The death has taken place of former Dublin All-Ireland winner Dessie Ferguson. He was 91. He was a member of the pioneering St Vincent’s team of the 1950s along with Kevin Heffernan, Denis Mahony and many others from the club.
A dual player, he lined out at corner back with the county hurlers in the last All-Ireland hurling final reached by Dublin, the narrow 1961 defeat by Tipperary. He had been recruited by the makers of the film Rooney to try to coach the actor John Gregson, which turned out to be an unyielding task.
As a footballer he played mostly in the half forwards, reaching an All-Ireland minor final in 1948 but losing to Tyrone. His senior career was very successful, winning three national league medals in 1953, ‘55 and ‘58.
Ferguson, known as ‘Snitchy’ - a nickname he reportedly wasn’t mad about - also played in the famous 1955 football All-Ireland when Dublin lost to Kerry but was back for the successful final of 1958 when Derry were defeated.
Heffernan was a selector in 1963 by which stage Ferguson had retired but he was talked out of it and ended up playing in that year’s victorious All-Ireland campaign, culminating in the defeat of Galway.
His family were originally from Down but moved to Dublin when he was a child. He and his wife Máire moved to Meath so that he could take up a teaching post in Oldcastle. Their son Terry won All-Irelands with Meath in 1987 and ‘88.
After the four-in-a-row in 2018, Jim Gavin brought the Sam Maguire to Kells to acknowledge one of the county’s giants on whose shoulders modern Dublin football stood.
