Forde made his debut for the Galway senior team on 17 October 1993 in a 2-14 to 1-10 National Hurling League defeat of Wexford at Kenny Park.
After ending the league campaign as runners-up, Forde subsequently made his championship debut in a 2-21 to 2-06 defeat of Roscommon in the All-Ireland quarter-final on 17 July 1994.
On 13 July 1997, Forde won a third successive Connacht Championship medal after Galway's 6-24 to 0-05 defeat of Roscommon in the final.
After growing disillusioned with his increasingly peripheral role on the team, Forde left the Galway panel after the 1999 National League.
[4] Forde returned to the Galway senior team during the 2002 National League and played for one season before leaving the panel again.