A pair of O’Neill’s shorts signed by Normal People actor Paul Mescal for a GAA club’s fundraising draw were won by a 78-year-old local farmer.
Noel Ryan said he “didn’t even look” at the hit BBC series which made Mescal a global star and Gaelic football shorts an unlikely fashion item.
It came after Cooraclare GAA club in west Clare confirmed that Mr Ryan had the winning ticket for the shorts raffled off to raise cash.
However, Mr Ryan said that he is “delighted” to have won the shorts and they have now pride of place at his home.
The garment contains the dedication penned by Mescal ‘to the Normal People of Cooraclare’.
The Kildare man has close family links to the west Clare village and his celebrity status has proven to be a winner for Cooraclare GAA, which has raised €10,000 for facilities on the back of the €20 shorts.
The club sold around 5,000 tickets and Mr Ryan said that he was one of the first to buy a ticket.
Cooraclare GAA spokesman, Joe Considine said that Noel Ryan “has been a member and supporter of Cooraclare GFC all his life”.
Mr Considine said that Noel knew Paul Mescal’s grandparents, the late Michael, and Mairead who still lives in the Mescal homestead.
He said that Noel worked with Paul’s uncle Paudie Mescal “when they both drove for the McNamaras, a local silage contracting outfit. The club is delighted that Noel won this prize as he was one of the first to buy a ticket as he always is”.
Mr Considine said: “The funds will go towards badly needed renovations of our gym facility and the balance is earmarked for covering yearly running costs and maintaining our pitch.”
Mr Considine said that the club sold tickets “home and abroad” through the association with Paul Mescal.
Paul’s father, Paul Snr was born in the parish and his Uncle Paudie, nephews and nieces, Clodagh, Aoibhinn, Páraic and Darragh Jim and first cousins are an integral part of the Cooraclare Club today.
During the autumn, Paul came along to watch his godson, Daragh Jim, train with the club’s under 9s at Cooraclare GAA grounds.
Co-owner of O’Neill’s Paul Towell said on Wednesday: “We’re delighted that a pair of O’Neills shorts has helped raise this type of money for a GAA club.
“It is a pity that Paul Mescal can’t sign all our shorts."
However, Mr Towell said that the ‘Mescal effect’ continues with sales of the €20 Mourne shorts.
Last month, Mr Towell said that the €20 Mourne shorts was “by far O’Neill’s best selling product for 2021 and sales have increased by 30 per cent on last year”.
Mescal made the O’Neills shorts one of the most sought after fashion items of this year after the former Kildare minor football captain was photographed out and about during 2020 sporting his own before wearing them with a €10,000 fleece for a GQ cover photo shoot last autumn.
