Galway GAA


The Galway County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Galway GAA are one of the 32 GAA county boards in Ireland; they are responsible for Gaelic games in County Galway, and for the Galway inter-county teams.
Galway is one of the few 'dual counties' in Ireland, competing in a similar level in both hurling and gaelic football codes. Prior to amalgamation of the hurling and football county boards into one county board, each of the two codes were previously run by their separate boards in Galway, which was unusual for a dual county.

Governance

Galway GAA has jurisdiction over the area of the traditional county of Galway. Galway GAA forms a part of the provincial branch, Connacht GAA. Unlike other counties in Ireland, Gaelic games in Galway was run by two separate county boards. Gaelic football was organised by the Galway football board and hurling was organised by the Galway hurling board. This separation resulted in two different county crests, two different county jerseys and two different team sponsors. In theory, the boards were overseen by a County Board, but were autonomous in terms of finance and the election of officers. In 2013, the boards were replaced by football and hurling committees with the officers of the committees no longer elected but appointed by the County Board. Financial control was also centralised and the crests, sponsorship and jerseys of the two teams were amalgamated. The new committees in Galway undertook, for their respective codes, the organisation of the annual county club championships in football and hurling for the clubs of Galway. In hurling, the Hurling Committee, also organises the Minor, U-21 and Junior competitions while in football, these grades are organised primarily by regional committees, the West GPC and the North GPC. Intercounty adult teams fall under the jurisdiction of the County Committee. Underage club competitions are organised in each code by separate committees, Coiste Peil na nÓg and Coiste Iomána na nÓg. Underage development squads and activities at ages under 11 are under the auspices of the Coaching and Games Committee.

Crest and colours

Galway's traditional colours are maroon and white. In the early years of GAA competition, Galway teams wore the colours of the county champions in each sport. In 1936, however, the county adopted maroon as its primary colour. A crest was added to the jersey in the 1950s, with different crests coming into use for each sport. Although the teams most often wear white shorts and maroon socks, the teams have also worn all maroon kits in the past.
Until 2013, the football and hurling boards of Galway both used their own separate county crests for their teams. Galway's final football crest depicted a Galway hooker, a traditional fishing boat, along with a Gaelic football and contained the county motto "Ceart agus Cóir", while the final hurling crest was based on the coat of arms of Galway city, shown on the left, with the county's Irish name, Gaillimh, and the initials CLG written underneath, CLG being short for Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, the GAA's Irish name.
The teams began using the same jerseys and crest in 2013, ahead of that year's Football and Hurling National Leagues. This new crest was, for the most part, the same as the hurling crest with the most notable differences being the angle of the boat, and the replacing of the letters CLG with GAA.

Sponsorship

The first sponsor of any Galway team was Tommy Varden's Catering service, in the mid to late 1980s. Sponsorship wasn't as open in the GAA at the time, and it wasn't until 1991 that regulations around sponsorship were eased. Tommy Varden sponsorship of the footballers was followed by the Supermac's fast food chain sponsoring the hurlers for the first time in 1989.
In 2008, Tommy Varden ended the 25-year association with Galway football, and was replaced by Aer Arann as sponsors. After entering receivership, however, Aer Arann were forced to pull out of the sponsorship two years early, having sponsored the team in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons. In 2011, it was announced that the footballer's jersey would carry the logo of Cancer Care West. This made Galway the first GAA team to display the name of a charity on their county jersey rather than a corporate sponsor.
Starting in the 2013 season, and with a five-year sponsorship planned, the two teams are both sponsored by Supermac's, previously the sponsors of only the hurlers.

Football

Clubs

have five All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championships.

