1904 GAA Medal

"August Groeger (b. 1840, d. 1882) from Reichenbach, Silesia landed in Queenstown, now Cobh, sometime in the mid 1870s. He stayed in Cork where married Catherine Hurley of the Camden Hotel, Camden Place, Cork. They had 3 children – Pauline, James and Anthony. Pauline married Tim Healy in 1901, their son Gus became Lord Mayor of Cork and a TD, a public swimming pool in Douglas is named after him. William fought in WW1 against the Germans. He was injured but survived. He moved to England and married Mary Louisa Leeson. Gus Groeger married Frances Newman in 1905. He was a prominent sportsman and played mainly GAA, he played for Cork in an All Ireland final – which they lost. He became a member of the County Board of the GAA and a referee. He was kicked in the head during a fracas at a GAA match he was refereeing and went into a coma. He died shortly after, in August 1916, leaving a pregnant wife and 6 children. The seventh child was born in December 1916 – that was my father Ambrose Groeger. His widow worked as a childminder/teacher to keep the family together. She sold almost everything she could sell. One of Gus’ medals had been made into a brooch. She gave this to a niece Greta Newman. The clasp on the brooch broke and was then left in a draw and found in the 1990s when Greta Newman was moving from Cork to Ardmore. It was then given to me. When Frances had reared her children she luckily won the Irish sweepstakes and gave three thousand pounds to each of her seven children, my father used his share to buy a pub in Blackpool, Cork called ‘the Black Cock’."