The Galway county hurling team ( ) represents Galway in hurling and is governed by Galway GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the three major annual inter-county competitions; the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and the National Hurling League. It formerly competed in the abolished Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, winning the last title in 1999.
Galway's home ground is Pearse Stadium, Salthill. The team's manager is Henry Shefflin.
The team last won the Leinster Senior Championship in 2018, the All-Ireland Senior Championship in 2017 and the National League in 2021.
History
1887–1979: First All-Ireland SHC title and 'curse'
Galway finished as runner-up in the first edition of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (SHC), losing to Tipperary in the 1887 final.
The team did not reach another final in the competition until the 1923 championship. In the 1923 final, Galway defeated Limerick, to become All-Ireland SHC champions for the first time. Galway advanced to the final on four more occasions during that decade (1924, 1925, 1928 and 1929) but lost each game.
Galway finished as All-Ireland SHC runner-up on three occasions in the 1950s (1953, 1955 and 1958), and by then it had been 35 years since the team's only title win. Like other counties with a history of success that preceded a lengthy period without title wins (Mayo in football and Clare in hurling), Galway's hurling team became the subject of rumours of a curse. In 1969 Connacht reached the final of the interprovincial Railway Cup for the first time in ten years with a team consisting mainly of Galway players; Connacht held Munster to a draw before losing the replay, and this boosted the game in the county. However, Galway's following All-Ireland SHC campaign ended with a loss to London in the 1969 championship. The following year Connacht lost at home to Ulster in the preliminary round of the 1970 Railway Cup, running up a total of 20 wides. By the time Galway's hurlers were heavily defeated in the 1975 and 1979 All-Ireland SHC finals, "the curse" had become part of folklore.
1980–1988: Second, third and fourth All-Ireland SHC titles
Galway GAA club Castlegar won the 1979–80 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship, while Connacht defeated Munster in that year's Railway Cup final. Cyril Farrell was Galway's senior county hurling team manager for the 1980 championship. Due to the lack of competition for Galway in Connacht, the team's first match of the season came against Kildare in the All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, a game which Galway won comfortably by a scoreline of 5–15 to 1–11. From there the team progressed to an All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Leinster Senior Hurling Championship (SHC) winner Offaly. Galway secured a two-point win over Offaly, by a scoreline of 4–9 to 3–10. Thus Galway qualified for the 1980 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, where the opponent was Limerick. A close game, in which five goals were scored, finished in Galway's favour by a scoreline of 2–15 to 3–9. Joe Connolly, the team captain, became the first Galway man to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup since Mick Kenny in 1923.
As the defending champion, the Galway team played its first game in the 1981 All-Ireland SHC, a quarter-final against Antrim, on 19 July, winning by a scoreline of 6–23 to 3–11. The team progressed to an All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Limerick, opponent from the previous year's final. That game finished level at 1–08 to 0–11, with Galway the goal-scoring team. Galway emerged from the replay as five-point winners, qualifying for the deciding match of the competition on a final scoreline of 4–16 to 2–17. Galway played Leinster SHC winner Offaly, whom it had defeated in the 1980 All-Ireland SHC semi-final, in the 1981 final. Galway did not retain the title, losing by a scoreline of 2–12 to 0–15 (a three-point defeat).
Galway defeated Cork in the 1985 All-Ireland SHC to qualify for the final. Again the opponent was Offaly, again Galway lost the game, by a scoreline of 2–11 to 1–12 on this occasion. Galway finished as runner-up again in the 1986 final, losing to Cork in that game.
Still managed by Farrell, Galway defeated Tipperary by a scoreline of 3–20 to 2–17 in the 1987 All-Ireland SHC semi-final to advance to a third consecutive final. Captained by Conor Hayes and inspired by a young Joe Cooney (who scored five points), Galway defeated Kilkenny by a scoreline of 1–12 to 0–09. Cooney, aged 22, was named Hurler of the Year.