Kildare camogie manager reviews 2025 season

David O’Mahoney took over as Kildare Camogie Manager last autumn after Mike Wall had stepped away to manage the Leitrim hurlers. A former Laois hurler and noted coach, O’Mahoney had managed Laois development hurling squads and was manager of the Carlow camogie team for three years.

 It was a mostly disappointing year result wise for the new Kildare manager but injuries to key players and the unavailability of others made it a frustrating and challenging year too.

He sat down with The Kildare Nationalist this week to reflect on his first year in charge and while his disappointment and frustration were obvious, he remined confident as to the future of Kildare camogie. “It was obviously disappointing and being relegated in the championship was not the plan,” O’Mahoney told us. 

“I thought we were quite unlucky in the League. In three games we were actually leading in injury time and we ended up drawing one and losing the other two by a point. 

"With a little bit of luck if we had held on in those games we could have been in the League Final and that would have been considered a success,” he explained.

We suggest that the draw against Roscommon and the loss to Wicklow might be the greatest disappointments to Kildare as they were in good positions in both games.

 “Roscommon probably played better than us on the day but we had actually taken the lead in injury time but couldn’t hold on to it,” O’Mahoney told us. 

“In the Wicklow match we were seven points up with seven minutes to go and Wicklow had only scored maybe 1- 5 and then they hit us with 1-5 to no score and we ended up losing by a point. That was quite disappointed as we actually played quite well in that game but it essentially ruled us out of making the League Final.” 

Kildare were beaten by Dublin in the Leinster Intermediate Championship. 

“We performed well enough on the day but we were beaten by six or seven points. We had a couple of injuries going into that game but it wasn’t a bad performance,” the Kildare manager recalled. 

The All-Ireland series didn’t go well for the Lilywhites and they ended up being relegated to the Junior Championship following a Relegation Final defeat to Westmeath.

The Kildare Management Team had high expectations at the start of the season. 

“The goal was to get to a League Final and I felt that was possible,” O’Mahoney said. 

“Laois were favourites for the competition and we played them first. I felt they were probably a bit stronger than everyone else in the competition but I definitely thought that we could make the League Final. 

"In the Championship I felt that Kildare could have been relegated in the last couple of years but the way it was restructured this year it was always going to be a bigger challenge. I suppose the main goal (in the Championship) was to stay up and maybe get to a quarter final but it wasn’t to be,” he added.

Getting a panel together at the start of the season was the biggest challenge for  O’Mahoney and his Management Team. 

“There was a big change over from last year's panel, we probably only had nine from last year. That was quite challenging especially for players not used to playing intercounty hurling,” he explained. 

“We were unlucky then with to injuries key players coming into the championship We played Oulart the Ballagh and Thurles Sarsfields in two challenges games just before the Championship and we won both of those games and we were in a pretty good place. Injuries to key players probably scuppered our chances. Having a small panel as well made it more difficult,” the Kildare manager contended.

Not for the first time the number of players making themselves available to Kildare was disappointing. O’Mahoney spoke to players in November and December and over 80 players were contacted but only 26 made themselves available in 2025. The scheduling of club games in Kildare and in the Leinster League was not conducive to good preparations for the intercounty championships either. 

“I was very happy with the players who did make themselves available but I was surprised at that number of players who didn’t do so,”  O’Mahoney told us. “There were various personal reasons but you’d probably have to ask the players involved themselves,” he added.

There is great potential in the county according to O’Mahoney. 

“There are plenty of camogie players in the county but a rebuild probably needs to happen at the moment as Kildare have been relegated. They may have to play a good few years in Junior before they can get out of it but it’s time to progress forward now, you know,” he continued.

He agreed when we suggest that those who played for Kildare this year showed great pride in the Lilywhite jersey. 

“They trained very well and they competed really, really hard and never gave up. There was always a good vibe in the camp throughout the year. We were very good at creating goal chances but we probably left more behind us than we actually scored but great credit to the players for creating goal chances. The backs really worked hard as well,” he said.

As regards 2026 the Kildare manager has more or less let the dust settle before thinking of the new season. 

“A review with the County Board probably has to happen first and then I’ll talk to my coaches afterwards and to the other parts of the team behind me as well. We haven't really got together or talked as yet,” he explained.

“The door is always open and I’m looking forward to building on the squad for next year. You have to be able to strengthen the squad. As I said I was very happy with the players that I had and the commitment they gave but maybe some of the players who were unavailable this year might be available for next year,” O’Mahoney said hopefully.

“This year’s group were a good group to train and I enjoyed coaching them and I have the same enthusiasm for next year as when I took on the job,” he concluded.