There is no bigger name in the history of Wexford GAA than Nicky Rackard but the price paid to get their hands on his 1955 All Ireland medal was still very high.
Yesterday, at an auction of sports memorabilia run by Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers at a Dublin hotel, a new record price for an All-Ireland medal was set.
Up for grabs was Nicky Rackard’s 1955 hurling winner’s medal. The first success by Wexford since 1910, it was the first of Rackard’s illustrious career and as the greatest Wexford hurler ever, anything associated with him (he died in 1976) is hugely precious to the county.
Rackard, whose feats included a tally of 7-7 in one game against Antrim in 1954, a handful of medals in football and a second All Ireland in hurling in 1956, the great man has had a statue erected in his honour in Wexford Town since 2012.
After being set at an estimated price of between €5,000 and €7,000 yesterday, the medal eventually went for €17,500, a record for an All-Ireland winner’s medal according to the Herald.
South East Radio report that the Rackard family bought the medal back. If so, it is great to see such a central piece of Wexford GAA history staying in the county.
