Galway finished as runner-up in the first edition of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (SHC), losing to Tipperary in the 1887 final.

[contradictory] The following year Connacht lost at home to Ulster in the preliminary round of the 1970 Railway Cup, running up a total of 20 wides.

Joe Connolly, the team captain, became the first Galway man to lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup since Mick Kenny in 1923.

As the defending champion, the Galway team played its first game in the 1981 All-Ireland SHC, a quarter-final against Antrim, on 19 July, winning by a scoreline of 6–23 to 3–11.

Galway emerged from the replay as five-point winners, qualifying for the deciding match of the competition on a final scoreline of 4–16 to 2–17.

Still managed by Farrell, Galway defeated Tipperary by a scoreline of 3–20 to 2–17 in the 1987 All-Ireland SHC semi-final to advance to a third consecutive final.

Captained by Conor Hayes and inspired by a young Joe Cooney (who scored five points), Galway defeated Kilkenny by a scoreline of 1–12 to 0–09.

Galway opened the defence of its title against London on 16 July, winning the 1988 All-Ireland SHC quarter-final by a scoreline of 4–30 to 2–08.

Galway won the 2010 National Hurling League (NHL), its ninth title, with a 2–22 to 1–17 win against Cork at Semple Stadium in May that year.

In the 2010 All-Ireland SHC Final, Tipperary defeated a Kilkenny team that was seeking its fifth consecutive championship title.

Galway won four of its first five matches in the 2011 National Hurling League, including a victory over Kilkenny, but lost the last two games.

Galway barely saved its Division 1 status in the 2012 National Hurling League, requiring a replay in a relegation play-off match against Dublin.

[5] Galway met Cork in an All-Ireland SHC semi-final, eventually winning that game after a slow first half.

Joe Canning scored a goal for Galway in the tenth minute and his team led by five points at half-time: 1–9 to 0–7.

Kilkenny recovered, however, and, late in the game, a Henry Shefflin point taken from the penalty spot separated the sides.

Then, with 30 seconds left, Davy Glennon was fouled and Joe Canning scored for Galway from the free, sending the All-Ireland SHC Final to a replay for the first time in 53 years.

Galway's final hurling crest was based on the coat of arms of Galway city, shown on the right, with the county's Irish name, Gaillimh, and the initials CLG written underneath (CLG being short for Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, the GAA's Irish name.)