Galway All Ireland Finals history from first win to controversial loss
Galway have brought Liam MacCarthy back west on five occasions but have come home empty handed twenty times
As Galway gears up for its 26th All Ireland Hurling Final, let’s have a look back at the ones won and lost as the Tribesmen search for six.
It has been nearly a decade since Galway’s last time lifting Liam and eight years since they got within a point of Limerick for a back to back title.
And fitting that if Galway are to strap the seatbelt on Liam MacCarthy as it goes over the Shannon, they will have to beat the team who were their opposition for their first Final win.
After failing to even register a score in their first hurling final in 1887 when Meelick represented Galway in the Final against Thurles of Tipperary, they lashed Limerick out of it in 1923 with an emphatic seven point win.
A three in a row was subsequently stopped by Tipperary and Dublin the following two years with Galway reaching five finals in the 20s but losing four.
Three losses in the 50s and two in the 70s followed before another golden generation of gifted Galwegians came through.
Three wins in 1980, 87 and 88, with Joe Connolly famously proclaiming “people of Galway, we love you”, finally put to bed a near 60 year famine.
But those old enough to remember will feel that Galway left a few celtic crosses behind them too - especially the controversial year ban Tony Keady received in 1989 for playing a match in America, ultimately leading to him being ineligible to play in 1990.
Six finals would pass them by before they raised Liam aloft again in 2017 but heartbreak would strike again just a year later.
Here’s a full list of Galway’s All Ireland Hurling Final History including scorelines.
Galway have won five All Irelands - 1923, 1980, 1987, 1988, 2017
1987: Galway 1-15 (18) Tipperary 0-14 (14)
1988: Galway 1-12 (15) Kilkenny 0-09 (9)
2017: Galway 0-26 (26) Waterford 2-17 (23)
Lost twenty - 1887, 1924, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1975, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1993, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2015, 2018
1928: Cork 4-09 (21) Galway 1-03 (6)
1929: Cork 6-12 (28) Galway 1-00 (3)
1953: Cork 3-03 (12) Galway 0-08 (8)
1955: Wexford 3-13 (22) Galway 2-08 (14)
1958: Tipperary 4-09 (21) Galway 2-05 (11)
1975: Kilkenny 2-22 (28) Galway 2-10 (16)
1979: Kilkenny 2-12 (18) Galway 1-08 (11)
1981: Offaly 2-12 (18) Galway0-15 (15)
1985 Cork 4-13 (25) Galway 2-15 (21)
1986: Offaly 2-11 (17) Galway1-12 (15)
1990: Cork 5-15 (30) Galway 2-21 (27)
1993: Kilkenny 2-17 (23) Galway 1-15 (18)
2001: Tipperary 2-18 (24) Galway 2-15 (21)
2005: Cork 1-21 (24) Galway 1-16 (19)
2015: Kilkenny 1-22 (25) Galway1-18 (21)
2018: Limerick 3-16 (25) Galway2-18 (24)