THE POTENTIAL value of championship match programmes became increasingly evident at yesterday's auction in Dublin of rare and collectable GAA items. Organised by Mealy's of Castlecomer and taking place at the Tara Towers Hotel in Dublin, the earliest known extant of an All-Ireland hurling final programme - the 1913 final between Kilkenny and Tipperary - was sold for €3,600.
All eight pages were in remarkable condition, and the match itself was historic for several reasons as it was the first final where the teams were reduced to 15 players, with Kilkenny's Mooncoin beating Tipperary's Toomevara 2-4 to 1-2.
There was significant interest in far lesser matches. Later, a programme from the 1926 All-Ireland football final replay between Kerry and Kildare went for €2,700; the 1927 football final programme between the same counties went for €2,600; and the match programme from the 1943 All-Ireland football final, which resulted in Roscommon's first ever title when they beat Cavan, sold for €3,000.
An original printed ticket from a football challenge game between Tipperary and Dublin, played in Croke Park on November 21st, 1920, sold to a private collector for €7,600. But that was no ordinary game, as British soldiers infamously stormed into Croke Park and started firing into the crowd, indiscriminately killing 12, and wounding 60, and thereby creating the "Bloody Sunday" history.
The exceptionally rare All-Ireland winner's medal from the first football championship final of 1887, won by Limerick Commercials, was still in negotiation but valued between €20,000 and €30,000. Also still in negotiation was Kilkenny's first All-Ireland hurling winners medals, from 1904, when they were represented by the Tullaroan club, and valued between €12,500 and €17,500.
A rare archive of letters and documents concerning the early history of the GAA in Laois dating back to 1915 was brought by the Croke Park museum for €10,000.
George F Mealy, who was directing the auction, said there were some particularly rare examples of early GAA memorabilia and wasn't surprised at some of the high prices paid: "A lot of these items were in fact quite keenly priced, given their historic importance. In some cases they were the Holy Grails of GAA memorabilia, and don't become available very often."
Dublin footballer Ray Cosgrove has announced his retirement from intercounty football. The 31-year-old Kilmacud Crokes won an All-Star in 2002 for helping Dublin reach the All-Ireland semi-final, but endured a gradual decline in form since then.
Elsewhere, Shane McGrath of Tipperary and Martin Flanagan of Westmeath were yesterday honoured with the Opel Gaelic Player of the Month Awards for April in hurling and football respectively.
