Luke Dempsey (born 1959) is a Gaelic football manager. His managerial career began in 1994.[1] He has managed three county teams: Westmeath, Longford and Carlow, as well as several clubs in Kildare, Westmeath and Meath.
Career edit
Dempsey guided Westmeath to an All-Ireland Minor Football Championship title in 1995 and to an All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship title in 1999, then in his first season as senior manager led the team to an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final.[2] He left Westmeath at the end of August 2003.[3]
From 1995 until 2017, Dempsey's managerial roles were with: the Westmeath minor team (1995/1996), the Westmeath under-21 team (1997/1998/1999/2000), the Westmeath senior team (2001/2002/2003), the Carlow senior team (2004, on an interim basis), the Longford senior team (2005/2006/2007/2008), the Carlow senior team (2009/2010/2011/2012), Kildare GAA club Moorefield (2013/2014) and Westmeath GAA club St Loman's (2015/2016/2017).[4][5]
He was appointed Longford manager in September 2004 and remained in that role until resigning in July 2008.[6][7][8]
Dempsey led Moorefield to the 2014 Kildare Senior Football Championship, then returned to Westmeath as manager of the St Loman's club.[4] His managerial record also ingludes leading the St Loman's club to the retention of a Westmeath Senior Football Championship title for the first time in its history, this achieved in 2016.[9] He led St Loman's to a Leinster Senior Club Football Championship final against his former club Moorefield in 2017.[10] He was appointed manager of Meath GAA club Gaeil Colmcille in 2021.[11] He left after one season and was appointed manager of Longford GAA club Killoe Young Emmets in November 2022.[12]
Personal life edit
Dempsey is originally from County Kildare,[4] a native of Johnstownbridge.[11] He lived in County Carlow from the age of ten.[4] However, he later moved to live in Westmeath after securing a job there in 1981, teaching matematics at St Joseph's SC in Rochfortbridge.[4] After setting out teaching there in 1981 as a 21-year-old, he managed St Joseph's Rochfortbridge to a Leinster Colleges Senior Football Championship title in 2020, a year before retiring.[2] Dempsey got married in December 2021, to H2O star, Cleo Massey, his partner of 10 years.
References edit
- ^ Callaghan, Tommy (18 April 2020). "Kildare's Luke Dempsey: manager supreme". Kildare Now.
- ^ a b "'It means the world to me' – Luke Dempsey". Westmeath Independent. 24 July 2020.
- ^ Hickey, Paddy (28 August 2003). "Dempsey decides to quit Westmeath". Irish Independent.
Dempsey led Westmeath to the All-Ireland minor title in 1995 and the All-Ireland U-21 crown in 1999 before taking over from Brendan Lowry as senior manager.
- ^ a b c d e Rooney, Declan (25 June 2015). "Luke Dempsey: It's our best ever chance to beat Royals". Irish Independent.
The fact that Dempsey refers to Westmeath as 'we' should not disguise his true colours. He is often referred to as a 'Westmeath native', but he is in fact Kildare-born... 'I am a Kildare native, I've always loved Kildare and I'll be shouting for them too on Sunday', he says. 'When I was ten I moved to Carlow and it was only when I got the job in Westmeath in 1981 and moved here the following year that I formed the connection'. A Westmeath resident... He stepped down as Westmeath manager after the '03 season when the county board asked him to interview for his own job.
- ^ O'Riordan, Ian (6 December 2017). "Luke Dempsey enjoying managerial merry-go-round". The Irish Times.
- ^ "Past Longford Managers". Longford Gaelic Stats.
- ^ "Dempsey takes charge in Longford". RTÉ. 11 September 2004.
- ^ "Dempsey calls time on Longford reign". RTÉ. 19 July 2008.
- ^ "St Loman's manager says Shane Dempsey was the difference". RTÉ. 30 October 2016.
- ^ "Luke Dempsey keen to take care of business with St Loman's". RTÉ. 7 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Dempsey appointed Gaeil Colmcille manager". Hogan Stand. 14 November 2021.
- ^ "Dempsey takes charge of Killoe - HoganStand". hoganstand.com.