Agnes Quinn

A Celtic colleague James Blessington has gone on record stating that in his time, Madden was Scotland’s finest exponent of the stamina sapping five-a-aside version of soccer which was extremely popular at athletics and sports meetings.

The pewter tea set below (now in Hampden Museum) was won by Madden at such a meeting at Celtic Park on Sunday August 9th 1891. On that occasion Mr Dan Crilly, an Irish MP of the Home Rule or Nationalist variety presented the prizes. Mr Crilly was in Scotland on a speaking tour for the purpose of denouncing Charles Stewart Parnell.

The tea set itself sat for many years on the sideboard at the home of Madden’s niece Agnes Madden Quinn. And was displayed in 1988 at Celtic’s Centenary exhibition at the People’s Palace.