There was a period in the early to mid 1970s when Kildare reached four national hurling league quarter-finals.
They met Tipperary between 1971 and 1975 and only lost by six points to a Francie Loughnane-inspired Tipp; the second game by seven points.
Around that time Kildare also competed in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and held Offaly to a draw in the '75 season.
A year later they beat Dublin in the province and later that season Ardclough beat Buffers Alley in the Leinster club championship.
Half a century has passed but the signs are that the county is making further strides to try to get back to compete on that level on a consistent basis.
There have been notable steps in recent times. A win over Wexford in the 2021 Under-20 Leinster Championship was further proof of the rising tide as were the Christy Ring Cup wins in 2020 and 2022.
Early this year the senior team, under David Herity for a fifth season, claimed pre-season honours in the Kehoe Cup, with wins over Carlow, Meath, Down and Wicklow by a combined 41 points.
Now they are facing two difficult games in Division 2A of the Allianz Hurling league – this Saturday at home to Kerry and the next time away to Offaly to see if they can secure a league final spot and promotion to top-flight hurling for the first time in their history.
Despite the fact that they are unbeaten in three games thus far in their division, it remains a big ask.
Ask Kildare hurling followers what they would like most this year and it could simply be to establish themselves in the Joe McDonagh tier, after failing to remain at the level in 2021.
As for the senior camp itself, they have not yet hit peak form, but have had a very productive four matches in January, they gave game time to 10 under-21 players and looked at 31 players in pre-season alone.
Most recently, they leapfrogged Offaly and returned to the top of the Division 2A with a hard-fought 2-23 to 0-19 win over Derry at Owenbeg.
In such games the experience of Brian Byrne, James Burke and Gerry Keegan is crucial.
In mid-February they were far from their best in Hawkfield but were still able to grind out a 1-17 to 0-19 victory over Down – despite missing a penalty and hitting 16 wides the same day.
And before that they enjoyed a fine 0-25 to 0-11 win over Carlow with Burke rifling over 0-11, 0-09 from frees.
On that day, 18-year-old Cian Boran made his first senior hurling league appearance – just a day after playing for Naas CBS in the Leinster 'A' schools football competition.
One of three Boran brothers in the Kildare team, the youngster's ball handling, speed and footwork have been a massive bonus for the side.
They need all the emerging talent they can get because Division 2A is as cut-throat as ever, with just two points splitting the top three and two points between the bottom three.
How they fare against Kerry will provide a real benchmark for their season.
Ballyheigue’s Colin Walsh could miss the trip to Newbridge along with Brandon Barrett and Conor O’Keeffe, but Kerry boss Stephen Molumphy has Jordan Conway and Gavin Dooley back and the Kerry panel looks much stronger than it has been in several years.
Still, Kildare will be well prepped to test themselves against the Munster men, using the experience of last year’s Christy Ring Cup success, Naas’ All-Intermediate title in early 2022, a victory over Offaly champions Seir Kieran in the Leinster SHC this year and a good showing against Ballyhale Shamrocks after that.
Down through the levels things are shaping up for the county also.
Their Under-14 panel of 2022 had 18 of the 25 hurling clubs represented.
This year’s Kildare minors have 13 clubs form the panel. Five years ago, only four or five clubs would have featured.
In this year’s minor hurling league, there are 14 teams playing. In 2007 there were just six - two Division 1 teams and four Division 2 teams and that was it.
It’s clear that apart from all the hard work undertaken by clubs the Kildare Hurling Action Plan which was started in 2018 and was initially divided into three strands – Club Hurling Development, Club-School Links, and Building a Club Hurling Profile – is working too.
The Camán Chill Dara Awards scheme incentivises and rewards clubs for developing the game and clubs are assessed under seven categories – structural, participation increase, governance, coaching and games, schools, coach/officer education and profile.
Clubs like Round Towers in Kildare Town and Cappagh are working hard to develop the small ball game, while Two Mile House started hurling a number of years ago and are up to minor now.
With the senior hurlers continuing to look upwards and fighting for promotion, the Joe MacDonagh Cup and looking for big days in Croke Park, the job of developing at grassroots is continuing at pace, regardless of what happens Herity's side over the next two hurling weekends.
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