County team

Despite having represented the province a number of times by default, it wasn't until 1911, that Galway earned the right to call themselves full Connacht champions, when the Tribesmen defeated Roscommon by a single point on a score of 1-03 to 1-02. They were beaten by Cork in the semi finals, losing by 3-4 to 0-2. Galway were also Connacht champions in 1913 and 1917, without winning their semi-finals, but the 1919 championship saw them reach their first ever All-Ireland final. After beating Cavan 4-2 to 2-2 in the replay of their semi-final, the Tribesmen lost the final by 2-5 to 0-1, against Kildare.
Galway won their first ever title in the 1925 championship. The championship has become known for the farcical manner in which the play-offs took place. The Connacht final was not held in time to produce a team to play the other three provinces in the semi-finals. Mayo, the previous season's Connacht champions were nominated to represent the province. Mayo beat Wexford in their semi-final, while Kerry beat Cavan in the other semi-final. However, both Kerry and Cavan were disqualified for fielding illegal players. Mayo were declared champions without the need for a final. However, in the meantime, Galway defeated Mayo in the Connacht final, which caused confusion. The nomination of Mayo to represent Connacht was withdrawn, and Galway were declared rightful Connacht champions and All-Ireland champions.
This was deemed unsatisfactory, however, and the GAA ordered the semi-finals to be replayed, with Galway taking the place of Connacht champions. However, Kerry complained that their semi-final victory over Cavan should stand. When the GAA insisted that it should not stand due to the disqualifications Kerry withdrew, leaving Cavan to automatically proceed to the final. Galway defeated Cavan in the final. The farce went on so long that the final was not played until 10 January 1926. In the end Cavan, despite having previously been disqualified, finished with a silver medal, Mayo, despite having previously been declared champions, were eliminated, and Galway, despite having previously been removed from the tournament, were champions. Officially there wasn't any championship in 1925.
Their next title came under more straightforward circumstances, in 1934. They beat Dublin 3-5 to 1-9 in the final to take the Sam Maguire Cup to Connacht for the first time since it was originally presented to the winning team in 1928. Four years later in the 1938 championship, Galway claimed their third football All-Ireland. The final with Kerry had to replayed after it finished level at 3-3 to 2-6, but the Tribesmen won the replay 2-4 to 0-7. Title number four came nearly twenty years later when Galway beat Cork 2-13 to 3-7 in the 1956 final in Croke Park.
1966 was perhaps Galway's most successful year in football. Their Connacht campaign began in Castlebar against Roscommon, Galway winning, by a score of 1–11 to 0–5. In the final, the Tribesmen came up against Mayo in Castlebar and were fortunate to win, edging Mayo out by a single point with a final score of 0–12 to 1–8. The semi-final win over Cork was a close affair as Johnny Geraghty made two wondrous saves from Niall Fitzgerald in the second half. Galway eked out a win 1–11 to 1–9 with Jimmy Duggan again outstanding and Coleen McDonagh fitting in well and Cyril Dunne best in attack. Meath defeated Down in the other semi-final and were firm favourites to beat Galway in the final. Galway travelled as a united front to the final and pulverized Meath to win comfortably by 1–10 to 0–7. That victory sealed a memorable "3 In A Row" of All-Ireland titles.
Galway won five Connacht titles in the 1980s, but qualified for only one All-Ireland final. The team did come close to making the final at the expense of eventual All Ireland champions Offaly in 1982, leading for most of the 1982 All Ireland semi-final, before succumbing to a point from Brendan Lowry. The one final the team did qualify for in the decade was in 1983, where they came up against Dublin, in a match now infamous for foul play and thuggery. After an undisciplined beginning to the game, Barney Rock scored a bizarre goal from 40 yards after a poor free-out from Galway goalkeeper Padraig Coyne. The Galway players protested, claiming the goal should not have stood, due to Dublin manager Kevin Heffernan interfering with play as he attended to the injured Joe McNally, but the goal stood. Not long after, following a tussle in midfield, Dublin's Brian Mullins swung back his arm and connected with Brian Talty and the referee