Every inter-county star's sporting journey begins with the club, rooted with their family, community and friends. For Dublin's Ciaran Kilkenny, Castleknock is his place and the club is rightly proud of their county man.

Castleknock is one of the fastest growing GAA clubs in the country, boasting around 1,500 playing members, 65-70 teams and catering for Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies football from the age of four upwards. Serving large parts of the suburban areas of Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Carpenterstown and Clonsilla, the club has enjoyed a meteoric rise since its formation in 1998 and celebrated a first ever victory in the Dublin SFC last April when beating local rivals St. Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh on a 2-12 to 1-12 scoreline at Parnell Park.

A central figure in the Somerton outfit's remarkable rise in both football and hurling has been Ciaran Kilkenny who, at 23, has already won two All-Ireland senior medals, one All-Ireland U21 medal, three Allianz League medals, an All Star award and represented his country in the International Rules series. He has achieved all this despite having had a spell in Australian Rules with Hawthorn and missing most of Dublin's 2014 campaign with a cruciate ligament injury.

Ciaran Kilkenny playing for Castleknock against Kenmare in an AIB All-Ireland club JFC semi-final second replay in 2013

"Ciaran is our marquee player. He's a hero and role model for all the kids who aspire to be like him. Like them, he started in our Tir na nOg nursery. Like all county players, he stands out at club level," Castleknock chairman Charlie Spillane proudly explains.

"He's an outstanding dual player for us who would play both codes for Dublin as well if it was feasible. Ciaran's father John, who was a big influence on him when he was coming up through the ranks, is involved with our third and fourth teams in Division 7 and 9 which shows he's not afraid to get involved at the lower levels."

In its short life, Castleknock GAA has made progress every year and it appears only a matter of time before they will be challenging the likes of Ballyboden St. Enda's, Kilmacud Crokes and St. Vincent's for the Dublin SFC crown.

"It took us only 18 years to reach the top tier," Charlie points out.

"We started in Division 10 of the All-County League and gradually climbed the ladder to earn promotion to Division 1 last year. The current senior team, which is managed by Lar Norton and coached by Kevin Stritch, have three championships and four league promotions to their name in the last five years. It's probably still a bit early to be talking about winning a senior championship but, who knows, maybe in three or four years it will be a realistic target."

Castleknock's first major success came in the small ball code in 2007 when a talented U14 team containing Ciaran Kilkenny won the All-Ireland Feile na nOg Division 1 title. Winning the Dublin IHC last year was another milestone for hurling in the club.

"Our hurlers are currently operating in Division 2, but hopes are high that they will soon join the footballers in the top flight. It's difficult to have two teams playing at the highest level at the same time, but the hurlers and their manager Anton O Clerigh are ambitious and want to be the very best they can be."

Castleknock senior footballers

Castleknock have enjoyed many football successes, most notably winning the Leinster club JFC in 2012, the Dublin IFC in 2014 and the All-County League Division 2 last year. Promotion to Division 1 was achieved in dramatic circumstances when Ciaran Kilkenny punched home a last-minute goal to earn a draw with Ballinteer St. John's in the penultimate round under floodlights in Somerton. Such a result seemed unlikely with 20 minutes to go when the blue and golds had trailed by eight points.

This year has already yielded major silverware in the shape of a first All-Ireland Feile Peile na nOg Division 1 title. After beating Ballinteer St. John's to land the Dublin crown, the Castleknock U14s travelled to Kerry where they came through a group that included local sides Legion and Dr Crokes as well as New York before defeating Termon of Donegal by 3-6 to 1-5 in the final. Not to be outdone, the Castleknock U14 camogie team also claimed Dublin Division 2 honours earlier this year.

While Ciaran Kilkenny is the only player from the club to have played senior championship for Dublin, the likes of Graham Hannigan, Shane Boland, Tom Quinn and Rory Corcoran have represented their county at underage level.

"We have lots of lads on county development panels at U14, U15 and U16 level," the club chairman enthuses. "Graham Hannigan, who is the same age as Ciaran Kilkenny, has played O'Byrne Cup for Dublin. I'd expect to see more Castleknock players coming to the fore with Dublin in the years ahead."

Castleknock have a busy underage section

With so many players and teams, the club's playing facilities are always at full stretch. Its main grounds are Somerton Park, which is located next door to the Castleknock Hotel. Here, there are two adult pitches, one of which is floodlit, a juvenile pitch, an all-weather pitch and a hurling wall. Castleknock also uses grounds managed by Fingal County Council at Porterstown, St. Catherine's Park and Tir na nOg, which is beside Castleknock Community College.

The club is currently raising funds to build a new clubhouse in Somerton, which has been on lease from Fingal County Council since 2008. The two-storey building, which has already been granted planning permission, will comprise four dressing-rooms, meeting rooms, a referee's room, a kitchen area and a gym.

"We have the best pitches in Dublin. Now it's time we started investing in our own clubhouse which will cost about €1 million to develop. We hope to turn the sod on that early in the New Year," continues Charlie, who is fulsome in his praise for the 200 or so volunteers and underage coaches who have worked tirelessly to make Castleknock the club it is today.

"All our pitches are on full blast during the summer. We have 200 kids between the ages of four and seven every Saturday morning in Tir na nOg. We will probably use the new GAA campus in Abbotstown, which is quite close to us, for adult training in the winter months."

On Saturday, all eyes will be on Ciaran Kilkenny and his Dublin team-mates in their All-Ireland SFC final replay against Mayo. Next weekend, the focus will switch back to the club scene and Castleknock's much-delayed Dublin SFC second round clash with St. Sylvester's.

The story continues…

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