BEFORE 2018, Naas GAA club were heading for their 20th year without a senior county championship win in any of the four codes.
The feeling was that they were punching below their weight. They were a big club in a commuter town, but without any major product to show for it. Their senior camogie team ignited the spark when they won the 2018 county championship.
The following year, the hurlers followed their example and launched a period of dominance that has yielded a six-in-a-row success. In 2021, the Naas footballers caught the same bug. Two weeks ago, they won their fourth Kildare senior title on the bounce after Darragh Kirwan kicked a last-minute point against Celbridge.
That leads us to this weekend and their Leinster quarter-final clash with Dublin’s first-time champions Cuala. The Naas hurlers and camogie team are out in provincial action next weekend as the Kildare side aims to bring their conquering power to the Leinster competitions.
But the days weren’t always this fruitful in Naas.
“I grew up in Naas where we never won an adult title.” Club PRO Sinéad Keogh says. “So, to think that the children in Naas are watching this today, I just hope they all realise how long we’ve waited for this.
“Yes, it’s amazing now and it’s come at such a brilliant time but this has come from such hard work and effort by so many people over so many years.
“We had so many unlucky defeats in semi-finals and finals, in all codes, for so many years. This is just real reward for such a long wait.”
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Kildare forward Darragh Kirwan plays for Naas. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
Keogh grew up playing camogie for Naas, and has been part of the senior team’s coaching unit for the last few seasons. She points to the work that was invested at underage level some 15-20 years ago. And these are the returns: sustained success in three of the four codes. For it to happen all at the same time is something they could never have anticipated.
And even though Naas is a town that sees plenty of new blood coming in all the time, the majority of their adult players are home produced. That’s a point of pride for the club which was originally situated on the Dublin road, but relocated to the Sallins Road 20 years ago.
At present, Naas boasts a membership of about 2,300. That brings its challenges however as their facilities are stretched in trying to cater to that number. They have four pitches at the moment, but would need as many as 12 to accommodate all their teams.
“A lot of our juvenile teams don’t get to train in our club,” says Keogh. “They train on local pitches or rent all weather pitches. All that comes at a huge cost so that’s a real difficulty. But we’re working very hard and just in the last week, we’ve been awarded funds for the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Grant, so all that funding will be put towards the development of more playing facilities.”
That’s a happy headache of course. And it’s not the only one they have currently as they are also trying to manage the demands of dual players. Brian Byrne and James Burke play for both the hurlers and footballers while some of their camogie players are in a similar position.
“We have four of our senior camogie team who play football with Eadestown who are in the Leinster final this weekend. It’s a huge workload on those players and on all the clubs to make sure the players aren’t burnt out. We have good dual player policies in the club and it has worked well at juvenile level.”
Along with all that, a fixture clash looms for Naas. On Sunday, 17 November, the Naas hurlers will compete in the Leinster senior quarter-final against St Martin’s of Wexford. Their camogie team is also in action that day, as they take on Laois champions St Brigid’s in the provincial intermediate final.
It’s unfortunate for all members of the Naas community who would prefer to attend both games. But there are a few families who have been particularly affected by the issue.
“There’s three or four families who are directly hit with a daughter and son on both teams,” Keogh explains. “One of our camogie mentors has a son playing hurling and a daughter playing camogie on the same day. That has been really hard for a few families.
“And club people, I want to see the hurling match as well. It’s just unfortunate that we’re with different associations. Hopefully that’s a change that will come when the associations amalgamate.”
But before they can start thinking about that conundrum, the people of Naas must turn their attention to the footballers this weekend. They will be hosting Cuala at the newly revamped St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge in the hope of maintaining their course in the Leinster championship.
Naas commit everyone forward before Shane Walsh goes on the charge to seal the Leinster SFC Final for Kilmacud Crokes!
Naas have reached two of the last three Leinster finals, losing to Kilmacud Crokes on both occasions. The first meeting in 2021 ended in a seven-point defeat for the Kildare kingpins. But in last year’s collision in Croke Park, Naas kept a closer watch on Crokes and were just two points behind heading into injury time. A brilliant Shane Walsh goal after a blistering run from deep was the final flourish that eased them to a Leinster three-in-a-row. They met in the 2022 Leinster quarter-final as well, where Crokes were 3-14 to 0-14 victors.
The Stillorgan side are not in their way this time, but Naas are faced with Dublin opposition again. It’s a team that has beaten a side that they have fallen short against three times.
Emerging from their own county is a difficult enough task as Celbridge ran them to just one point in the last two county finals. Naas needed extra-time to shake of Athy in the semi-final. And now that a new competition commences, it doesn’t get any easier for the Kildare champions this weekend.
“Naas have come up against Kilmacud Crokes on a number of occasions, and come out the hard side of that team so it’ll be really interesting,” says Keogh. “Cuala are obviously an excellent outfit so we’re looking forward to a fantastic game on Saturday. Having the game under lights in Newbridge is really exciting.”
Defeating Cuala this weekend will ensure Naas will maintain their interest across all three Leinster championships. Of course, that will tempt them to consider the prospect of a trio of provincial titles.
“You nearly don’t want to even think about it but it’s incredible to think we’re at that stage,” says Keogh.
“We had so many unlucky defeats in semi-finals and finals, in all codes, for so many years. This is just real reward for such a long wait. It’s really exciting to think that we have three teams in Leinster championship action. Please God, the hurlers and footballers can make it to a Leinster final too.”
