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Some House of the Dragon fans were left perplexed on Sunday when they found star of the show Tom Glynn-Carney avidly supporting Mayo in the All-Ireland football final. Mayo ended one of the most infamous curses in world sport in Sunday's final against Kerry, claiming a superb three-point victory to bring Sam Maguire back to the western county for the first time in 75 years.

18-year-old Republic of Ireland international Mason Melia has made his first appearance for the Tottenham senior men's team. Melia signed for Spurs from St Patrick's Athletic in January 2025, having made 98 appearances across all competitions for the Inchicore side. He came on as a substitute in Tottenham's 1-1 draw with Sydney FC in a pre-season friendly in Australia.

The Irish public has been stunned on Wednesday by the sad news of Glen Hansard's death. Music great Hansard was killed in a motorcycle accident near his home in Lucan in the early hours of Wednesday morning. He was just 56 years of age. Hansard's sudden death has led to an outpouring of grief and tributes from fans, and from titans of music and Irish culture alike. Michael D Higgins was among those to lead the tributes to the singer-songwriter.

Mayo's All-Ireland victory last weekend has instantly joined the ranks as one of the most famous days in GAA history, with Andy Moran's men ending the most publicised famine in the GAA by finally getting their hands on the Sam Maguire. The scenes that unfolded after the game were remarkable, with the Mayo supporters struggling to comprehend the spectacle that had played out over the previous 70 minutes or so. The result also sent shockwaves around the world of the GAA.

A behind-the-scenes clip from Celtic training appears to show Ireland star Liam Scales teaching his Hoops teammates how to play Gaelic football. The Bhoys were in training this week ahead of their opening SPFL game against Dundee next Monday. SIGN UP FOR THE BALLS.IE NEWSLETTER Stay on top of everything happening in the world of Irish sport by subscribing to the Balls.ie newsletter.

According to reports in Australia, the GAA are taking measures to limit the number of Gaelic footballers making the move down under to play Aussie Rules, as Mayo's Kobe McDonald prepares to join St Kilda. 18-year-old McDonald was a star of Mayo's epic All-Ireland win on Sunday, as they ended a 75-year wait to bring Sam Maguire back out west.

With the World Cup over and many players returning to their clubs for pre-season, we should see some more activity in the transfer market over the coming weeks. That should include for a number of Ireland players as they seek new employers before the beginning of the new campaign. There has not been a whole lot of transfer news in terms of Irish players in recent weeks, with very few deals having been completed up to this point.

Pádraig Harrington has been named as one of Luke Donald's vice-captains for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, County Limerick. The Irishman is the first confirmed member of Donald's Team Europe selection, ensuring there will be Irish representation on the team next year. Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are likely to play at Adare, but Harrington's inclusion is somewhat more left-field, after two tournaments out in the cold.

Ahead of last weekend's All-Ireland final, you would have done well to find any pundit who was tipping Mayo to beat Kerry. The consensus was that while Andy Moran's side had done brilliantly to get that far, they just did not have enough to overcome a battle-hardened Kerry side on the biggest stage. It was assumed the defending champions would show up for the biggest game of the year. We all know how that went.

Sharlene Mawdsley has been named in the Irish squad for the European Athletics Championships, despite the injury which saw her pull up just 80 metres into Saturday's national 200m final. Defending champion Mawdsley was tipped to run favourite Rhasidat Adeleke close in Saturday's final, but pulled up with an apparent muscle injury before the runners had even reached the home straight.