Conor Hayes

Conor Hayes (born 11 May 1958) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Kiltormer and with the Galway senior inter-county team in the 1980s and 1990s. Hayes served as manager of the Galway senior team from 2003 until 2006.

Early life

Conor Hayes was born in the village of Kiltormer, County Galway in 1958. From a young age he showed great interest in the game of hurling and, in time, he would become a key member of the great Galway team of the 1980s.

Playing career

Club

Hayes played his club hurling with his local Kiltormer club. Here he was joined by other notable hurlers Michael, Tony and Oliver Kilkenny, John Goode, Tom Lynch, Ciarán Lynch, and Tony Furey. In 1976 Hayes first tasted major success when Kiltormer won their very first Galway SHC. Four more county titles were added in 1977, 1982, 1990 and 1991. Three of these wins were converted into Connacht club titles, while in 1992 Hayes won an All-Ireland club title.

Inter-county

Hayes first came to prominence as an inter-county hurler on Galway’s under-21 team. He won an All-Ireland medal in 1978 and quickly joined the senior panel. In 1979 Galway reached the All-Ireland final, however, they were defeated by Kilkenny in one of the least memorable finals of the decade. The side bounced back in 1980 with Hayes installed at corner-back. Galway reached the All-Ireland final again, however, this time Hayes’s side were victorious, defeating Limerick to win their first title since 1923.

In 1981 Galway reached their third All-Ireland final in-a-row, however, Offaly were the victors that year, winning their first title in the process. Offaly defeated Galway once again in the All-Ireland final of 1985. In 1986 Galway reached yet another All-Ireland final, this time against Cork. For the second year in-a-row Hayes ended up on the losing side. In spite of this he was still presented with his first All-Star award. In 1987 Hayes was appointed captain of the Galway team. The year began well when he led the team to their first National Hurling League title in over a decade. Later that summer, in their third All-Ireland final appearance in-a-row, “the Tribesmen” took on Kilkenny. At the third time of asking Galway emerged victorious and Hayes captured his second All-Ireland medal as well as his second All-Star award.

In 1988 Hayes remained as captain of the team. On this occasion Tipperary were Galway’s opponents in their fourth consecutive All-Ireland final appearance. Hayes had another solid performance at full-back and claimed his third All-Ireland title. A third All-Star award quickly followed. In 1989 Hayes began the year by winning his second National League title, however, Galway’s star centre-back, Tony Keady, was banned from playing for a year. The side had contemplated withdrawing from the championship in protest, however, they decided to play, eventually losing out to Tipp in the All-Ireland semi-final. In 1990 Hayes played in his fifth All-Ireland final in six seasons. Galway were the hot favourites to beat Cork and it looked as if that prediction would come true when the tribesmen went 7 points up. Cork clawed their way back and eventually went on to win on a scoreline of 5-15 to 2-21.

Hayes continued playing with Galway for another few seasons but retired from inter-county hurling in the early 1990s.

Managerial career

In retirement Hayes continued his involvement with hurling. In late 2002 he was appointed manager of the Galway senior hurling team, succeeding his old team mate Noel Lane. Among the high points of his managerial term included a National Hurling League victory in 2004 and an All-Ireland semi-final defeat over Kilkenny in 2005. The latter victory is considered to be one of the games of the decade. In the subsequent All-Ireland final Cork defeated Galway. Hayes resigned following defeat by Kilkenny in the 2006 championship. He was succeeded by former Clare manager Ger Loughnane.

Teams

	All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship - Silver Jubilee Team (1971-1996)
1 Niall Patterson | 2 Tony Maher | 3 Conor Hayes | 4 John Horgan | 5 Joe Hennessy | 6 Frank Cummins | 7 Denis Coughlan | 8 Gerald McCarthy | 9 Joe Cooney | 10 Francis Loughnane | 11 Ray Cummins | 12 Ger Fennelly | 13 Charlie McCarthy | 14 Tony Doran | 15 Liam Fennelly |

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