Galway Senior Hurling Championship

The Galway Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Brooks Galway Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Galway County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in the county of Galway in Ireland.

The series of games are played during the summer and autumn months with the county final currently being played at Pearse Stadium in November. Initially played as a knock-out competition, the championship currently consists of a group stage followed by a knock-out series of games.

The Galway County Championship is an integral part of the wider All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship. The winners of the Galway county final automatically represent Connacht and join the champions of the other three provinces to contest the All-Ireland Championship.

Twenty-four teams currently participate in the Galway County Championship. The title has been won at least once by 29 different teams. The all-time record-holders are Castlegar, who have won a total of 17 titles.

St. Thomas' are the title-holders, defeating Turloughmore by 2-12 to 1-13 in the 2023 final to win their sixth consecutive Galway County Championship, equalling the record held by Turloughmore, who won the title in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Beginnings
Following the foundation of the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1884, new rules for Gaelic football and hurling were drawn up and published in the United Irishman newspaper. In 1886, county committees were established, with the Galway County Board affiliating on 26 October 1886. The inaugural championship was played during the summer of 1887. Delays and objections were commonplace in the early years, with a number of championships remaining unfinished.

Group stage
The 16 clubs are divided into four groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed three group games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top team in each group qualify for the quarter-finals and the second and third placed teams in the group qualifying for the preliminary quarter-finals.

Knockout stage
Following the completion of the group stage, the top three teams from each group qualify to the knockout stage with the four group winners receiving byes to separate quarter-finals.

Preliminary quarter-finals: Teams that finished second and third in the group stage contest this round. Repeat pairings are avoided. The four winners from these games advance to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals: The four group winners and the four preliminary quarter-final winners contest this round. Repeat pairings are avoided. The two winners from these two games advance to the semi-finals.

Semi-finals: The four quarter-final winners contest this round. The two winners from these two games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.

Relegation
The four bottom-placed teams from the group stage take part in a series of play-offs, with the losing team being relegated to the Galway Senior B Hurling Championship.

Qualification
At the end of the championship, the winning team qualify to the subsequent All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship.

Early rounds
Fixtures in the opening rounds of the championship are usually played at a neutral venue that is deemed halfway between the participating teams. Some of the more common venues include Kenny Park, Duggan Park and St Brendan's Park.

Final
The final has regularly been played at Pearse Stadium in Salthill.

Managers
Managers in the Galway Championship are involved in the day-to-day running of the team, including the training, team selection, and sourcing of players. Their influence varies from club-to-club and is related to the individual club committees. The manager is assisted by a team of two or three selectors and a backroom team consisting of various coaches.

List of finals



 * 1956 Awarded to Turloughmore

By decade
The most successful team of each decade, judged by number of Galway Senior Hurling Championship titles, is as follows:


 * 1880s: 1 each for Meelick (1887) and Peterswell (1889)
 * 1890s: 3 for Ardrahan (1894-95-96)
 * 1900s: 4 for Peterswell (1900-04-05-07)
 * 1910s: 2 each for Kilconieron (1912–19), Woodfield (1913–17), Gort (1914–16) and Craughwell (1915–18)
 * 1920s: 5 for Tyangh (1920-22-23-25-28)
 * 1930s: 4 for Castlegar (1936-37-38-39)
 * 1940s: 3 for Liam Mellows (1943-45-46)
 * 1950s: 5 for Castlegar (1950-52-53-57-58)
 * 1960s: 6 for Turloughmore (1961-62-63-64-65-66)
 * 1970s: 3 each for Castlegar (1972-73-79) and Ardrahan (1974-75-78)
 * 1980s: 2 each for Sarsfields (1980–89) and Gort (1981–83)
 * 1990s: 4 each for Sarsfields (1992-93-95-97) and Athenry (1994-96-98-99)
 * 2000s: 5 for Portumna (2003-05-07-08-09)
 * 2010s: 4 for St. Thomas' (2012-16-18-19)

Gaps
Top five longest gaps between successive championship titles:
 * 65 years: Loughrea (1941-2006)
 * 47 years: Liam Mellows (1970-2017)
 * 47 years: Gort (1934-1981)
 * 39 years: Ardrahan (1910-1949)
 * 28 years: Gort (1983-2011)