Bertie Cunningham

Bertie Cunningham, whose full name was Bernard P. Cunningham, was an Irish Gaelic footballer born in 1939 who died on 19 January 2023. He played his club football with Ballivor and represented Meath at senior inter-county level, usually lining out at centre-back. As a schoolboy he won an All-Ireland Vocational Schools medal with a Meath selection in 1956, and he won the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship with Meath in 1957 before making his senior debut in an O'Byrne Cup game in 1958. He collected the first of four Leinster Senior Football Championship medals in 1964, lost the 1966 All-Ireland final to Galway, and was again at centre-back when Meath beat Cork in the 1967 final. He ended that season as Texaco Footballer of the Year. In retirement he coached at all levels with Ballivor and spent a period as a selector with the Meath senior team.