Irish pub adds €2 to price of pints if punters mention controversial GAA moment
A Meath pub's barmaid from Louth has launched the first salvo in the build-up to this year's throwback Leinster Final.
GAA fan Mary Lynch, 36, is so fired up that she has already banned talk of hero Meath footballer Joe Sheridan because of his controversial winner against Louth 15 years ago. Mary, from Stabannon, near Dundalk, is so sick of hearing about Sheridan's dodgy goal in the 2010 Leinster Final that she is hitting punters with a €2 fine for uttering his name.
She has vowed in the run-up to this year's clash that the 'Joe Tax' will be added to the price of a pint for anyone who dares to mention him in popular Lynch's pub on Main Street in famous Meath town Slane. Mary gave up the thumbs up beside a red and white Louth flag in her Stabannon Parnells GFC jersey and said: 'It's a my local team Stabannon's top, it's not Meath, obviously.'
She said: 'Now that Louth and Meath are playing in the final, I have heard nothing else but Joe. I am a Louth woman and proud. I have decided that any customer who mentions Joe Sheridan in this pub, it's €5 more for the craic. I know that all I will hear is Joe. Sure, the banter will be good.'
Louth fans in 2010 screamed 'daylight robbery' when Meath beat the Wee County on a score of 1-12 to 1-10. That match on Sunday, July 11, became infamous for a controversial late winner by Meath player Sheridan. The 6' 2' Seneschalstown clubman retired in 2013, made a county comeback in 2017, but big Joe is now fully back on the minds of Louth supporters.
They accused him 15 years ago of diving over the line and throwing the ball into the net. It was a tumultuous end to the tense inter-county derby clash when Louth were playing in their first provincial final since 1960 and aiming to win it for the first time since 1957.
Joe's winner caused such outrage that Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick appealed to supporters after they invaded the pitch to remonstrate with referee Martin Sludden, who got a Garda escort for his own safety. Fitzpatrick said afterwards: 'It's a disgraceful decision by the referee. I thought he threw the ball into the net. I asked the referee, 'Why did you give that goal?'' He added: 'It was pure daylight robbery. I'm very, very annoyed.'
On TV, pundit Pat Spillane said: 'A pure dive. It was like an American football touchdown.' RTE commentator Ger Canning said: 'The ball was thrown over the line. The goal should not have stood.' There were even calls for Meath to offer Louth a replay.
Furious fans still haven't forgotten their heartbreaking loss and, now, after losing two Leinster Finals in a row to Dublin in 2023 and 2024, they are hoping it is third time lucky so they can forget the disappointment of 2010.
Mary told the Irish Mirror: 'It's great craic, a bit of banter, but it's serious to me because I want Louth to win, I've never seen Louth win. Light the candles for Louth, We haven't been in the Leinster Final for 15 years and I have never seen them win it. I'm 36.
'I was going to make the fine €5, but I had to reduce it to €2. Three of us got caught with a fiver each as soon as I put the jar out, so we realised it was too much.
'I put in the first fiver. The money will go to Tidy Towns and maybe we'll raise more with €2 fines. If I had started the fine jar on Sunday night, there would've been €100 in it quickly. We'll see how much is raised. I came up with a rule that a fine doesn't have to be paid just for saying the name 'Joe'. Some people were talking about Joe Dolan and saying that was a fine. So I wrote a rule on the jar."
The rule states: anyone to mention JS [Joe Sheridan], it's a €2 fine. It has to be in the context of sport or the 2010 game. The winnings will go to Tidy Towns, but Mary jokingly wrote: 'Money raised goes to me celebrating Louth winning – and Tidy Towns. Hon Louth.'
She has worked at the popular Lynch's bar in Slane for years – but still lives in her beloved Louth. Mary explained: 'My father bought the pub 30 years ago. I was working for the last final, but I warned him there's no way that I am working for this one. Everybody wants to go to the game and, sure, everybody wants Louth to win. We're the Wee County.'
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