Kerry pushed on after the break to book their place in this year's All-Ireland SFC final with Colm Cooper bagging a personal tally of 1-7 for the Munster kingpins as Mayo came up short despite a valiant showing.
Jack O'Connor's charges could have been a goal up inside a minute but for Mayo 'keeper Robert Hennelly's heroics as Darran O'Sullivan beared down on him as some in the 50,643-strong crowd had barely settled into their seats.
Bryan Sheehan missed the resulting 45 and five minutes later Enda Varley opened the scoring for the Connacht champions following a great counter attack by the men from the west.
With eight minutes on the clock the unmistakable Hennelly was at it again with the Kerry captain the one left scratching his head.
Not long after Tomas O Se settled Kerry's nerves with a lovely long-range point but a couple of minutes later Mayo moved a point ahead again thanks to Varley.
On 16 minutes Killian O'Connor moved James Horan's side two points ahead with a pointed free but Cooper soon opened his account to bring the Kingdom to within one of the underdogs.
Mayo centre-back Donal Vaughan, who was excellent in both defence and attack all day, got in on the scoring a minute later following a surging run up the field but that score was cancelled out by Darran O'Sullivan a minute later.
O'Connor slotted over his second pointed free, this time from out under the Cusack Stand, three minutes later but Kerry bossed proceedings from then on as they scored five unanswered points through Eoin Brosnan, Kieran Donaghy, St Mary's clubman Sheehan and Cooper - one from play and one a free from a tricky angle.
Mayo needed a point before the break and the industrious Andy Moran provided it - a towering effort from out on the left that split the posts and left just two in it at the break.
The second-half saw Kerry, as only they can, move up a couple of gears and illustrate the gap in class between them and their game but ultimately limited opponents.
Two goals lit up proceedings - the first from Mayo's O'Connor on 52 minutes was a fine individual effort in its own right.
However, two minutes later Cooper's superior skill left a number of Mayo defenders on their backs in front of the Davin End and he switched feet late on to blast past a flailing Hennelly and effectively end the game as a contest.
Former Footballer of the Year Paul Galvin had entered the fray ten minutes previous and he was soon on the scoreboard following a lovely pass from, you guessed it, Cooper.
Galvin was rewarded for his energy and enthusiasm in injury-time when he slotted over his second point but at that stage the game was up for the Connacht side and Kerry went on to win on a 1-20 to 1-11 scoreline.