A pair of football boots worn by legendary Mayo footballer Eamonn Mongey attracted huge interest at a recent auction.

These particular boots proved extremely lucky for the Castlebar Mitchels midfielder as he wore them the last time Mayo captured Sam Maguire in 1951.

The boots worn by the late Mayo star were included in a sale organised by Cavan-based auction house Victor Mee Auctions, entitled: The Normal People Pub Memorabilia and Collectables Sale.

The three-day sale saw an entire catalogue of collectable, rare and unique pub memorabilia, furnishings and breweriana from Killoran’s Traditional Pub and Restaurant in Tubbercurry, Co Sligo take to the auction block.

Eamonn Mongey’s football boots proved to be one of the most sought after items that went under the hammer and sold for €5,600. The prized boots were bought by an Irish bidder and are to remain in the country.

“Following widespread of media interest in the lots within the sale – in particular the legendary Eamonn Mongey’s football boots – we received many calls from potential bidders keen to own a piece of GAA history and legend. We are delighted that some of the sporting memorabilia from this sale including the boots will remain right here in Ireland with their new owners. We look forward to continuing to expand our sporting memorabilia offering in coming sales,” said Auctioneer Victor Mee.

Pub owner

The famous boots attracted huge interest at auction.

Annie Killoran bought the boots in 1989 at a charity auction in Kitty O’Shea’s pub in Dublin prior to the Mayo-Cork All-Ireland final and they have hung in Killoran’s ever since. They went to auction with a certificate of authenticity hand-written by Éamonn Mongey himself who visited the pub in 1995, the certificate reads, “I was honoured to see my football boots hanging in such a prominent position among all your other exhibits.” Victor Mee Auctions expected the boots to sell from €1,500-€2,500 with the final price surpassing all expectations.