Rare GAA Medal From 1888 US Trip Goes On Sale

An extremely rare and unusual GAA medal, awarded to one of the first hurlers ever to play the game on US soil, will go up for auction in Co. Kilkenny on Thursday.

It has been in the possession of a Tipperary family for over 100 years, and is the only one of its kind known to still exist.

The medal was awarded to players sent by the GAA's founding fathers to the United States in 1888 with the idea of "strengthening the interest of the exiles in their native pastimes".

Many of the players that came to the US were members of the Tipperary team that had won the first-ever All Ireland hurling final the previous year.

The silver medal is in the shape of a Celtic cross, and has a design featuring two crossed hurleys with the inscription GAA 1888.

It's expected to fetch between €2,000-€3,000 at Mealy's Auction House in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny on Thursday evening, with significant interest reported from GAA supporters and collectors in Ireland and the US.

It was the vision of Cusack, Croke and Davin that led to a group of hurlers being gathered together for what would become known as "The American Invasion Tour".

On September 16, 1888 the group boarded The Wisconsin, and spent nine days at sea before docking at New York Harbour.

They received a heroes' welcome, with representatives of the Irish Societies clamouring to meet them.

The tour visited areas in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Trenton, Newark, Patterson, Providence and Lowell.

They were warmly welcomed in each place, and the Press were very kind in their reviews of the sport of hurling.

However, one of the aims of the trip was to raise funds to revive the ancient "Tailteann Games" - a Celtic festival of sport, literary and music competitions.

And in that respect the trip was a failure.

It was originally planned for August and was postponed due to lack of fundraising at home.

The inclement weather which greeted it in September 1888 hit attendances and caused at least one hurling game to be suspended.

In addition, the fledgling GAA walked into the middle of a row between two rival US athletic bodies - the NAAA and the AAU.

The larger AAU refused to take part unless the GAA denounced the NAAA, and when the GAA stayed neutral it refused to take part in the contests.

This robbed the games of their big attraction - seeing the best Irish athletes compete against the top American ones.

In the end, the trip, which was meant to raise funds, ended up costing the GAA money.

And several of the players who made the trip to the States, opted not to make the return journey home!

From a financial view point, the trip had been a failure, but from a social view point it was a roaring success and helped lay the foundations for the establishment of the GAA in the US.

Other medals from the trip may exist - but none has ever gone on sale before.