Former GAA referee to hold sports memorabilia auction for charity

Well-known Offaly sports fanatic and former GAA referee, Carthage Buckley, will auction off a collection of sports memorabilia in aid of Dóchas Offaly Cancer Support Group at Gallen Community School, Ferbane, on Friday, August 7.

The Buckley collection is a remarkable compilation of GAA memorabilia and also includes rare gems from the world of soccer and rugby.

The collection, gathered over 60 years, will open for viewing from 3pm and will be conducted by former All-Ireland hurling referee, Brian Gavin.

Carthage, who is originally from Ballycumber but a long-time resident in Clara, has called time on collecting and as he closes the book, is staging a unique event in memory of his late son John.

The auction proceeds will go to a charity close to Carthage's heart, following John’s untimely death from cancer in 2019 at the age of 42. John was a prominent member of Clara GAA Club, winning senior and junior football medals with them in the 1990s and 2000s.

The collection of over 2,000 items features All-Ireland football and hurling final programmes dating back to the early 1970s with some from before that, including the 1954 All-Ireland hurling final when Christy Ring won his eighth medal for Cork, and the 1947 All-Ireland senior football final.

Programmes and special edition magazines from Offaly’s footballing glory years in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s also feature in the collection, while two exclusively bound books capturing 90 years of All-Ireland Hurling Final post-match coverage are amongst the treasured items.

GAA fans will be entertained by copies of Our Games and rare GAA annuals from the 1970s, while the 200 strong collection of books has to be seen to be believed.

Amongst them some of the greatest sporting books of all time, featuring the heroes of Leinster, Muster, Ulster and Connaught, the creators of the silverware they won, and the minds of the men who managed them.

The collection also stretches beyond GAA, with a treasure trove of FA Cup Final programmes, soccer annuals, a special ‘Liverpool collection’ as well as rugby programmes dating back to the late 1970s and 80s.

"John loved sports and I cannot think of a better way of remembering him. Collecting has been my passion, and I'm delighted at the opportunity to find new homes for so much valuable material. He'd be chuffed but probably surprised that I've decided to part with so much of the collection," Carthage said ahead of the auction on Friday night.