Legendary English rocker Eric Clapton was once a member of the Ballinagore GAA club in Co. Westmeath!

A new book entitled 'The Little Book of Westmeath', which will be launched in Mullingar on Monday week, recalls how in 1984 the well-known professional gambler Barney Curley decided to raffle his Castletown-Geoghegan mansion, Middleton Park. For legal reasons, a charity element was added with donations to the Irish Wheelchair Association, while all draw members would have to become members of the local GAA club which, in this case, was Ballinagore.

The raffle generated huge interest with 9,000 tickets selling for £200 apiece. Each of those 9,000 ticket holders automatically became members of Ballinagore GAA, making it one of the largest sports club in the world at the time.

Clapton and racehorse owner Robert Sangster were among those to enter the raffle, which was won by an English syndicate. The winning ticket was drawn by none other than the legendary GAA commentator Michael O Hehir!

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