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'Incredible to think we're at that stage' - Naas chasing trio of Leinster titles
BEFORE 2018, Naas GAA club were heading for their 20th year without a senior county championship win in any of the four codes.
The feeling was that they were punching below their weight. They were a big club in a commuter town, but without any major product to show for it. Their senior camogie team ignited the spark when they won the 2018 county championship.
The following year, the hurlers followed their example and launched a period of dominance that has yielded a six-in-a-row success. In 2021, the Naas footballers caught the same bug. Two weeks ago, they won their fourth Kildare senior title on the bounce after Darragh Kirwan kicked a last-minute point against Celbridge.
That leads us to this weekend and their Leinster quarter-final clash with Dublin’s first-time champions Cuala. The Naas hurlers and camogie team are out in provincial action next weekend as the Kildare side aims to bring their conquering power to the Leinster competitions.
But the days weren’t always this fruitful in Naas.
“I grew up in Naas where we never won an adult title.” Club PRO Sinéad Keogh says. “So, to think that the children in Naas are watching this today, I just hope they all realise how long we’ve waited for this.
“Yes, it’s amazing now and it’s come at such a brilliant time but this has come from such hard work and effort by so many people over so many years.
“We had so many unlucky defeats in semi-finals and finals, in all codes, for so many years. This is just real reward for such a long wait.”
Keogh grew up playing camogie for Naas, and has been part of the senior team’s coaching unit for the last few seasons. She points to the work that was invested at underage level some 15-20 years ago. And these are the returns: sustained success in three of the four codes. For it to happen all at the same time is something they could never have anticipated.
And even though Naas is a town that sees plenty of new blood coming in all the time, the majority of their adult players are home produced. That’s a point of pride for the club which was originally situated on the Dublin road, but relocated to the Sallins Road 20 years ago.
At present, Naas boasts a membership of about 2,300. That brings its challenges however as their facilities are stretched in trying to cater to that number. They have four pitches at the moment, but would need as many as 12 to accommodate all their teams.
“A lot of our juvenile teams don’t get to train in our club,” says Keogh. “They train on local pitches or rent all weather pitches. All that comes at a huge cost so that’s a real difficulty. But we’re working very hard and just in the last week, we’ve been awarded funds for the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Grant, so all that funding will be put towards the development of more playing facilities.”
That’s a happy headache of course. And it’s not the only one they have currently as they are also trying to manage the demands of dual players. Brian Byrne and James Burke play for both the hurlers and footballers while some of their camogie players are in a similar position.
“We have four of our senior camogie team who play football with Eadestown who are in the Leinster final this weekend. It’s a huge workload on those players and on all the clubs to make sure the players aren’t burnt out. We have good dual player policies in the club and it has worked well at juvenile level.”
Along with all that, a fixture clash looms for Naas. On Sunday, 17 November, the Naas hurlers will compete in the Leinster senior quarter-final against St Martin’s of Wexford. Their camogie team is also in action that day, as they take on Laois champions St Brigid’s in the provincial intermediate final.
It’s unfortunate for all members of the Naas community who would prefer to attend both games. But there are a few families who have been particularly affected by the issue.
“There’s three or four families who are directly hit with a daughter and son on both teams,” Keogh explains. “One of our camogie mentors has a son playing hurling and a daughter playing camogie on the same day. That has been really hard for a few families.
“And club people, I want to see the hurling match as well. It’s just unfortunate that we’re with different associations. Hopefully that’s a change that will come when the associations amalgamate.”
But before they can start thinking about that conundrum, the people of Naas must turn their attention to the footballers this weekend. They will be hosting Cuala at the newly revamped St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge in the hope of maintaining their course in the Leinster championship.
Naas have reached two of the last three Leinster finals, losing to Kilmacud Crokes on both occasions. The first meeting in 2021 ended in a seven-point defeat for the Kildare kingpins. But in last year’s collision in Croke Park, Naas kept a closer watch on Crokes and were just two points behind heading into injury time. A brilliant Shane Walsh goal after a blistering run from deep was the final flourish that eased them to a Leinster three-in-a-row. They met in the 2022 Leinster quarter-final as well, where Crokes were 3-14 to 0-14 victors.
The Stillorgan side are not in their way this time, but Naas are faced with Dublin opposition again. It’s a team that has beaten a side that they have fallen short against three times.
Emerging from their own county is a difficult enough task as Celbridge ran them to just one point in the last two county finals. Naas needed extra-time to shake of Athy in the semi-final. And now that a new competition commences, it doesn’t get any easier for the Kildare champions this weekend.
“Naas have come up against Kilmacud Crokes on a number of occasions, and come out the hard side of that team so it’ll be really interesting,” says Keogh. “Cuala are obviously an excellent outfit so we’re looking forward to a fantastic game on Saturday. Having the game under lights in Newbridge is really exciting.”
Defeating Cuala this weekend will ensure Naas will maintain their interest across all three Leinster championships. Of course, that will tempt them to consider the prospect of a trio of provincial titles.
“You nearly don’t want to even think about it but it’s incredible to think we’re at that stage,” says Keogh.
“We had so many unlucky defeats in semi-finals and finals, in all codes, for so many years. This is just real reward for such a long wait. It’s really exciting to think that we have three teams in Leinster championship action. Please God, the hurlers and footballers can make it to a Leinster final too.”
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Cuala GAA Gaelic Football Naas GAA Triple Threat