Search on for missing Pat Farrell Cup
Anybody know where the Pat Farrell Cup is?That's a question some members of Dublin GAA club Faughs are looking to find an answer to as they seek to recover the trophy and revive a long-dormant hurling tournament.
That's a question some members of Dublin GAA club Faughs are looking to find an answer to as they seek to recover the trophy and revive a long-dormant hurling tournament.
Based in Templeogue, Faughs were formed in 1885 making it one of the oldest clubs in the country and in the mid 1980s they put up the Pat Farrell Cup in honour of a Meath man who became something of a legendary figure in the Dublin outfit.
The original idea was that the Meath senior team would take on Faughs in a game to be played annually with the expensive cup put up by a member of the Dublin club, Michael Clayton.
The problem was the tournament was only played once with Meath winning with the game almost certainly played in Trim.
The idea faded off the radar and so did the trophy. Now Faughs want it back so that it can be played for once more.
"When Pat passed away in 1980 the club presented a trophy to be known as the Pat Farrell Cup to be played between the Meath county senior team and Faughs," explained Faughs PRO Monica Spellman.
"This is where the problem arises! I can only remember the cup being played for on one occasion around 1984, '85 or '86. Meath won and the cup was presented to the Meath captain. The cup somehow got mislaid and has not been played for again. "We in Faughs would dearly love to find the cup and resume the competition, "
Born in 1896 Pat Farrell was brought up in Meath before moving to Dublin where he joined Faughs in 1928. He served the club "with distinction as a player and administrator" until his death in 1980.
"Pat was a native of Kildalkey and was appointed Faughs secretary in 1928, a position he held until 1969, a period of thirty-one years," added Spellman.
"He also served on Dublin County Board and was a Dublin Senior Hurling selector for many years. In 1934 he was a leading member of the Dublin GAA Golden Jubilee committee. In 1958 along with many prominent members of the GAA including Con Murphy (Cork), Nicky Rackard (Wexford) Pat Fanning (Waterford) Fr. Pat Gantley (Galway) Liam Harvey (Antrim) and Noel Leyne (Kildare), Pat was a member of a special commission set up to advise on the advancement of hurling in the weaker counties.
In addition to all this Pat wrote an article on Dublin hurling in the Evening Herald under the pseudonym PF. He was a very prominent member of the GAA and was the go-to man when anything about the rules had to clarified.
Anybody with any information on the trophy should contact Monica Spellman (087) 4150116.
"It would be great to get the trophy back and have it played for once more, it was a good quality trophy that would have cost a considerable sum of money," Spellman added.
"We would be grateful for any help you could give us to locate the cup which was presented to commemorate a proud Meath man."