The Kildare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), or Kildare GAA, is one of 12 county boards governed by the Leinster provincial council of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Kildare. The Lillies are one of only 4 counties who will play at the top level of both Hurling and Football for the 2026 campaign.
The County Board is responsible for preparing the Kildare county teams in the various Gaelic sporting codes; football, hurling and camogie.
The county football team won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) on four occasions in less than 25 years at the beginning of the 20th century and had accumulated ten Leinster Senior Football Championships by 1935; however, it then went into decline. It last reached an All-Ireland SFC final in 1998 after a gap of 63 years without an appearance in the decider. They then went on to win 5 straight senior titles from 2005-2010.
Colours and crest
The Kildare crest had a serpent on it until 1993, reflecting that of Kildare County Council, itself based on the crest for the town of Naas. When Kildare County Council had the Heraldic Office of Ireland create a proper crest in 1991, and with Kildare fans regarding the serpent as a bad omen, the Kildare Supporters' Club requested a new one for their county teams; this featured acorns above a bunch of lilies (the county council one differed in that it had a Brigid's cross, a harp, a horse's head and acorns). Kildare still lost in the first round of the Leinster Senior Football Championship (SFC) for three years afterwards, from 1994 until 1996.
Kildare introduced a new crest in 2005 in line with many other county boards who swapped out traditional crests for slightly different or modernised versions which they could claim a copyright. The new crest is a stylised Brigid's cross with the county name below in both Irish and, rarely for a GAA board, English.
History Gaelic games predate recorded sporting history in Kildare. Hurling on Lyons Hill was featured in the Book of Leinster. The Curragh of Kildare was the venue for the fairs and festivals of ancient Ireland called the Aonach Colmáin. Local references to football go back to medieval times. An English traveller, John Dundon, described a hurling match in Naas in 1699. A handball alley near Rathangan bears the date 1790, though the oldest known alley is located near Moone. A match at Timolin in February 1792, resulted in a riot that was reported in local newspapers. There is also a reference to an inter-county match between Kildare and Meath GAA in 1797 which was attended by Lord Edward Fitzgerald. Valentine Lawless, Lord of Cloncurry, describes how Wogan Browne, an 18th-century grandee, lost his Justice of the Peace status for kicking off a football match in the Clane area, also in 1797.
Summer athletics meetings in Kildare predate the GAA. John Wyse Power, then editor of local newspaper The Leinster Leader, attended the foundation meeting of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Thurles in 1884. In February 1885, Sallins GAA, Straffan GAA, Naas GAA and the Suncroft GAA played in the first four football matches governed under new GAA rules.
A county committee was established in 1887. Kildare entered the second championships in 1888 and was represented by Clane GAA. Tommy Conneff from Clane, who went on to hold the world record for the mile, was among the first GAA athletic champions.
County board structure The Kildare County Board, which meets once a month in St Conleth's Park, is the highest authority within the county. It is responsible for running all adult football competitions, the Under 21 championships, and minor leagues and championships. Every club sends one delegate. There is a separate board responsible for hurling, which is a subsidiary board to the county board.
Juvenile hurling and football is administered by Bord na nÓg which runs Under 14, 15 and 16 competitions. Under 13 and younger grades are separated into a North Board and South Board.
Football Clubs
Kildare is very much a footballing county, with 105 teams from 45 clubs competing in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Football Leagues. The highest-achieving club is Sarsfields (Newbridge) with 25 (9 as their former name Roseberry). Clane won 17 titles. Raheens won 10; Carbury, 11; Round Towers from Kildare Town, 10 (counting three won as Kildare Town and one as St Patrick's); Naas, 9; Moorefield (Newbridge), 8; Athy, 5; Kilcock, 5; Ellistown, 4 (counting 2 won as Mountrice); Johnstownbridge, 3; Caragh, 3; Monasterevin, 3; Maynooth, 2; and Allenwood, Ardclough, Ballymore, Celbridge, Curragh, Eadestown, Military College, Rathangan, Newbridge CYMS club St Conleth's (on objection) and St Laurence's won one each. Raheens and Moorefield are the only Kildare sides to win a Leinster club title (in 1981 and 2006 and Moorefield again in 2017
ClubIrish Name AllenwoodFiodh Aluine ArdcloughÁrd Cloch AthgarvanÁth Garbháin AthyAthí BallykellyBealach Eile Ballymore EustaceBaile Mór BallyteagueBaile Thaidhg CappaghCeapach CarraghCearrach CarburyCairbre CastledermotDíseart Diarmada CastlemitchellCaisleán an Mhistéalaigh CelbridgeCill Droichid ClaneClaonadh ClogherinkoeClocha Rince ConfeyConfaí EadestownBaile Éide EllistownBaile EilisGrangenolvinAn Gráinseach JohnstownbridgeDroichead Baile Sheain KilcockCill ChocaKilcullenCill Chuilinn KildanganCill Daingin KillAn Chill LeixlipLéim an Bhradáin MaynoothMáigh Nuad MilltownBaile an Mhuillinn MonasterevinMainistir Eimhín MoorefieldAchadh Mhordha NaasNás na Ríogh NurneyAn Urnaí RaheensRaithíní RathanganRath Iomgháin RathcoffeyRath Cobhthaigh RhebanRebán RobertstownBaile Roibeard Round TowersNa Cloighithe SallinsNa Solláin SarsfieldsNa Sáirséalaigh St KevinsNaomh Caoimhín St LaurencesNaomh LorcanStraffanTeach Sratain SuncroftCrocha na Gréine Two Mile HouseTeach an Dá Mhíle
County team
Kildare first competed in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1888, losing to Dublin by 2–7 to 0–1.
