Conor Hayes (born 11 May 1958) is an Irish former hurler who played as a full-back at senior level for the Galway county team.
During a four-year term as manager of the Galway senior hurlers, he guided the team to an All-Ireland final appearance.
[5] In 1982 Hayes missed out on Kiltormer's next championship success, as he spent the year playing with Glen Rovers in Cork.
Kiltormer retained their Galway title in 1991, with Hayes winning a third and final championship medal following a 3–9 to 0–15 defeat of Athenry.
[6] Hayes first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Galway under-21 hurling team that reached the All-Ireland decider in 1978.
[7] In one of the worst All-Ireland finals of the decade, Galway goalkeeper Séamus Shinnors had an absolute nightmare of a game.
A 70-yards free by Liam "Chunky" O'Brien after just four minutes dipped, hit off Shinnors and ended up in the Galway net.
Galway fought back and went two points up twelve minutes into the second half, however, they failed to score for the rest of the game.
[8] It was Galway's first All-Ireland title since 1923, with Hayes picking up a winners' medal and the celebrations surpassed anything ever seen in Croke Park.
After missing the 1981 All-Ireland final, Hayes was restored to his usual full-back position by the time Galway reached the decider once again in 1985.
Four Cork goals, one from John Fenton, two from Tomás Mulcahy and one from Kevin Hennessy, stymied the Galway attack and helped "the Rebels" to a 4–13 to 2–15 victory.
The year began well when he led the team to their first National Hurling League title in over a decade following a 3–12 to 3–10 defeat of Clare.
Noel Lane again scored the crucial goal for Galway while Nicky English sent a late penalty over the bar for a point.
For the third time in as many years Tipperary faced Galway in the All-Ireland series, however, on this occasion the men from the West were controversially without their star player Tony Keady.
A 0–10 to 1–5 victory gave Hayes his second Railway Cup medal, while the province retained the title for the first time in their history.
On 11 December 2002, Hayes defeated incumbent Noel Lane, Brendan Lynskey and Gerry Fahy in a vote to become manager of the Galway senior hurling team.
[12] His first season in charge in 2003 was fruitless as Galway were out of contention very early for the National League exited the championship without reaching Croke Park.
"The Cats" got off to a great start, however, the young Galway team fought back and exposed a poor defence to produce one of the games of the decade.
Cork's Ben O'Connor scored a goal in the sixteenth minute that gave his team a comfortable lead.
Damien Hayes fought back with a Galway goal in the fiftieth minute, reducing Cork's lead to a point.
Hayes was persuaded to stay on as manager for another year, in the hope that his Galway team could go one better and claim the All-Ireland crown.
[15] After little success in the National League, Hayes's side exited the championship following a 2–22 to 3–14 defeat by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland quarter-final.