Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers RARE BOOK & COLLECTORS SALE 6th & 7th, December 2022

178 IMPERFECTIONS NOT STATED Fonsie Mealy’s Est. 1934 1115. First G.A.A. Specimen Medal 1885 Medal: G.A.A. 1885 : An important early circular silver Medal, the obverse with decorative design depicting harp, Celtic Cross, sunset, hurl and sliotar set in romantic landscape, the surround inscribed ‘Gaelic Athletic Association Championship Medal’, the reverse with central shamrock inside each leaf the name “Dr. Croke, Parnell and Davitt” - underneath engraved “Est. 1885” the surround “Specimen Medal for Collection given to Major Leech,” housed in original presentation box for J.F. O’Crowley, 83 George’s Street, Cork. This medal is believed to be the first suggested Medal or Specimen issued for the G.A.A., for presentation. It subsequently changed to the Celtic Cross. Rare. (1) €2000 - €3000 1116. Cork’s First Football All-Ireland, 1894 Medal: G.A.A. Cork 1894 , An attractive shield shaped 9ct gold Medal, the obverse with central overlay bearing the Cork Coat of Arms surrounded by the Provincial Coats of Arms connected with shamrocks, the reverse inscribed “G.A.A. All-Ireland Football Championship, won by Nils 1894,” hallmarked. Extremely Scarce. (1) Provenance: Jack O’Sullivan, Nils Desperandum, by direct family descent. ** The 1894 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the seventh All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1894 All Ireland Senior Football Championship. The first game was a draw, 0-6 to 1-1 (at the time, a goal equalled five points) and so a replay was played. With ten minutes remaining, and Cork leading by 1-2 to 0-5 (seven points to five), several Dublin players were attacked by Cork supporters. Dublin refused to play on and the GAA) Central Council awarded them the championship.[1] The Cork County Board never accepted this finding and four months later a ceremony was held to award gold medals to the victorious Nils Desperandum players (in those days each county was represented by the previous years’ county champions). At the ceremony the Lord Mayor of Cork said that he “was positively certain that the Dublin Gaels always recognised the merits of the Nils, and now hailed them as winners of the Football Championship for ‘94.” The final went into the record books however as Dublin’s third All-Ireland football title of the 1890s. The Rebels still stood their ground on the result. €7000 - €9000 1117. Limerick v. London 1904 Medal: - G.A.A. 1904 , An early silver Maltese shaped engraved and pierced Medal, the obverse with central circular gold overlay inscribed ‘G.A.A. Limerick and London 1904’ the reverse hallmarked, together with a later silver link Bracelet. (1) €600 - €800