The Kildare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (Irish: Cummann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Contae Cill Dara) or Kildare GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Kildare. The county board is also responsible for the Kildare inter-county football, hurling, camogie and ladies football teams.

History

Gaelic sports have been played in Kildare for many centuries. In the Book of Leinster, hurling matches played on Lyons Hill are mentioned, while sporting festivals were held in the Curragh also.

In 1699 an Englishman, John Dundon, gave an account of a hurling match in Naas. A handball alley in Rathangan has "1790" carved on it. In 1792 a hurling came was played in Timolin which developed into a riot. Five years later a Gaelic football game was played between Meath and Kildare, wathced by Lord Edward Fitzgerald.

John Wyse Power, then editor of local newspaper The Leinster Leader was at the first meeting of the GAA in Thurles in 1884. The following year the first three games under the official GAA Gaelic football rules was played, two of which were between Kildare clubs (Straffan v. Clane and Naas v. Curragh).

Gaelic football

Kildare is very much a footballing county, with 105 teams from 40 clubs competing in the Senior Football League.

Kildare first entered the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, represented by the Clane club (this being the days before all-county squads). They were soundly beaten by Dublin on a score of 2-7 to 0-1. The Lilywhites won their first Leinster title in 1903 and their first All-Ireland two years later. Another title followed in 1919 and then Kildare entered their most successful era, winning six Leinster titles in a row (1926-1931) and two All-Irelands in 1927 and 1928, captained by the great Bill "Squires" Gannon. But this was to be the beginning of the end. Kildare reached the final again in 1935 where they lost to Cavan, and there was to be no more honours for twenty-one years when the Lilywhites won Leinster but lost to Cork in the 1956 All-Ireland semi-final. This marked another drought and it would be forty-two years until Kildare returned to the big time. In 1998, mananged by the great Kerryman Mick O'Dwyer and captained by Glenn Ryan, they reached the All-ireland final, beating Dublin, Laois, Meath and Kerry but suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Galway in the final. The Lilies won another Leinster in 2000 following a brilliant comeback against Dublin, but again they fell to Galway, this time in the semi-final. This year (2005), Kildare enjoyed mixed success, finishing in the top six in the National Football League but be disappointingly knocked out of the championship by Sligo.

Hurling

Hurling in Kildare has always been a secondary sport, with only 11 clubs playing in the county. In recent years, the leading clubs have been Coill Dubh (Allenwood) and Ardclough. Celbridge were the 2005 senior champions, their first win for 84 years.

In intercounty tournaments, the only honours have been 5 Leinster junior titles and two junior All-Irelands (1962 and 1966).