Former Kilkenny under-20 boss Dowling takes over Naas
Former Kilkenny under-20 boss Mark Dowling has been appointed manager of the Naas senior hurling team.
From the Dicksboro Club in Kilkenny, Dowling served as Kilkenny U20 boss from 2023 to 2025, winning the 2025 Leinster title.
The Cats were runners-up in last year's championship, eventually falling to Tipperary in the All-Ireland final.
Cian Treacy from Thurles Sarsfields will take up the role of head coach.
Treacy most recently coached Offaly’s Kilcormac-Killoughey and has previously worked with Dowling as both coach of the Kilkenny U20 and Thurles Sarsfields senior hurling sides.
Dowling and Treacy will replace former Naas manager Tom Mulally and head coach Christy Kealy whose reign saw the team land six Kildare Senior hurling titles in a row, one Leinster IHC and an All-Ireland IHC.
New manager Dowling has also enjoyed success on the club scene.
He managed Dicksboro senior hurling team from 2017 to 2020, winning theKilkenny title in 2017. He led them to county senior league titles in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
Dowling also managed Thurles Sarsfields' senior hurling team from 2021 to 2022, winning a mid-Tipperary title in his first year and bringing the team to the county final a year later.
Naas have dominated in Kildare, but Leinster has been too hard a nut to crack at senior level
Liam Hennessy, chairperson of Naas hurling, wished the pair and their coaching team success for the upcoming season.
Naas have dominated Kildare hurling in recent seasons, and this year won their seventh successive county senior title by beating a hard-working Maynooth side.
But despite some early promise pushing on in Leinster hasn’t been easy.
In 2022, they put up a spirited fight against Ballyhale Shamrocks at Croke Park in the Leinster semi-final.
A year later, they again fought hard before losing by three points to Na Fianna - again at the provincial semi-final stage.
For the past two seasons, they have been thwarted by Wexford champions St Martin's.
