Emeralds G.A.A. Club
The Emeralds club was formed in 1972 when both Clomanto and Urlingford united under the new name of Emeralds.
In 1887 the first All-Ireland semi-final between Tullaroan representing Kilkenny and Thurles of Tipperary was played in Urlingford on a Thursday. Thurles won 4-7 to no score. Thurles defeated Meelick (Galway) to win the first All-Ireland final.
In the early years of the 20th. century hurling was very strong in the parish of Urlingford with three teams competing – Graine, Urlingford and Clomanto.
Graine lost the third ever Kilkenny SHC final in 1889, losing out to Tullaroan by the only score of the game, a point.
In 1930 Tullaroan defeated Urlingford 4-4 to 0-3 in the county senior final and the following year Urlingford went down 5-8 to 3-8 in the senior county final to Carrickshock.
Owens Roe of Urlingford defeated Tullaroan 1-11 to 2-7 in 1905 in the first ever county junior final. Clomanto were defeated in the 1924 county senior county final.
Many great players from this team such as Jimmy Tobin, Pat Glendon and Dick Tobin, had won All-Ireland medals with Kilkenny in 1922 when Tipperary were beaten in the final by 4-2 to 2-6.
Urlingford contested the senior county finals of 1930 and 1931, having won the intermediate title in 1929.
In 1947 Johnstown-Urlingford played a draw with John Lockes, Callan in the junior county final, 4-4 each.
In the replay the combined team had an easy win over the Callan men on a score of 6-5 to 2-2.
The Urlingford side also contested the county junior finals of 1950 and 1952.
In the 1960’s seven-a-side hurling became prominent. The Urlingford side evolved out of the local badminton club and defeated Gatabawn in the final. The longest serving chairman of Kilkenny County Board was Sean Gibbons.
Back to the present club the first officers were: president, Fr. J. Kennedy, PP; vice-presidents, Fr. P. Bergin, CC, Jimmy Tobin; chairman, Sean Norton (Parks); vice-chairman, Jim Bergin; treasurer, Jimmy Hayes; secretary, Patrick Campion; committee: Tom McKeown, Fr. Frank Cleere, Henry O’Grady, Martin Fitzpatrick; selectors: Tom Norton, Paddy Lalor, Martin Fitzpatrick and Sean Hennessy.
In the club’s inaugural year the team showed much spirit and beat Barrow Rangers in the Northern final before losing to Graignamanagh by four points in the county final.
In 1986 the new dressing rooms were built, an extra 1.5 acres was bought from local man Donal Hennessy, which allowed for extension of the playing pitch. Camogie dressing rooms, a referees room, garage and a kitchen have also been provided.
Floodlights on both sides of the pitch have also been added to ensure maximum use of the pitch almost year round.
In all approximately €100,000 has been spent on this programme of improvements at the venue.
In 1983 the Club won the first of its Junior B titles, the second in 2007 which qualified them for an All Ireland series in which they were beated by Ballingarry of Tipperary in the final.
1988 the Primary school became Roinn C champions beating Ballyhale in the final.
In 2003 the school team became Roinn B champions beating St Johns Primary school in the final.
The highlight of the clubs history to date has to be the junior victory in 2001 beating Windgap 3-11 to 1-11. Now an intermediate club the club continues its proud tradition of providing hurling stars to the county panels at Minor, U21, junior, intermediate and senior levels.
Our present representatives are All Stars holders Derek Lyng and Aidan Fogarty both of whom were prominent members of the 4 in a row team of 2006-2009.
The club has a very strong Bord na nÓg section with a dedicated hard working committee committed to the development of both Hurling and Football from U6 to Minor levels.
In 2000 the Club won its first Minor A title beating Shamrocks 1-12 to 0-7 having won B titles in 1979 and 1996. As a result of this victory the club nominated Emmet Kavanagh as captain of the county minor team in 2001 winning a Leinster title.
The camogie club formed in the early 1990’s by the school caretaker Henry Grady has progressed from fielding only school teams to now competing in grades from U8 to Junior, having won both Junior and Intermediate titles and competed as a senior team for 2 years. The club has won many titles from u14 up and has provided many players to county panels and achieved much success for their endeavours.
