One of the rarest pieces of GAA memorabilia will tomorrow go under the hammer at Sotheby's in London, writes Ian O'Riordan
A winner's medal from the first All-Ireland football final of 1887 is expected to make between £5,000 and £8,000, according to the auctioneers.
They say it has already attracted much interest. Several telephone bidders have registered for the auction, including the US-based newspaper, the Irish Echo. The GAA has also expressed an interest, although it originally requested that the medal be donated to its museum in Croke Park.
The gold medal belonged to Malachí O'Brien, who played on the Limerick team who were the first All-Ireland football champions.
It was the first and only time the championship was not divided into counties, and instead played on a club basis, with Commercials, the then champion club of Limerick, representing the county.
Commercials beat the Louth team Dundalk Young Irelands, with the final actually being played in April 1888 at a site known as "The Big Bank" in Clonskeagh, south Dublin. The winners' medals were not presented until 1912.
O'Brien was a pivotal member of the Commercials team, and became known as "The Little Wonder" for his great range of skills despite his small stature.
Born in Ballinvrina, Emly, he later moved to Dublin, and eventually to America, where he remained for 32 years. He returned to Ballinvrina from 1929 until his death on August 2nd, 1953.
Since then his medal has been handed down through four generations. It is now in the possession of Mary Doran, who lives in Northampton in England. O'Brien was the great granduncle of her late father, Matthew Malachí Doran.
"It's obviously of great historical value," Ms Doran said yesterday. "It's also of great pride and joy to the family to be associated with Malachí O'Brien.
"But it was my father's dying wish that the medal should eventually be used to look after my mother, and that now is the sole reason why we're auctioning it."
This is generally believed to be the only remaining medal from the first final.
Reports of a similar medal being sold in Wales emerged in 1983, with an asking price of £10,000, although there is no further record of that sale.
"If we don't manage to sell it on the day, we will hold on to it and have a rethink," added Ms Doran.