Sunday, April 19, 2015

Kilcullen at Kildare Association Dinner in NY

There was a good Kilcullen connection at last night's annual Dinner Dance of the County Kildare Association in New York, writes Brian Byrne.

Attending were your editor's son Carl Byrne, Donal 'The Saint' St Leger, and Kevin Nugent.

They're pictured above with Kildare GAA legend Johnny Doyle (centre) and John Duggan from Coill Dubh (left) who now lives in Nelsonville NY, close to Carl's home in Cold Spring NY.

The event was held at the Dunwoodie Golf Club in Yonkers NY.

The Kildare Association was the first organisation of its kind to register as a benevolent association in New York, at the end of the 19th century. In addition to the Dinner Dance, it holds a Christmas Party for members, and takes part in the St Patrick's Day Parade — for the most recent one the organisation hosted the Mayor of Kildare, Cllr Fiona O'Loughlin. The Association has commissioned a statue of John Devoy which will be erected later this year in Poplar Square, Naas.

Johnny Doyle, who was guest of honour at last night's event, played his club football with his home club in Allenwood. He retired from inter-county football in 2014 after having been a key player for the Lily Whites for 15 years. From his championship debut against Louth in 2000, he started every single Kildare championship game — 64 in total — until his final championship game with the county in 2013 against Tyrone.