22 May 2014
THIS STORY APPEARED IN THE ANDERSONSTOWN NEWS 22 MAY 2014
By David Mohan
‘SHOW me your medals’ may be viewed as disparaging comment on the field of play or yelled from the terraces, but for many past and present Antrim players, showing those medals may have become a little easier.
With Casement Park now closed for redevelopment, a clear out of the old offices by County Board vice-chairman, Joe Edwards turned up a plethora of hidden gems.
Medals that were never presented to winning teams were found by the boxful, from three 1953 Ulster Minor Hurling Championship medals and eight National Hurling League winners medals from the 1955/56 season, right up to recent times where Antrim’s U16 hurlers’ All-Ireland B winners of 2001 and 2003 are still without their medals.
An entire set from the 1999 Ulster U21 Hurling Championship are still unclaimed while in other cases such as the 1976 National Football League Division Two winners, one player was never presented.
No doubt, there will be many tales to tell regarding these victories over the years. Some may be wondering where their medal for winning a certain Championship ever went while others may be living at the other side of the world by now, or indeed have passed on.
Either way, the Antrim County Board are keen to acquaint these medals with the relevant people.
A list of the number of medals for each Championship winning team that were never presented is at the bottom right of the page. Some of these teams, such as the 2003 U16 B winning team would contain some of today’s seniors including Neil McManus and Aaron Graffin.
“Upon clearing out Casement Park for the renovation, I noticed bags and boxes full of unpresented medals,” explained Joe.
“Some of them date back to the 1950s that for one reason or another were never handed out. There are also some from recent years that haven’t been presented.
“We used to always have presentation ceremonies for these but there were some times that players couldn’t attend or there were so few available, there was no point in hosting anything, so the medals are still sitting here.
“I would really like to see all of these go to the players that earned them on the field of play. Of course, some from the 1950s may have passed on, but it would be nice for these to go to relevant people.
Hopefully we can identify those who have not received these medals and possibly have a ceremony for them. Some of the more recent medals have come in boxes with the relevant players names on such as Ulster Senior Hurling Championship winners medals, so they will be easy to track down, but some of the older ones like a National Hurling League medal from 1955/56 may be harder to identify. Either way, we would like to see these be finally presented.”
Are you one of the players that was never presented with a medal for being part of title winning Antrim team or know someone, be it friend or family, that was? Please contact the sports desk on 90608810 or the Antrim County Offices on 90300172.
Inventory of uncollected medals
2002 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship (six medals)
2002 Ulster U21 Hurling Championship (seven)
1999 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship (15)
1998 Ulster Senior Hurling Championship (14)
2003 National Hurling League Division 2 (10)
1999 Ulster U21 Hurling Championship (25)
1998 Ulster U21 Hurling Championship (16)
2001 All-Ireland U16 ‘B’ Hurling Championship (24)
2003 All-Ireland U16 ‘B’ Hurling Championship (24)
1960 Ulster Junior Football Championship (4)
1975 Ulster U21 Football Championship (4)
1976 National Football League Division 2 (1)
2002 Ulster Minor Hurling League (4)
2003 Ulster Minor Hurling League (4)
1955 Ulster Junior Hurling Championship (8)
1957 Ulster Junior Hurling Championship (3)
1958 Ulster Junior Hurling Championship (12)
1959 Ulster Junior Hurling Championship (11)
1858 Ulster Minor Hurling Championship (4)
1959 Ulster Minor Hurling Championship (7)
1955/56 National Hurling League (8)
1953 Ulster Minor Hurling Championship (3)
