Great year for Kildare clubs gets even better

SOUTH Kildare GAA clubs have had remarkable success this year. Athy Senior A team won the Kildare Senior Championship, defeating the four times title holders Naas.

Athy Senior B team followed up with victory in the Senior B Championship final over Naas.

Our near neighbours, Grangenolvin, won the Junior Championship final, while Castledermot won the Under 16 A football championship.

Not to be forgotten Rheban won the Under 14 title, defeating another of our near neighbours, St Lawrence's in the final. The clubs mentioned all shared in a wonderful record which makes 2025 one of the most successful years in South Kildare Gaelic football.

I am writing this article just a few days before the Athy First Senior team meets Portarlington in the semi-final of the Leinster Club Championship (editor's note: they won!).

The Laois men are participating in their fourth Leinster championship in five years, while Athy are featuring in their first Leinster contest in 14 years.

The Athy players under the guidance of joint managers Con Ronan and Ross Bell, ably assisted by James Eaton and Paddy Dunne, will be seeking to make footballing history by reaching for the first time the Leinster Club final which will be played in Croke Park.

It was noteworthy that the ‘Man of the Match’ in the county championship final was Athy’s Barry Kelly and that Barry has since been declared the winner of the Kildare GAA Senior Club Player of the Year. Two wonderful achievements for the player whose father Joe won a senior championship medal with Athy in 1987.

Another player on the Athy team in that championship winning year was Colm Moran, who was also a county senior team player. His son, also named Colm, is a valued member of the current Athy senior team and I am still in wonderment at his scoring record of 3 goals and 8 points in the quarter-final stage of this year’s Kildare championship.

The Athy Senior B team, having defeated Naas in the County Championship Final, featured players whose names were long associated with the Athy club. One such name which stood out was that of Darragh English, grandson of my late great friend Frank English.

Frank never played football or featured on any team so far as I am aware, but his father Tommy English, better known as Tommy Buggy, did. Indeed, Tommy was on an Athy championship winning team in the 1930s.

Grangenolvin’s success in the Kildare Junior Championship final and a subsequent win in the Leinster championship means that the club has reached the semi-final of that competition for the second year in succession.

The fascinating composition of the Grangenolvin junior team lies in the fact that it has four Bergin brothers, two Doyles, two Cullens, two Dooleys and two Bowens in the 15-man team.

One of the four Bergin brothers, Conal, was midfield star in the final when he was introduced at half-time. The semi-final will have taken place on the Saturday before this article appears so let me wish Grangenolvin GFC every success.

Castledermot GFC won this year’s Under 16 A Football Championship, while Rheban GFC won the under 14 title.

They defeated our near neighbours, St Laurence’s, in the Under 14 county final. What a wonderful record of success by GAA clubs in the south of the county.

The only disappointment was the loss suffered by Ardscoil na Tríonóide who recently lost the third-round match in the Bro. Bosco Cup to Moate.

It reminded me of the match Athy CBS played in Moate in the late 1950s.

It was our school’s first time to enter the Leinster College Championship during my playing career. We were heavily defeated, despite the best efforts of good players such as Paul Cunningham, Ted Wynne and Johnny Miller. These were the days before free education and the numbers in the Athy secondary school were limited.

I remember we had to place in goal for that match a student who had never played Gaelic football.

As we returned to the dressing room Bro Brett, our headmaster, called out ‘lads, hand up the jerseys, we might need them again!’ We never again had that opportunity.

The match between Ardscoil na Tríonóide and Moate was played in Athy GFC’S new pitch which with the original Geraldine Park, forms a wonderful playing facility for the local players.

It is rather a pity that Geraldine Park which, was once home to a football All-Ireland final, a hurling All Ireland final and Leinster Football finals is no longer used for county matches.

While acknowledging the prowess of the local GAA clubs in this year’s championships, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the sporting success of Clonmullion AFC and Athy Rugby Club.

Clonmullion are once again Lumsden Cup champions, while Athy senior rugby team won the Provincial Towns Cup. The Athy rugby players have since gone on to defeat Suttonians in the follow-up competition. Hearty congratulations to all south Kildare clubs which have achieved such great success in 2025.