The phrase ‘split season’ has in recent years become something of an emotive one in the GAA. There are those who lament the relocation of the All-Ireland finals from their traditional September and there are many more – albeit perhaps not as blessed with platforms to air their views – who feel strongly that club players deserve the clarity that a regularised calendar brings.
In many counties, the current schedule involves club hurling and football games alternating each weekend. However, in Kilkenny the codes are arranged into two blocks, meaning that Mullinavat are engaged in something of a split-season of their own.
By the time they take to the field for the AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship opener against Westmeath opposition at the beginning of November, it will have been six months since they claimed county honours, having beaten Mooncoin by 1-21 to 0-14 in the final at Nowlan Park.
In the interim, hurling has been the focus and last weekend saw them beat Bennettsbridge in the county SHC quarter-finals to reach the last four. Lose that and the O’Neills size 5s will be out on the pitch again soon but another hurling victory would mean a first senior county final to look forward to.
That said, the schedule has been something to which they have adjusted to. When the club launched a history book in 2024, they had won five county senior football titles in seven years – with a view to the future, the publication was sub-titled ‘Volume 1’ and this year they returned to the winners’ rostrum.
Strong football tradition
Manager Michael Aylward has been in charge since 2017, when their recent run began.
“There was always a strong tradition of football here,” he says.
“The first senior county title was won in 2007 and then we were beaten in the final in 2012. And then in 2017, we were back in it again and we won.
“We won a four-in-a-row, we lost one and then we won the next two, so we were in seven finals in a row.
“We got beaten in the semi-final last year and that stopped that but this year we got back there again.
“There’s a very good bunch of lads who have played football the whole way up.
“At the start of the year, some teams usedn’t take it very seriously, but everybody in Kilkenny now is playing football, even the likes of Tullaroan or Graigue-Ballycallan, who traditionally would have been exclusively hurling.
The Mullinavat squad with the trophy after beating Mooncoin in the 2025 Kilkenny SFC final. / Mullinavat GAA
“Everybody’s playing now, whether it’s junior, intermediate or senior level – essentially, the thing is now that it’s part of their fitness programme from the start of the year, that’s what it is.”
Kilkenny are of course the only county not to field in the Allianz Football League or the provincial or All-Ireland championships. They last competed in the league in 2011, while it is now 96 years since the county last won a senior championship match.
In the last decade, the Cats took part in the British Junior Football Championship, winning that in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Since 2022, they have taken part in a revamped All-Ireland JFC, beating New York in the final in the first year and losing to them in the decider a year later.
Given that hurling has such primacy on Noreside, it’s difficult to foresee the imbalance every changing.
“Under-age football in Kilkenny is played in February and March,” Michael says, “it’s a matter of getting it out of the way as quickly as possible.
“There have been a lot of good footballers that have played hurling for Kilkenny but once you’re doing that, God forbid you’d be seen playing football.”
Mullinavat’s rise has seen them move to joint-fourth in the county roll of honour. Similar to Kerry hurling clubs in the Munster championship, the Kilkenny senior football champions compete at intermediate level in Leinster and in Mullinavat’s case that has allowed them to bank some valuable experience.
Provincial final
“This will be our tenth game in that championship,” he says.
“We got beaten in the Leinster final in 2019 by Mattock Rangers – we were the first Kilkenny club to get to a provincial final. That kind of exposure does help lads but the thing is that our county final this year was played in May.
“We’ll be playing the Westmeath representatives in Leinster and they’ll have finished their championship a few weeks beforehand.
“That’s the way it is though. Early in the year, when the football championships are on, that’s where the lads’ focus is and the managements work together from that point of view.
“They’re hurling now and that’s what the boys are concentrating on at the moment.
“We’ll be going in in a kind of way, ‘You’re from Kilkenny, what would ye know about football?’ so we have a free shot at it.”
The phrase ‘split season’ has in recent years become something of an emotive one in the GAA. There are those who lament the relocation of the All-Ireland finals from their traditional September and there are many more – albeit perhaps not as blessed with platforms to air their views – who feel strongly that club players deserve the clarity that a regularised calendar brings.
In many counties, the current schedule involves club hurling and football games alternating each weekend. However, in Kilkenny the codes are arranged into two blocks, meaning that Mullinavat are engaged in something of a split-season of their own.
By the time they take to the field for the AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship opener against Westmeath opposition at the beginning of November, it will have been six months since they claimed county honours, having beaten Mooncoin by 1-21 to 0-14 in the final at Nowlan Park.
In the interim, hurling has been the focus and last weekend saw them beat Bennettsbridge in the county SHC quarter-finals to reach the last four. Lose that and the O’Neills size 5s will be out on the pitch again soon but another hurling victory would mean a first senior county final to look forward to.
That said, the schedule has been something to which they have adjusted to. When the club launched a history book in 2024, they had won five county senior football titles in seven years – with a view to the future, the publication was sub-titled ‘Volume 1’ and this year they returned to the winners’ rostrum.
Strong football tradition
Manager Michael Aylward has been in charge since 2017, when their recent run began.
“There was always a strong tradition of football here,” he says.
“The first senior county title was won in 2007 and then we were beaten in the final in 2012. And then in 2017, we were back in it again and we won.
“We won a four-in-a-row, we lost one and then we won the next two, so we were in seven finals in a row.
“We got beaten in the semi-final last year and that stopped that but this year we got back there again.
“There’s a very good bunch of lads who have played football the whole way up.
“At the start of the year, some teams usedn’t take it very seriously, but everybody in Kilkenny now is playing football, even the likes of Tullaroan or Graigue-Ballycallan, who traditionally would have been exclusively hurling.
The Mullinavat squad with the trophy after beating Mooncoin in the 2025 Kilkenny SFC final. / Mullinavat GAA
“Everybody’s playing now, whether it’s junior, intermediate or senior level – essentially, the thing is now that it’s part of their fitness programme from the start of the year, that’s what it is.”
Kilkenny are of course the only county not to field in the Allianz Football League or the provincial or All-Ireland championships. They last competed in the league in 2011, while it is now 96 years since the county last won a senior championship match.
In the last decade, the Cats took part in the British Junior Football Championship, winning that in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Since 2022, they have taken part in a revamped All-Ireland JFC, beating New York in the final in the first year and losing to them in the decider a year later.
Given that hurling has such primacy on Noreside, it’s difficult to foresee the imbalance every changing.
“Under-age football in Kilkenny is played in February and March,” Michael says, “it’s a matter of getting it out of the way as quickly as possible.
“There have been a lot of good footballers that have played hurling for Kilkenny but once you’re doing that, God forbid you’d be seen playing football.”
Mullinavat’s rise has seen them move to joint-fourth in the county roll of honour. Similar to Kerry hurling clubs in the Munster championship, the Kilkenny senior football champions compete at intermediate level in Leinster and in Mullinavat’s case that has allowed them to bank some valuable experience.
Provincial final
“This will be our tenth game in that championship,” he says.
“We got beaten in the Leinster final in 2019 by Mattock Rangers – we were the first Kilkenny club to get to a provincial final. That kind of exposure does help lads but the thing is that our county final this year was played in May.
“We’ll be playing the Westmeath representatives in Leinster and they’ll have finished their championship a few weeks beforehand.
“That’s the way it is though. Early in the year, when the football championships are on, that’s where the lads’ focus is and the managements work together from that point of view.
“They’re hurling now and that’s what the boys are concentrating on at the moment.
“We’ll be going in in a kind of way, ‘You’re from Kilkenny, what would ye know about football?’ so we have a free shot at it.”
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