decided to send Mullins off. Shortly before half-time a number of players clashed beneath the Hogan Stand, leading referee John Gough to send off a player from each side, Dublin's Ray Hazley and Galway's Tomás Tierney. The match remained heated until half-time. Players from both sides clashed in the tunnel as they left the field for the break, and although rumours circulated for years about the incident, whatever happened in the tunnel, stayed in the tunnel. Whatever peace had the time apart may have brought completely disappeared five minutes after the restart, with the dismissal of Kieran Duff of Dublin after he kicked Galway’s Pat O’Neill while he was on the ground. This left Dublin with 12 men on the field to Galway's 14. Galway, however, could not make their two-man advantage count and ultimately lost 1-10 to 1-8. In the aftermath of the match, Galway players Tomás Tierney and Peter Lee were given one month bans, while four individuals from the Dublin team received bans including a 12-month ban to Duff, for the kick to O'Neill's head, and a 3-month ban to manager Heffernan.
In the 1998 championship, led by Mayo-born manager John O'Mahony, Galway won their first round encounter with Mayo, before overcoming Leitrim by 1-16 to 0-05 in the semi-final. The first final ended as a draw, 11 points apiece with Roscommon, but Galway won the replay in Hyde Park. In the semis, Galway came up against Ulster champions Derry, and won by 0-16 to 1-09. In the final the team faced a Kildare team that had just beaten the previous year's champions, Kerry, and were coached by 8 time All-Ireland winning manager Mick O'Dwyer. Galway went into the final as underdogs, but outstanding performances from Ja Fallon and Michael Donnellan in that match, along with a superbly taken goal from a young Padraig Joyce, helped Galway overcome the Lilywhites by 1-14 to 1-10. Captain Ray Silke lifted the Sam Maguire, and Galway became the first Connacht team in 32 years to win an All-Ireland title.
Galway made a strong start to the new millennium. After beating Leitrim in the Connacht final, Galway faced Kildare in the semi-final, winning by 0-15 to 2-6 to progress to the final, with Pádraic Joyce scoring 7 of Galway's points. Galway's opponents in the final were a Kerry team managed by eight time All-Ireland winning player, Páidí Ó Sé. Galway came from behind to draw level with Kerry at 0-14 each, putting the game through to a replay. In the replay, however, Galway were beaten by four points, with a final score of 0-17 to 1-10.
Galway came back the following year, however. Due to rule changes in the 2001 season, a qualifier round was introduced to allow teams eliminated from their provincial championship to make it through to the latter stages of the competiotion. Galway were forced to make use of this new 'back door' after they were knocked out of the Connacht championship in the semi-finals by Roscommon. Galway were put into Round 3 of the qualifiers, where they came up against Armagh. After a hard fought match Galway came out as winners on a scoreline of just 0-13 to 0-12, Paul Clancy scoring the winning point. After that, Galway faced beaten Munster finalists Cork in Round 4, who they beat by a score of 1-14 to 1-10 to qualify for the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
In the quarters, the team came up against Roscommon, the team that had knocked them into the qualifiers to begin with. Galway made use of their second chance, beating the Rossies by 0-14 to 1-05, to qualify for a semi-final against fellow 'back door' team Derry. Galway came out on top in the semi-final, beating the northerners by three points to qualify for the All-Ireland final, thus becoming the first team to qualify for an All-Ireland final without being champions of their own province. They went into the final as massive underdogs, however, as their opponents Meath had beaten the previous year's champions Kerry 2-14 to 0-05, and had limited Kerry to a single point in the second half. Things did not work out as expected for Meath fans however, and after going in level at the break at 6 points apiece, Galway came out after half-time and blew Meath away, scoring 11 second half points to Meath's 2, giving a final score of 0-17 to 0-08. Pádraic Joyce alone scored 10 points in the final to take his tally to 3-45 in eight games, and finished the season as the Championship's top scorer. This time it was Gary Fahey who lifted the Sam Maguire, giving the Tribesmen their second All-Ireland win in four years, and making Galway the first ever 'back door' champions.

