As County Mayo celebrated an All-Ireland football title 75 years in the making, one remarkable piece of Irish history joined the homecoming celebrations in Westport.

The Mayo senior football team was presented with an extraordinarily rare bottle of Knappogue Castle 1951 – a whiskey distilled the same year Mayo last lifted the Sam Maguire Cup.

Knappogue Castle 1951 is considered Ireland’s oldest commercially available whiskey and one of the rarest Irish whiskeys in existence, with only around 200 bottles believed to remain worldwide.

Distilled in 1951 at the now-silent Old Tullamore Distillery, the whiskey was matured for 36 years in sherry casks before being bottled in 1987 as the first-ever Knappogue Castle release.

The bottle was presented to the newly crowned All-Ireland champions during their homecoming celebrations in Westport, creating a unique link between two significant moments in Irish history.

Gary McLoughlin, Chief Marketing Officer of Cobblestone Brands, owner of Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey, said: “The last time Mayo won the All-Ireland, this whiskey had just been distilled. Seventy-five years later, it felt entirely appropriate that such a special bottle should be presented to the team as they celebrated one of the greatest moments in Mayo sporting history.

What’s rare is wonderful. This is an irreplaceable piece of Irish whiskey history, but tonight belonged to Mayo. We wanted to mark the achievement with something that could genuinely connect the team of 2026 with the champions of 1951.”

Knappogue Castle 1951 was distilled just three years before the Old Tullamore Distillery closed. After 36 years of maturation, it became the foundation release of the Knappogue Castle brand and remains a rare surviving link to a lost era of Irish whiskey production.

The presentation brought together two enduring pieces of Irish history, united by one extraordinary year: 1951.