Desmond Foley

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For more details of the GAA in Dublin, see Dublin GAA, Dublin GAA Honours and Dublin Senior Club Football Championship.

Desmond (Des) Foley (1940 - 1995) was an Irish Sports star in the 1960s, specialising in the gaelic games of Gaelic football and hurling. He was also an Irish parliamentarian and represented Fianna Fáil in Dáil Éireann.

Des Foley was born into a farming family at Kinsealy, County Dublin in 1940. As a young man he showed particular skill at Gaelic Games, winning four Dublin County Senior Hurling Championships with the St Vincent's club, having earlier captained the St Joseph's school team which brought the All-Ireland Colleges football title to Dublin for the first time. Foley captained the Dublin minor football team which won the All-Ireland Final in 1958. In 1962 he became the only player in history to play in two provincialRailway Cup finals, in hurling and football, on the same day, winning medals in both codes for Leinster. He won further Railway Cup medals again in 1964 and 1965.

Foley was a prominent member of the Dublin Hurling team from 1958 until 1969, playing on the losing side in the 1961 All-Ireland Final. In 1963 he captained the county football side which defeated Galway to win the All-Ireland title. He won three All-Star awards, two for football and one for hurling, but never a senior All-Ireland hurling medal. He was a mid-fielder of the highest ranking, particularly noted for his outstanding sportsmanship. His brother Lar was a team colleague, both in hurling and football, through most of his campaigns in the 1950s and 60s and who was also an All Ireland medal winner for Gaelic Football in 1958 and 1963.

Towards the end of his playing career, Des Foley became interested in politics and was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin County in 1965. He held his seat until he resigned on November 4, 1970 in protest against the Northern Ireland policy of the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch. Foley's constituency colleague, Kevin Boland, resigned his seat on the same day.

Des Foley died in Dublin in 1995 and was mourned throughout the GAA.

This page incorporates information from the Oireachtas Members Database