Raffle Ticket

This raffle ticket was purchased in Glasnevin, Dublin, for a draw which took place on 13th March 1940 in aid of the Christian Brothers Schools’ hurling and football leagues.

There were three prizes available of £5, £2 and £1 (1st, 2nd and 3rd), and the results of the draw were to be published the next day in the ‘Morning Papers and Evening Herald'.

The cost of the ticket was 2d, two pennies, or 'tuppence' and in Ireland at that time there were 240 pence in a pound. The ‘d’ stands for denarius, which was the silver coin of ancient Rome.

The serial number 39425 is printed in the top left corner and this was not a winning ticket as the Evening Herald for Thursday 14th March listed the numbers ‘C.B.S. Draw – First 33399, Second 21602, Third 747.’

There is the use of both the Irish and English languages on the ticket, which was published in Dublin by Cló Chuallacht Fódhla on behalf of the Athletics Association (Cumann Lúith- Chleas) of the Brothers Schools (Scol na mBráthar).

The top prize for this March draw was five Irish pounds. When Ireland was creating their own currency in 1927, they chose to use a woman to symbolise Ireland, the mythical Kathleen Ní Houlihan representation of the new Irish State.

The woman chosen as the face for the new notes was Lady Hazel Lavery and on the larger notes her portrait includes a harp, but on the £10, £5, £1 notes it is just her head and shoulders in an oval frame.

In order to provide a Catholic education for boys, an Irish merchant, Edmund Rice, founded the Christian Brothers in Waterford in 1802 and nearly 100 schools followed, throughout the country. They were schools with a focus on Irish language and culture, where Gaelic football and hurling were dominantly played.

Most GAA clubs use raffle tickets still to fund raise. Cost of the tickets have increased, but so have the prizes, the highest being the recent raffles for houses.