The county played an important role in the early development of Gaelic football. Kildare was the first county to reduce its team from 21 players to 16 before the modern 15-a-side game was adopted. Kildare players are also credited with developing the hand pass, while the toe-to-hand technique was pioneered by the Roseberry club (now Sarsfields). A combined Roseberry and Clane team faced Kerry three times in the 1903 All-Ireland Championship. The matches attracted a combined attendance of around 50,000 and are widely regarded as having significantly increased the popularity of Gaelic football.
Kildare won four All-Ireland Senior Football Championship titles between 1905 and 1928, defeating Kerry in 1905 and 1927, Galway in 1919, and Cavan in the 1928 final. They also became the first county to lift the Sam Maguire Cup in 1928.
Those successful teams helped refine the hand-passing game while also becoming known for their fielding ability and catch-and-kick style. Olympic high jumper Larry Stanley was regarded as one of the finest fielders of his era.
Although Kildare won the Leinster Senior Football Championship in 1956, reached National League finals in 1958 and 1968, and claimed the All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship in 1965, sustained provincial success proved elusive. The county lost six Leinster finals between 1966 and 1978. At club level, Raheens won the Leinster Senior Club Football Championship in 1983.
Former Kerry manager Mick O'Dwyer took charge in 1991. During his first spell, Kildare reached the 1991 National League final and consecutive Leinster finals in 1992 and 1993, losing each to Dublin. O'Dwyer returned in 1997 and guided Kildare to another Leinster title after memorable victories over Laois and Meath.
In 1998, Kildare became the first team to defeat the previous three All-Ireland champions—Dublin, Meath and Kerry—in a single championship campaign. They reached the All-Ireland final but lost to Galway after leading by three points at half-time. Another Leinster title followed in 2000, although Galway again ended Kildare's championship campaign in the All-Ireland semi-final. Leinster final defeats followed in 2002 and 2003 against Dublin and Laois. In 2005, Kildare finished among the top six in the National Football League but were eliminated from the championship by Sligo.
Under manager Kieran McGeeney, Kildare reached consecutive All-Ireland quarter-finals between 2008 and 2010. Although they suffered a surprise defeat to Wicklow in the 2008 Leinster Championship, they recovered through the qualifiers to reach the county's first All-Ireland quarter-final under the back-door system. In 2009, Kildare again reached the Leinster final before losing to Dublin and later exited the championship at the quarter-final stage against Tyrone. In 2010, after another qualifier run, Kildare defeated Meath in the All-Ireland quarter-final to reach their first semi-final since 2000, where they lost to Down.
In 2011, Kildare defeated Meath, Laois and Derry before losing after extra time to Donegal in the All-Ireland quarter-final.. RTÉ. 30 July 2011.
Cian O'Neill was appointed manager in 2015 after serving on the Kerry coaching staff. Under his management, Kildare reached their first Leinster final in a decade in 2017, where they were defeated by Dublin. In 2018, Kildare were at the centre of the "Newbridge or Nowhere" controversy after successfully insisting that their All-Ireland qualifier against Mayo be played at St Conleth's Park, rather than being moved to Croke Park. Kildare went on to defeat Mayo and later overcame Fermanagh to qualify for the inaugural "Super 8s". O'Neill stepped down as manager following the 2019 season.
Hurling Clubs
Kildare's most successful clubs have been Naas, Coill Dubh, Éire Óg/Corrachoill, Ardclough and Celbridge. Kildare's youngest club, Confey, became the reigning Senior Hurling Championship in 2007, winning over Coill Dubh in the final.
Ardclough beat Buffer's Alley in the 1976 Leinster club championship, following Ardclough player Johnny Walsh's replacement All Star award for his county heroics earlier that year (see below).
ClubIrish Name ArdcloughÁrd Cloch AthyAthí BroadfordGearr Eiscir CastledermotDíseart Diarmada CelbridgeCill Droichid ClaneClaonadh Coill DubhCoill Dubh ConfeyConfai Eire Og Corra ChoillEire Og Corra Choill KilcockCill Choca LeixlipLéim an Bhradáin MaynoothMáigh Nuad MoorefieldAchadh Mhordha NaasNás na Ríogh RaheensRaithíní RathcoffeyRath Cobhthaigh RosglasRos Glas Round TowersNa Cloigtithe St Laurence'sNaomh Lorcán SuncroftCrocha na GréineWolfe Tones*Bhulf Tón formed by an amalgamation of Kill and Sallins Gaa clubs.
County team
Kildare Hurlers won their first Joe McDonagh Cup in 2025 beating Laois 2-26 to 1-19 in Croke Park. Kildare hurlers came within minutes of reaching a Leinster Senior Hurling Championship (SHC) final in 1976, holding a four-point lead over eventual All-Ireland SHC finalists Wexford until the closing stages of the semi-final. That performance earned Johnny Walsh a replacement All Star award.
The county's major hurling successes were four All-Ireland Senior B titles (last in 2004), an intermediate All-Ireland (1969), and two junior All-Irelands (1962 and 1966). The closest it came to playing in the top division of the National Hurling League was when it lost a four-point lead in the last ten minutes of a Division 1B promotion play-off against Clare in 1971. Kildare defeated Waterford in the league in two successive years, was tied at half-time against Tipperary in the 1971 National League quarter-final, and lost to the same team by six points in the quarter-final of 1976. Kildare also lost a promotion play-off against Waterford in 1974.
In the 21st-century, Kildare won five Christy Ring Cups: in 2014, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024.
Camogie