Ray D’Arcy goes under the hammer for €1,800
A BULLOCK named after Ray D’Arcy and a signed Irish rugby jersey helped Cashel Mart and the Grass Gals crew raise more than €20,000 for charity this weekend.
Cashel Mart and the Grass Gals hosted a charity auction last Saturday to raise funds for The Alzheimer Society of Ireland. This followed The Grass Gals’ successful fundraising weekend in Mount Melleray, Co Waterford last August, where they raised more than €14,000 for the charity.
A jersey donated by the Irish rugby team and a three-month-old Hereford bullock, named after TV and radio presenter Ray D’Arcy, were among the star attractions up for grabs on Saturday.
Cashel Mart manager Alison de Vere Hunt told the Farming Independent that Ray sold for an impressive €1,800, while the Ireland jersey went for for €1,050 as the Irish team thrashed Italy in the Six Nations.
“It went really well. We were delighted with how much the jersey went for as well. We were hoping to get €1,000 or more for the jersey as we’d got a lot of interest for it,” says Alison.
“It was signed by the entire current team and most of that team would’ve been part of the historic win over the All Blacks in 2016.”
Not surprisingly, Archie, the Scottish Highland bullock topped the sale when he sold for €2,220. With more than 30 animals on display on Saturday, Alison said she’s grateful to the support of locals who were still donating animals up until the auction began.
“Everything sold on the day, and even calves made serious money. One Friesian bull calf made €500. Everyone was so generous,” she says.
After the auction, the crew from Cashel Mart and the Grass Gals made their way to Dublin so that the bullock Ray D’Arcy could meet his namesake.
“We were on The Ray D’Arcy Show on Saturday. I’m not really one for the TV, but the girls were very excited and it was great. The bullock stepped on Ray’s foot from time to time but he behaved well overall,” adds Alison.
Auction organiser John O’Brien who donated Ray the bullock says that the Alzheimer Society of Ireland is one close to his heart as his late father suffered from the disease.
John says that he is “well aware” of the stress the disease can put on families and pointed out that 100pc of the funds raised on Saturday went to the charity.
“I know first hand what it’s like caring for someone with Alzheimers.
“It changes the dynamic of the whole family. €7,000 of what we raised in August has gone towards a daycare bus for The Alzheimer Society in Clonmel, so I like to see we are making a difference.”