Hurling

History

Early years and 'curse'

Galway were runners up in the very first All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, 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 champions for the first time in their history. The team made it to the final four more times in that decade, appearing in 1924, 1925, 1928 and 1929 deciders, but lost on each occasion.
Galway continued to come up short in the Championship, and by the time the team lost three finals in a decade being runners up in 1953, 1955 and again in 1958, it had been 35 years since their only triumph. Like many counties that had previously experienced success before enduring a lengthy spell without titles, Galway became the subject of rumours of a curse, as has also happened to Mayo in football and Clare in hurling. In 1969 Connacht reached the final of the interprovincial Railway Cup for the first time in ten years with a team drawn primarily from Galway, and held Munster to a draw before being beaten in the replay, and this boosted the game in the county. However, a disastrous All-Ireland campaign followed for Galway, with the team losing to London in the 1969 championship and the following year Connacht lost at home to Ulster in the preliminary round of the 1970 Railway Cup, running up 20 wides. By the time the Galway hurlers were heavily beaten in 1975 and 1979 finals the curse was part of folklore.

1980s success

In 1980 Castlegar won the All-Ireland Club Championship, while Connacht beat Munster in that year's Railway Cup final, bringing a measure of success back to Galway. In the 1980 championship, the team was managed by Cyril Farrell. Due to the lack of competition for Galway in Connacht, the team's first match of the season came against Kildare in the quarter-final round, a game which Galway won comfortably on a score of 5–15 to 1–11. From there the team faced Offaly, the Leinster champions, in the semi-final. Galway overcame Offaly by two points on a scoreline of 4–9 to 3–10 to qualify for the decider. Galway faced Limerick in the final. Galway came out on top in a close game that saw five goals scored to win the All-Ireland by 2-15 to 3-9. Captain Joe Connolly became the first Galway man to lift the Liam MacCarthy since Mick Kenny in 1923.
Galway entered the 1981 championship as champions, and played their first game on 19 July against Antrim in the quarter-final, winning by 6-23 to 3-11. Galway progressed to the semi-finals where they met their opponents from the previous year's final, Limerick. A hard fought game between the two finished level at 1-08 to 0-11, with Galway the goal-scoring team. The replay saw Galway come out as five point winners, qualifying for the decider on a final score of 4-16 to 2-17. In the final, Galway met Leinster champions Offaly. Despite having beaten the Faithful County in the previous year's semi-final, Galway failed to retain their title, being three point losers on a score of 2-12 to 0-15.
Galway returned to the final in the 1985 championship, beating Cork to qualify. In the final, the team again met Offaly, and were beaten by their eastern neighbors by 2-11 to 1-12. Galway were again runners up in the 1986 final, when they were beaten by Cork.
The 1987 championship saw Galway qualify for their third final in a row. Still managed by Farrell, Galway overcame Tipperary by 3-20 to 2-17 to make it to the decider. Captained by Conor Hayes and inspired by the young Joe Cooney, who scored five points on the day, Galway defeated Kilkenny by 1-12 to 0-09 in the final. Cooney was named Hurler of the Year for his performances at the age of just 22.
In 1988, Galway opened the defence of their title against London on 16 July, beating the Exiles comfortably by 4-30 to 2-08 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals they came up against Offaly, a team that had repeatedly stumbled against during the decade, but came out as winners by 3-18 to 3-11. The win over Offaly set up a meeting with Tipperary in the 1988 final. Galway beat the Premier County by 1-15 to 0-14 to win their fourth ever All-Ireland. This was also the first time Galway had managed to retain their title.

Post-1980s struggles

The youth and skill of the team which won All-Ireland Championships in 1987 and 1988 was suggestive of more to come. John Commins penalty and race back to the line was one of the great images indicating the spirit of the team. Galway were narrowly beaten by Tipperary in a controversial 1989 semi-final and Cork in the final of 1990, while the brilliance of the 1993 final defeat by Kilkenny is sometimes forgotten because of the drama that ensued in the following years. Galway clubs took three successive All Ireland titles in 1992–94 and Athenry three in 1997, 2000 and 2001. For the 2009 Hurling Championship, Galway played in the Leinster Championship, starting a trial period of three years there.
In May 2010, Galway won their ninth National Hurling League with a 2–22 to 1–17 win against Cork at Semple Stadium.
Galway opened their 2010 Championship campaign against Wexford. Despite a second half surge by Wexford, Galway still won by 11 points. Galway then went on to play Offaly. The Faithful county gave Galway a strong scare in the Semi-Final. On 20 June, Offaly and Galway drew 3-16 to 2-19. Six days later, the Tribesman beat Offaly in the replay to propel them into their first Leinster Final ever. In the final, Kilkenny won their 20th Championship game in a row, beating Galway by a scoreline of 1-19 to 1-12. Even though they lost, Galway were given an automatic All-Ireland Quarterfinal birth. In that All-Ireland Quarterfinal match, the Tribesman squared up against Tipperary. In a closely contested match all the way through, Galway fell short of the semi-finals again, losing 3-17 to 3-16. Tipperary went on to upset Kilkenny, who were looking for their fifth championship in a row, in the 2010 All-Ireland Final.
Expectations were high in 2011, as many thought that Galway were ready to take the next step and possibly participate in an All-Ireland Final. The League started with great success as Galway won 4 of the first 5 matches including a victory over Kilkenny. But, they dropped the last two giving everyone a sour taste. The Championship brought new life and hope to the supporters of Galway who saw the opportunity at hand for the season. After a Leinster Quarter-final win over Westmeath, Galway took on Dublin and played one of their worst games in recent memory. Besides an early goal by Joe Canning, Galway never seemed to be in the game at all. A decent Dublin team rolled through them. But, Galway erased the bad feelings from Leinster Semi-final exit over the next month. In two qualifying matches, Galway knocked out Clare and Cork handily, propelling them into the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland and a match with Munster runners up, Waterford. Waterford had two weeks earlier been beaten by Tipperary by seven goals. It wasn't known whether Galway would be in the All-Ireland, but coming up against Waterford, at such a low ebb, seemed to be at least a ticket to the semi-final, but, that wasn't the case. Waterford absolutely hammered Galway 2-23 to 2-13. Serious questions were being raised about the coaching, selection, squad of players, and overall mindset of Galway hurling.

