A brief history of Ladies Gaelic Football in Kildare….
While it is believed that Ladies Football was played in Kildare in the 1970s, Kildare LGFA has no formal records from that time.
There was another burst of activity in the mid-1980s, with Castledermot, The Curragh, Rathangan, Ellistown and Robertstown being the strongholds. Castledermot even fielded two teams in one season and Dan “Locky” Byrne, whose daughter Mary Claire Byrne was the instigator of the club, later became Club Chairperson and a Leinster selector. Ben and Molly Corcoran were very involved. In The Curragh, Mary Bastick and Alice Quirke were among the founding figures and, as well as club competitions, the first county competitive match appears to have been in the 1985 Leinster Championship v Offaly in Rochfordbridge. Two of those players, Grace Kelly (Castledermott) and Geraldine Behan (The Curragh) made the Leinster panel around that time. That initial burst of activity was not sustained.
Also around 1985, Leixlip entered into the Dublin competitions, mostly in underage and the schools played in second level competitions.
Then in 1992, Catherine Donohoe, who had just stepped down as the GAA’s County Development Officer, was approached by Rita Sargent from Eadestown, where a ladies team had been in training for a year. Together they called a meeting in March 1992, and in addition to Catherine and Rita, Pat and Michael Delaney (Leixlip), Linda O’Connor and Brenda Dardis (Kilcock) soon became involved. It also transpired that a ladies team had been formed in Kilcock in 1991 and had taken part in the Meath League, reaching a final before losing to St Ultans in a replay.
The first County Board Officers were:
Chairperson: Catherine Donohoe – Eadestown
Secretary: Rita Sargent – Eadestown
Treasurer/Registrar: Linda O’Connor – Kilcock
PRO: Michael Delaney – Leixlip
Team Managers:
Junior Ladies: Mick Fitzgerald – Eadestown
Under Age: Michael Delaney – Leixlip
While Kildare competed in the Leinster Championships at Junior and Underage as well as in the National League in most years since 1992, the first hints of success only came in 1999 when reaching but losing the National League, Division 3 and Leinster Junior Finals.
2004 marked the first period of significant Inter-County success at Senior level when Kildare achieved Leinster glory and finally claimed their elusive All-Ireland Junior title. Kildare would go on to win 4 Leinster titles in a row. The hunt for another All-Ireland title would last until 2016.
Since 2004, Ladies Football in Kildare has grown exponentially in 20+ years. Today, Kildare LGFA proudly fields Inter-County teams across 5 grades all of which compete at the highest of levels. We have a thriving club scene with 40 registered clubs and in excess of 10,000 members with numbers increasing year on year.
Much of this success at both club and county level can be found in the Kildare LGFA Roll of Honour here.
The future of Ladies Gaelic Football in Kildare is bright.
Cill Dara Abú.
