Des Foley

Des Foley
Personal information
Sport	Dual player
Football Position:	Midfield
Hurling Position:	Midfield
Club(s)
Years	Club
	St Vincents
Club titles
	Football
Dublin titles	1
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
1958–1969	Dublin
Inter-county titles
	Football
Leinster Titles	5
All-Ireland Titles	1
League titles	1
All-Stars	2

Des Foley
Des Foley
Teachta Dála
	In office; June 1969 – February 1973
Constituency	Dublin County North
	In office; April 1965 – June 1969
Constituency	Dublin County
Personal details
Born	12 September 1940; North Strand, County Dublin, Ireland
Died	5 February 1995 (aged 54); Dublin, Ireland
Political party	Fianna Fáil
Spouse	Rita Nugent
Education	St Joseph's, Fairview

Desmond Foley (12 September 1940 – 5 February 1995) was an Irish Gaelic footballer and hurler of the 1950s and 1960s. He was also a politician and represented Fianna Fáil in Dáil Éireann.^[1]

Sports

Desmond Foley was born into a farming family at

Railway 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

1961 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final. In 1963 he captained the Dublin county football team 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 Foley

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.

Politics

Towards the end of his playing career, Foley became interested in politics and was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin County constituency at the 1965 general election, and in the Dublin County North constituency at the 1969 general election.^[3] He resigned from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party on 4 November 1971, in advance of a confidence motion in Jim Gibbons, whose role in the Arms Crisis he disagreed with.^[4] He unsuccessfully contested the 1973 general election in Dublin County North as an Independent candidate.^[5]^[2]

Des Foley died in Dublin in 1995.^[2]

References

^ "Desmond Foley". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c White, Lawrence William. "Foley, Desmond". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
^ "Des Foley". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
^ Glennon, Chris (5 November 1971). "Lynch defiant as vote nears". Irish Independent.
^ "Return of the 'GAA deputies'". Irish Independent. 2 March 1973.

Honorary titles
Preceded by Lorcan Allen	Baby of the Dáil 1965–1969	Succeeded by John Bruton

[oireachtas_db-1] "Desmond Foley". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 16 October 2012.

[dib-2] White, Lawrence William. "Foley, Desmond". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 25 January 2023.

[elecs_irl-3] "Des Foley". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 16 October 2012.

[4] Glennon, Chris (5 November 1971). "Lynch defiant as vote nears". Irish Independent.

[5] "Return of the 'GAA deputies'". Irish Independent. 2 March 1973.

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