New hope in the Cunningham era

Anthony Cunningham, who had just recently led to Galway U-21s to an All-Ireland, was brought up to manage the Senior team. Mattie Coleman and Tom Helebert were picked to help Cunningham. Many expected 2012 to be a rebuilding year for Galway hurling. Many thought that the team was a few years away from contention yet and needed to do a lot of growing. The League was not kind to Galway. They barely saved their status in Division One by having to go a replay in a relegation play-off match with Dublin.
Galway reached a Leinster Final against Kilkenny after wins over Westmeath and Offaly. Still, many felt that Kilkenny would easily beat Galway. But, it wasn't to be. Galway produced a massive upset, beating Galway lifted their first Bob O'Keefe Cup ever. The road didn't stop there. After a slow first half, Galway held off a strong Cork team in the All-Ireland Semi-final. Galway were matched with Kilkenny again for the All-Ireland final. Joe Canning's 10th-minute goal got Galway rolling and they led by 5 at half time: 1-9 to 0-7. Kilkenny, however, were able to fight back. A Henry Shefflin point taken from the penalty spot separated the sides late in the game but, with 30 seconds left, Davy Glennon was fouled and Joe Canning scored from the free putting the All-Ireland Hurling Final to a replay for the first time in 53 years. In the replay however, Kilkenny overpowered Galway, with a final score of 3-22 to 3-11.
A 2012 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship winners' medal was later sold on eBay for €570.

Honours

Squad as per Galway v Limerick, 2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final, 19 August 2018

All Stars">GAA GPA All Stars Awards">All Stars: 95

1971: John Connolly
1975: Niall McInerney, Sean Silke, Iggy Clarke
1976: Joe McDonagh, Frank Burke
1977: P. J. Molloy
1978: Iggy Clarke
1979: Iggy Clarke, John Connolly, Frank Burke
1980: Niall McInerney, Jimmy Cooney, Sean Silke, Iggy Clarke, Joe Connolly, Bernie Forde
1981: Jimmy Cooney, Steve Mahon
1983: Noel Lane
1984: Noel Lane
1985: Seamus Coen, Sylvie Linnane, Pete Finnerty, Brendan Lynskey, Joe Cooney
1986: Conor Hayes, Sylvie Linnane, Pete Finnerty, Tony Keady, Joe Cooney
1987: Conor Hayes, Ollie Kilkenny, Pete Finnerty, Steve Mahon, Michael McGrath, Joe Cooney
1988: John Commins, Sylvie Linnane, Conor Hayes, Pete Finnerty, Tony Keady, Martin Naughton, Michael McGrath
1989: John Commins, Sean Treacy, Michael Coleman, Joe Cooney, Éanna Ryan
1990: Pete Finnerty, Michael Coleman, Joe Cooney
1991: Sean Treacy
1993: Pádraig Kelly, Pat Malone, Joe Rabbitte
1995: Michael Coleman
1996: Tom Helebert
1997: Kevin Broderick
2000: Joe Rabbitte
2001: Ollie Canning, Liam Hodgins, Kevin Broderick, Eugene Cloonan
2003: Ollie Canning
2005: Ollie Canning, Derek Hardiman, Ger Farragher, Damien Hayes
2008: Joe Canning
2009: Ollie Canning, Joe Canning
2010: Damien Hayes
2012: Fergal Moore, David Collins, Iarla Tannian, Damien Hayes, Joe Canning, David Burke
2015: Colm Callanan, Daithí Burke, David Burke, Cathal Mannion
2016: Daithí Burke, David Burke
2017: Padraic Mannion, Daithí Burke, Gearóid McInerney, David Burke, Joe Canning, Conor Whelan, Conor Cooney
2018: Daithí Burke, Padraic Mannion, Joe Canning
After losing eight All Ireland finals including the first final in 1932, Galway won their first All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in 1996. They won three National Camogie League titles in 1994, 2002 and 2005. Five Galway clubs Oranmore, Pearses, Athenry, Mullagh and Killimor have won the All Ireland senior club championship.
Notable players include All Star award winners
Sinéad Cahalan, Veronica Curtin, Jessica Gill, Regina Glynn, Ann Marie Hayes and Therese Maher, young player of the year for 2004 Stephanie Gannon, junior player of the year winner for 1985 Deirdre Costello, and All Ireland final stars Imelda Hobbins Denise Gilligan Sharon Glynn Eileen Naughton
Under Camogie’s National Development Plan 2010-2015, "Our Game, Our Passion," five new camogie clubs are to be established in the county by 2015.

Honours

Honours