Derry GAA trophy from 1891 to feature on Antiques Roadshow
Pictured last July at the Antiques Roadshow event in Derry City. From left: Sean Corry of St Patrick’s GAC, The Loup, his grandson Bradley Dolphin, Antiques Roadshow silver expert Gordon Foster, GAA Historian Dónal McAnallen, Seán Bradley Derry GAA.
By Cian Murphy
The magnificent Derry senior hurling championship trophy dating from 1891 will be a star attraction on an episode of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow which will be shown on tv this Sunday evening.
Filmed at an event in the city’s Ebrington Square last summer, GAA Historian Dónal McAnallen will talk about the cup and its colourful history.
“It is the oldest county championship trophy in the GAA. It is possibly also the first ever trophy for a county championship,” Dónal McAnallen told gaa.ie.
“The Antiques Roadshow experts found it very interesting.
“Why did Derry have a hurling championship trophy in 1891 which is long before it was the norm to have cups and trophies at county and even national level?
“Well, at the time it was first presented, Gaelic Games had mushroomed in Derry and there were 16 clubs in Derry at the time and also teams from Innishowen involved.
St Patrick’s of Waterside were first winners of the trophy.
“The fact that this trophy was being presented in 1891 is evidence that hurling was popular and also indicates just how popular the game of ‘caman’ was in the area and was widely played and predated the formation of the GAA in 1884.
“Even after the later decline of the GAA in the city, there are still newspaper reports of Christmas caman matches between factory workers in Derry,” he added.
St Patrick’s of Waterside were first winners of the trophy and they held onto the cup. For different reasons the cup went out of the spotlight and was never again played for as a senior hurling championship title.
After the initial growth and formation of GAA Clubs nationwide, the 1890s were a time of sharp decline for the GAA in many areas with Ulster GAA not resurrecting as a force until the 1900s and county boards reformed.
Political upheaval, mass emigration and also the fall out of administrative burdens and disputes between clubs taking their toll on volunteers new to life as a sports body are all reasons why the GAA stuttered after this initial strong start.
An incredibly detailed, ornate, and intricately designed trophy with a distinctive figurine adorning the top, St Patrick’s were guardians of the trophy, and it is now on proud permanent display in the Derry GAA Centre of Excellence in Owenbeg.