Michael Dempsey is an Irish former

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played at senior level for the Laois county team.

Early life

Born to Jack Dempsey (originally from Laois) and Annie Spain (originally from

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

), Dempsey is one of seven children: the others are Martin, P. J.,

Seán Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish language, Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (Anglicisation of names, anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn (g ...

, Betty (Moore), Margaret (Farrelly) and Anne Dempsey all of whom have links with the St Joseph's club.

Playing career

Dempsey

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

ed his club St Joseph's to the

Laois Senior Football Championship The Laois Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football competition contested by top-tier Laois GAA clubs. The Laois County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association has organised it since 1888. Portarlington won the 2024 title, af ...

title in 1983. He spent many years playing for the laois county team and was part of the team that won the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

title in 1986.

Managerial career

As a manager Dempsey managed Laois to the

Leinster U21 Football Championship The Leinster GAA Football Under-20 Championship, known simply as the Leinster Under-20 Championship, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Leinster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the high ...

title in 1994 and managed the Laois senior team in 1997 and 1998. With the Carlow club O'Hanrahans coach, Dempsey led the Blues to three championships and a Leinster title (2000) in his four-year tenure. He also managed the Muckalee and St Martins clubs in Kilkenny before joining manager

Brian Cody Brian Cody (born 12 July 1954) is an Irish former hurling manager and player and retired school principal. He managed the senior Kilkenny county team between 1998 and 2022, becoming the county's longest-serving manager and most successful in ...

as part of the leadership team for the Kilkenny senior hurlers in 2003. Dempsey stepped down as part of the Kilkenny hurling backroom team in October 2019. For the 2021 season, Dempsey was a selector for Loughmore-Castleiney in both hurling and gaelic football and helped guide the club to a second Tipperary double by winning the

Tipperary Senior Football Championship The Tipperary Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association club competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Tipperary. The winners of the Tipperary Championship qualify to represent their county in the Munster ...

and the

Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship The Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the FBD Insurance Tipperary County Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Tipperary GAA, Tipperary County Board of the Gaelic Ath ...

References

* Comhairle Laighean 1900-2000 Tom Ryall, 2000 * Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games Raymond Smith, 1999 * Laois GAA Yearbook 1999 Leinster Express, 1999

External links

''Irish Independent'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Mick Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Gaelic football managers Hurling selectors Kilkenny county hurling team Laois county football team non-playing personnel Laois inter-county Gaelic footballers St Joseph's (Laois) Gaelic footballers