Luke Dempsey (born 15 December 1959) is a

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. His managerial career began in 1994. He has managed three county teams:

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

and

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

, as well as several clubs in Kildare, Westmeath and Meath.

Career

Dempsey guided Westmeath to an

All-Ireland Minor Football Championship The Electric Ireland All-Ireland Minor Football Championship is the premier under-17 "knockout" competition in Gaelic football played in Ireland. 2017 was the final year of the minor under 18 football championship as it were replaced by an under ...

title in 1995 and to an

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ( ...

title in 1999, then in his first season as senior manager led the team to an

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) ( ga, Craobh Shinsir Peile na hÉireann) is the premier competition in Gaelic football. An annual tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), it is contested by the county ...

quarter-final. He left Westmeath at the end of August 2003. 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 The Kildare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), or Kildare GAA, is one of 12 county boards governed by the Leinster provincial council of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County ...

club Moorefield (2013/2014) and

Westmeath GAA The Westmeath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae na hIarmhí) or Westmeath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County ...

club St Loman's (2015/2016/2017). He was appointed Longford manager in September 2004 and remained in that role until resigning in July 2008. Dempsey led Moorefield to the 2014

Kildare Senior Football Championship The Kildare Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition organised by Kildare GAA between the top clubs in County Kildare, Ireland. The winners of the Championship qualify to represent their county in the Leinster Club ...

, then returned to Westmeath as manager of the St Loman's club. His managerial record also ingludes leading the St Loman's club to the retention of a

Westmeath Senior Football Championship The Westmeath Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition organised by Westmeath GAA between the top Gaelic football clubs in County Westmeath. The winner of the Westmeath Championship qualifies to represen ...

title for the first time in its history, this achieved in 2016. He led St Loman's to a

Leinster Senior Club Football Championship The Leinster Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament played on a knockout basis between the senior club championship winners of the competing counties in Leinster. The current holders of the Leinster title are Ba ...

final against his former club Moorefield in 2017. He was appointed manager of

Meath GAA The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste na Mí) or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for M ...

club Gaeil Colmcille in 2021. He left after one season and was appointed manager of

Longford GAA The Longford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae an Longfort) or Longford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Lo ...

club

Killoe Young Emmets Killoe Young Emmets (Irish: ''Emmet Óg Cill Eo'') is a Gaelic Football club based in Killoe, County Longford, Ireland. The club is also referred to by the Irish 'Emmet Óg' or by 'Killoe Emmet Óg'. Organised Gaelic Games in the Parish of Kill ...

in November 2022.

Personal life

Dempsey is originally from

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

, a native of

Johnstownbridge Johnstownbridge ( or ''Droichead Baile Sheáin'') is a commuter town located in north County Kildare, Ireland. It lies in the parish of Cadamstown, in the district of Balyna, and barony of Carbury. It is located on the R402 road between Enfiel ...

. He lived in

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

from the age of ten. However, he later moved to live in Westmeath after securing a job there in 1981, teaching matematics at St Joseph's SC in

Rochfortbridge Rochfortbridge () is a village in County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The village is located at the intersection of the R400 road (Ireland), R400 and the R446 road, R446 (formerly the N6 road (Ireland), N6) roads. As of the 2016 cen ...

. After setting out teaching there in 1981 as a 21-year-old, he managed St Joseph's

to a

Leinster Colleges Senior Football Championship The Leinster colleges senior football "A" championship, is the top level Gaelic football competition for secondary schools in Leinster. The winners receive the Brother Bosco (Mulhare) Cup and advance to the All-Ireland colleges "A" senior footba ...

title in 2020, a year before retiring.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Luke 1959 births Living people Gaelic football managers Irish schoolteachers Mathematics educators