Photos by Pat Tinsley
The Kildare GAA awards ceremony was held at the Osprey Hotel on Saturday night as those involved across both hurling and football through different age grades at club and intercounty level came together to celebrate an extremely successful year for the county.
There were national titles won in both hurling and football by Kildare sides this year, along with another couple of Leinster titles in the big ball game.
Among the guests on the night were the U20 All-Ireland winning footballers who received their special medals for winning the Leinster and All-Ireland championships, with Ballyteague's Jimmy Hyland taking the award for Kildare U20 Footballer of the Year.
The successful Christy Ring Cup winning hurling side were also presented with their medals, and Paddy McKenna, who won the Christy Ring Cup Hurler of the Year award, was also named as the Kildare County Hurler of the Year. Joe Quaid, who managed the Lilywhites to the Christy Ring Cup before moving on to take over Westmeath over the winter, was present on the night and spoke candidly about his time in Kildare, highlighting the support he felt from all within the county following the passing of his sister in the build up to the semi-final clash with Derry this year. Quaid was presented with a special commemorative piece following his three-year spell with the county.
The final team to receive their medals were the Leinster title winning Kildare junior footballers, and Raheens defender Graham Waters was given his Kildare Junior Footballer of the Year award.
Daniel Flynn was named Kildare Footballer of the Year, and MC Damien Lawlor quizzed the Johnstownbridge man on whether or not he will be playing with the Lilywhites next year, but Flynn was admitted he has yet to decide on his plans as he continues his studies for a Masters degree.
Other recipients of awards included Moorefield's Aaron Masterson who was named Kildare Senior Club Footballer of the Year, Two Mile House's Aidan Casey who took home the Kildare Intermediate Club Footballer of the Year award, while Milltown's Colin O'Shea was named the Kildare Junior Club Footballer of the Year.
On the hurling front, Celbridge star Tom Fitzgerald was named Kildare Senior Club Hurler of the Year, Ciaran Tobin of Naas took the Kildare Intermediate Club Hurler of the Year gong, and Kilcock's Declan Keane was named Kildare Junior Club Hurler of the Year.
Myles Carroll was named Kildare Handball Player of the Year following a phenomenal campaign which saw the Ballymore Eustace clubman win gold alongside his cousin Ivan in the doubles at the World Championships in Minnesota in August, while he also won a silver medal in the singles that month too.
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