Cork keeper Patrick Doyle: Mayo defeat will 'stay with us' but we made real progress

Cork goalkeeper Patrick Doyle says the frustration of the All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Mayo will “stay with us for a while yet”, but believes the 2026 season must still be viewed as a campaign of genuine progress for a group intent on pushing deeper into the championship next year.

Two weeks on from that loss, Doyle spoke to The Echo at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday at the launch of the 2026 McCarthy Insurance Group Football Championships — his first real chance to take stock of a season that delivered Division 2 promotion, consistency, and a renewed sense of momentum.

“Obviously there’s still a lot of disappointment,” he says of the Mayo defeat. 

“It was a game we felt we could have won on the day. To be fair to Mayo, they’ve shown serious form since then and now they’re in the final. But overall you have to take a lot of positives from the year.

“Getting out of Division 2 was a big aim and we achieved that. Losing the league final and then the Munster final were two big disappointments, but we took some big scalps as well. I really thought we had good consistency throughout the year. There’s a lot to build on for next year.” 

Winning promotion out of the second tier, he stresses, should never be underestimated.

“It’s no easy feat. You look at Louth making an All-Ireland semi-final — they finished, I think, mid-table in Division 2. 

"That will tell you how hard it is. But it’s great to be up to Division 1 — something to really look forward to. Playing at that higher level throughout the league will hopefully bring us on.” 

That sense of progression is balanced by the frustration of how Cork exited the championship. Doyle doesn’t shy away from the fact that the performance against Mayo fell short of their own standards.

“When you lose any game in the championship it’s always bad, especially the Mayo one because you’re knocked out,” he states. 

“We were disappointed with certain aspects of our performance. But the two teams we lost to in the championship are now competing in the All-Ireland final. It shows we’re not too far away, but we’ve a bit to go yet.” 

On a personal level, Doyle enjoyed a strong campaign, sharing the goalkeeping workload with Micheál Aodh Martin, with third-choice keeper Darragh Newman also pushing standards. The competition, he says, is exactly what keeps levels high.

“Micheál Aodh Martin and I had a good battle, as we’ve had for the last couple of years. Darragh Newman was pushing hard too. 

“I’m sure the three of us will be back next year having a cut off each other again to try and get the number 1 jersey.” 

Next year is already on Doyle’s mind — particularly the return to Division 1 for the first time since 2016.

“It’ll be great. It can only stand to us as individuals and as a team. Hopefully it brings us forward to rise up the ranks and become more competitive later in the campaign.”