GAA memorabilia seems to be growing in popularity among collectors in Ireland and throughout the diaspora.
Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers has an interesting selection in an auction at Kilkenny's Ormonde Hotel on Tuesday .
Among the highlights is a medal awarded to one of the Clare team that won the All-Ireland hurling final in 1914 by beating Laois. “This is an extremely rare medal,” the auctioneer said, and has an estimate of €7,000-€10,000 .
A set of three All-Ireland medals (1907, 1911 and 1913) won by Kilkenny's John T Power (a goalkeeper) has an estimate of €10,000- €15,000.
A medal awarded to a Kilkenny hurler on the winning side of the famous 1939 "thunder and lightning final" – played on September 3rd just hours after the second World War started – against a Cork side whose players included Jack Lynch (later a Fianna Fáil taoiseach) is estimated at €2,000-€3,000.
Among other hurling lots: a sliotar from the 1913 All-Ireland hurling final is €800-€1,200 and a hurl signed by players on the Tipperary team that won the 1946 final – among them Jimmy Doyle and the captain Mick Murphy – is €350-€450.
A 1901 All-Ireland football medal awarded to Dublin captain David “Gush” Brady – (they beat Cork) – is estimated at €1,500-€2,000.
