Carrigaline's Mark O'Mahony makes his Premier League debut for Brighton

MARK O’Mahony’s fairytale at Brighton & Hove Albion continued with the striker making his Premier League debut during the Seagulls' 1-1 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon.

This comes just days after the Carrigaline native signed a new deal at the Amex that will keep him in a blue and white jersey until 2027.

O’Mahony was brought on in the 89th minute as a substitute and he replaced João Pedro. The Seagulls were pushing for the three points at that stage of the game after Arijanet Muric scored an own-goal.

The striker found himself on the pitch for the last few minutes of the game with Champions League winner Adam Lallana, Spanish international Ansu Fati, and German international Pascal Groß.

MARKER

While there was no late winner for Brighton, this was an important marker in the development of a player that first made his name in the Cork Schoolboys League.

O’Mahony is the latest player to break through from the club’s academy, and he follows in the footsteps of Republic of Ireland internationals Evan Ferguson, Andrew Moran, and Aaron Connolly.

His work has been noted by the coaches at the Amex, with Brighton technical director David Weir praising the striker after his new contract was announced.

"Mark has done really well since joining us in January last year and we’re very happy with his progress. We’re pleased to see him commit his future here." 

O’Mahony first went to Brighton in 2023 after making a number of appearances for Cork City under Colin Healy in the League of Ireland First Division. He combined this with an incredible goalscoring run for the Republic of Ireland at underage level between 2021 and 2022.

His record includes scoring three goals in three games during a European Championships qualifying tournament in Cork back in October 2021. 

He has also featured for the U18s and U19s, with the latter appearance producing a hat-trick against Gibraltar.

This skill, being able to take aim and shoot on sight, was first learned at Carrigaline United. One of the striker’s best seasons in the famous yellow and blue jersey was in 2018 as he won a Golden Boot after scoring 38 goals for the club.

O’Mahony progressed to the Cork City academy, where he played in the Underage National Leagues.

This was a special side for the teams managed by Liam Kearney, as a number of players were getting their first taste of operating in an elite environment. This group contained Cathal Heffernan, who is now on the books at Newcastle United, and Franco Umeh, who is on the fringes of the first team at Selhurst Park after signing for the club in 2023.