History of St. Brigid’s Camogie Club
St. Brigid’s camogie club was formed in late 1977. The club developed from the already established ladies football club in Ballycallan and Kilmanagh. Those were the days when membership and a hurley cost 50p each! The club was very successful in those early years, even in the 1st year as a club they won the Junior county honours.
In the intermediate grade three county finals were lost before they won the county final and were promoted to the senior grade. They beat Ballyhale in the 1982 intermediate final on a score line of 2-2 to 1-0 in Thomastown. The first year as a senior team brought with it a county final appearance against St. Pauls. This team were the leading team in the country but despite this the team gave them a run for their money as St. Paul’s only scored their winning goal in the 8th minute of extra time. The final score that day was 4-6 to 4-3. The senior team made another appearance in the county final in 1985 when St Paul’s again defeated them on a scoreline of 7-5 to 2-10.
Many county final appearances followed but the win finally came in 1991. The team beat Lisdowney 2-15 to 1-11. They met Lisdowney again the next year but lost. In 1995 the girls succeeded in securing a second county title. Again this game was against Lisdowney. The following year, after a replay, Lisdowney again came out on top. The battles between the two teams were legendary and highly anticipated. The senior team again won the county final honours in 2002 against Freshford.
The club has had many successful teams throughout the years both at adult and juvenile levels. In 1986 the u-14 team represented Kilkenny in the National Feile na nGael competition in Co. Clare. In 2007 the competition was held in Kilkenny and the club hosted Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare. Many county titles have been achieved by the underage groups as well. These achievements can be seen in the roll of honour.
There have been many county players from the club at all age groups throughout the years. Many girls have Leinster and All-Ireland medals from these teams and also from school and colleges teams.
There is a very high level of achievement in the club and this has always been accompanied by the trojan work put into fundraising activities. Activities such as whist drives, table quizzes, bagpacking, the selling of tickets for the Pilltown draw etc. have all been carried out.
In 2012 the senior camogie team got relegated to the intermediate grade. The club now caters for all ages from u-6 to intermediate. There are currently 131 members enrolled in the club.