John Fogarty: A sense of responsibility characterised what Dessie Farrell has given Dublin

From his playing days through development squads to leading the county, Farrell has made an impression on the game that extends beyond the capital’s borders.

Dublin manager Dessie Farrell during the All-Ireland quarter-final match defeat by Tyrone. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

How will we remember you, Dessie? Two-time All-Ireland winning manager? Supper and survivor of the poisoned chalice? Producer of that difficult second album?

The heavy mantle handed to him by Jim Gavin – and it was heavy – was enough on its own without being passed on so late in 2019. When the pandemic hit, Farrell could have been forgiven for thinking he broke a mirror but on reflection the break gave him space and time and on that eerie December night 12 months after his appointment the six-in-a-row was achieved.

There was ignominy the following March when some of Dublin’s players were found to have breached the Government’s lockdown rules by partaking in a training session in Innisfails and Farrell was handed an eight-week ban.

Further blows came in the championship exits to Mayo and Kerry in 2021 and ’22 only for the most satisfying All-Ireland success to follow in ’23 when both were put to the sword with a team that featured 10 of the starters from the ’20 All-Ireland final. The side still bore the hallmarks of the glittering Gavin era but by that stage Farrell had made his own indents.

Dublin’s manager Dessie Farrell. Pic: James Crombie, Inpho

Afterwards, captain James McCarthy spoke about how the players wanted to win for a manager they felt had taken too much flak over the two previous seasons. “I just thought some of the shots at him the last two years were disgraceful, to be honest,” he said.

The appreciation was mutual. With the same quiver in his throat that cadenced his affectionate words for McCarthy before Dublin’s victorious 2023 All-Ireland final, Farrell spoke on Saturday of his love for the group he leaves.

Some of them had left him already, the class of 1993 including Messrs. Fenton, McCaffrey and Mannion, but they, Ciarán Kilkenny and John Small he had raised from pups at development level. “I think it's just come to a natural end. It's easier to say it today than I have to say it next week or in a couple of weeks's time,” he said on Saturday.

“I definitely don't want to make it about me because it's always and always has been about the players. Ultimately, they're the men who step into the arena. They're the men in the formative years of their lives who dedicate so much to playing for their county.

“I have huge admiration and respect for them. I think the overriding feeling for me now is that I will miss the people. It's not necessarily the position because some of the relationships are really important to me. Some of those lads have been like kids to me, watching them grow up. They're a special group and I'm very, very grateful for them and for all they've given. They'll drive on and Dublin will be a good place next season and the season after.” 

For Farrell, it was important he fulfil the last year of his current term. There had been too much upheaval in personnel at the end of last season without him exiting stage left too. As he revealed, the county board knew his intentions from the outset of the year and unlike him his successor will have time to plan.

“I think with all the retirements from last season and if the management team had stepped away as well, it didn't feel like the right thing to do. I think everyone involved, management, coaches, backroom and players knew that this was going to be a different season. We just embraced that challenge and see where it took us. It was a very fulfilling and rewarding season.” 

That sense of responsibility has characterised a lot of what Farrell has given Dublin from his playing days through to management with development squads from 2007 to leading the county to All-Ireland minor (2012) and U21 (’14, ’17) respectively. The impression he has made on the game extends beyond the capital’s borders too. As GPA chief executive, it was who proposed the now-celebrated “solo and go” in 2012.

Attention will turn rapidly to who’s the next man in, whether Gavin or Pat Gilroy may be tempted back if not Louth’s Leinster SFC-winning manager Ger Brennan given the posting, but Farrell’s tour of duty in Dublin should be acknowledged. “I've had a great innings,” he summarised in the media auditorium underneath the Hogan Stand.

“I think between being a player for Dublin underage and senior player and then as an underage coach and senior coach, manager, whatever you want to call it, I've got the guts of 40 years.

“It's a long time and it's been a privilege every year, every step of the journey. I've met some great people. I've had a ringside seat for some of the best players that ever performed in the arena out there.”

The ringmaster wasn’t bad either.