McCarthy living the All-Ireland medal dream
But as a businessman, he aspired to making them.
Having achieved the first goal many times in a glittering career, McCarthy is fulfilling his other lifetime ambition.
McCarthy’s day job is the production of trophies, cups and the like. It is a family affair in the business in Prince’s Street in Cork. So when GAA chiefs went in search of a company to produce medals for the All-Ireland champions across the grades, he was quickly out of the blocks.
He explained: “Croke Park put it out to tender, we put in a bid and thankfully we got the order. It is a huge thing in this economic climate but it is also more than that for me. When I was a kid, I was like any other youngster hoping to win an All-Ireland medal. But then when I got older and went into business and I began to think about getting the chance to make the medals. Now I have that chance, it is unbelievable.”
GAA chiefs provided McCarthy with a detailed list of what they want.
And the 2010 batch shows some subtle differences from those he collected in his playing days.
He said: “The design has changed in the last two years. In the past the medals would have had Éire on them but since that cannot be copyrighted the GAA felt that they wanted something unique on their medals.
“All the new medals have the association’s logo on them as a result. Croke Park furnish us with the design, the quantities, dimensions and the thickness and we take it from there.”
The thickness? McCarthy revealed that this is the crucial difference on presentation night.
“Yes all the medals are made from 9 carat gold but the thickness of the medal is dependent on the grade of the championships. So the senior would be the thickest, then you would have the likes of the cups (Christy Ring, Lory Meagher, Christy Ring) along with the intermediates while the U21 and minor would have a thinner gauge.”
It is a time consuming process. Plates of gold, to the required thickness, are stamped out into the outline and then each medal is engraved individually. And the deadline is always changing.
“Ideally you would be talking about six weeks for delivery time,” McCarthy continues, “but one or two counties were having presentation nights earlier so we have worked hard to get those medals done.
“We work as best we can to facilitate people as best we can. Armagh requested their Nicky Rackard Cup early and we delivered on that. Kilkenny have their intermediate and minor medals and this week we are finishing the medals for the Cork footballers which they will receive tomorrow night.”
WITH all the debate and discussion about squad sizes and extended panels, how many players are entitled to an All-Ireland medal?
Gerald McCarthy said the ruling from GAA headquarters leaves no room for uncertainty. “Croke Park are very specific about the number of medals that are made. For the senior champions we produced 30 medals. There is no more beyond that. For some of the other competitions, Croke Park will supply 24 medals and the counties have the option of buying the additional six, which they invariably do.”
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