Criticisms of Brolly's wife, Laurita Blewitt who was the logistics officer in 2015 had come to light. Even now, Brolly sends regular barbs in the direction of O'Shea.
To those in Mayo, it's a source of embarrassment. To those outside, it looks baffling and personal.
It was suggested by Brolly that O'Shea's substitution in the 2021 All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin was the reason for their revival, rather than a brilliant endline interception by Diarmuid O'Connor, resulting in an inspirational Kevin McLoughlin point 15 minutes after O'Shea's substitution.
An underpar performance in the final against Tyrone appeared to back up these perceptions.
It was Kevin McStay, later to become O'Shea's present manager, who answered that in an Irish Times column, outlining O'Shea's commitment to Mayo and how he needed to be played as a full-forward. Brolly now includes McStay in his broadsides.
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This stuff followed O'Shea around for a few years. Opposition teams have targeted him for verbals and he has suffered more than most the fate of the big man being constantly fouled, but not getting the free because of their strength.
But the tide has turned. Supporters recognise the loyalty and contribution. Now a married man with a manager who places full faith in him, he is reborn.
O'Shea with wife Kristin at an All-Stars function. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
In a recent podcast, Pat Spillane stated, 'The criticism Aidan O'Shea gets is totally undeserved… I don't think I've ever said a critical word about him.'
How important is he now?
Man of the Match in the Connacht opener against Sligo, he scored 1-2. He provided the final pass for five more points and fouled for two frees that Ryan O'Donoghue pointed.
With Sligo breathing down their necks in the final moments of the game, it was O'Shea that soared to claim a Mayo kickout and secure the win.
Kevin McStay said afterwards, 'He gave it a great shot and we played him the full 70-plus minutes. He's in great shape and enjoying his football.'
Who knows if he can be a part of a Mayo side that finally bridges the gap back to their last All-Ireland title in 1951?
'I'd be delighted for a fairytale ending for him, whatever that happens to be,' adds Zoldy.
'Looks like there's still tread on the tyres, so hopefully not too soon.'
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