Derry GAA and in particular Derry hurling will reach a whole new audience when it is featured on classic British television programme, the Antiques Roadshow on Sunday.
The first of three episodes from the city will be broadcast on Sunday evening and will feature the mysterious and intriguing story of the 1891 Derry county hurling trophy, the oldest county GAA trophy in Ireland.
With a huge cult following, the Antiques Roadshow is one of the most popular programmes on BBC television. The team visited Derry during the summer expecting to put together one show. However, the experts found so many historical gems in the city that it now has to broadcast three programmes.
The programmes will feature Derry’s links with World War Two, its maritime and military history, the city’s factory girls and much more. But, the most intriguing artefact of all is the hurling trophy and its history. The cup was brought along to the Antiques Roadshow by former Derry county chairman, Sean Bradley, writer and historian, Dónal McAnallen and Sean Corry from St Patrick’s, the Loup.
Mr McAnallen told the “Irish News” the trophy was unique in Irish sport and had a fascinating history.
“It was played for by the clubs in Derry city (in 1891) and was to be kept by the first club to win it three times but St Patrick’s in the Waterside won it and appeared to have kept it,” he said.
The trophy disappeared from view until 1921 when it mysteriously appeared in a photograph with a St Patrick’s football team, vanishing again until the mid-1930s when it made a re-appearance, again with a Waterside GAA team.
Former Derry chairman, Sean Bradley said it appears the trophy was kept for safe-keeping in the Waterside parochial house. Fr Leo Deery, who was also a county board member, eventually raised its whereabouts in preparation for a Derry GAA book marking the centenary of the organisation.
“Monsignor Austin Duffy presented it to the county board and it’s now kept in the trophy cabinet at Owenbeg (Derry GAA headquarters),” Mr Bradley said.
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Modelled on the work of sixteenth century Italian goldsmith, Benvento Cellinni, the hurling trophy was viewed by the Antiques’ Roadshow silver expert whose estimate of value will be unveiled on Sunday evening.
Derry mayor, Patricia Logue said she was delighted that the show was coming from the city’s Ebrington Square.
“It will be a great opportunity to tell our story to a new audience who probably don’t know a lot about the city other than what they have heard about the Troubles or through Derry Girls.
“As one of Ireland’s most historic settlements, Derry has played a pivotal role in shaping the history of this island but also history on a global level so there are many chapters of its story that people can relate to,” Ms Logue said.
The first of the three Derry episodes will be broadcast on Sunday evening (8pm), October 22.
