Joseph Canning (born 11 October 1988[1]) is an Irish hurler who plays for club side Portumna and previously at inter-county level with the Galway senior hurling team.

Often considered one of the greatest players of any generation, Canning enjoyed a 14-season career with the Galway senior hurling team, won five All-Stars and was named GAA-GPA Hurler of the Year in 2017.

Canning won a fifth county championship in 2013 before ending the season with a fourth All-Ireland club winners' medal.

[6][7][8] After making his senior debut in April 2008, Canning won his first All-Star award as well as being named Young Hurler of the Year.

Canning ended the 2012 season with his third All-Star and his first Hurler of the Year nomination, having been part of Galway's inaugural Leinster Championship-winning campaign.

Canning earned a fifth All-Star award and a third Hurler of the Year nomination in 2018 after winning a third Leinster Championship title and appearing in his fourth All-Ireland final.

He won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal that year as the National University of Ireland, Galway were defeated by 2–15 to 0–13 in the final.

[11] LIT hoped to claim historic back-to-back titles in 2008 and qualified for the final against the Waterford Institute of Technology.

In spite of Canning scoring a remarkable 1–16 of LIT's total in a tightly contested final, he still ended up on the losing side.

[13] Canning joined the Portumna club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels.

On 22 October 2006, Canning scored seven points from left corner-forward when Portumna suffered a 1–13 to 0–15 defeat by Loughrea in the 2006 Galway Championship final.

[20] On 17 March 2008, hit a total of ten points, eight coming from placed balls, including a free from well over 100 metres out and a sideline cut in the All-Ireland final.

On 2 November 2008, Canning won a third Galway Senior Championship when Portumna retained the title after a 1–18 to 2–07 defeat of Gort in the final.

[22] On 17 March 2009, he scored nine points for Portumna when they retained their All-Ireland Championship title after a 2–24 to 1–08 defeat of first-time finalists De La Salle.

[23] Canning won a third successive Galway Senior Championship medal on 15 November 2009 after a 5–19 to 1–13 defeat of Loughrea in the final.

[25] On 28 October 2013, Canning scored 1-05 from left wing-forward when he won his fifth Galway Senior Championship medal after a 3–12 to 0–14 defeat of Loughrea in the final.

[26] In the All-Ireland final on 17 March 2014, Canning claimed a fourth winners' medal after scoring ten points in the 0–19 to 0–11 defeat of Mount Leinster Rangers.

[37][38] In December 2005, Galway senior hurling team manager Conor Hayes admitted that he strongly considered adding Canning to his panel for the 2006 season.

[44] On 13 April 2008, Canning made his debut for the Galway senior team in a 2–22 to 0–24 defeat of Cork in the National League semi-final at the Gaelic Grounds.

[54] On 8 July 2012, Canning top scored with 1-10 when Galway defeated Kilkenny by 2–21 to 2–12 to win the Leinster Championship final for the first time in their history.

[66] On 19 February 2017, Canning made his return from injury when he came on as a second-half substitute and scored a penalty in a 3–13 to 1–21 defeat by Wexford in the National League.

Canning scored the final point to win the game for Galway with what was described as a 'Miracle shot' by TV commentary, shooting under pressure while standing on the sideline.

[74][75][76] On 1 July, Canning top scored for Galway with six points in their 0-18 apiece draw with Kilkenny in the Leinster Championship final.

"[80] Canning ended the season by being named in the centre-forward position on the All-Star team, while he was also nominated for Hurler of the Year.

[81][82] In March 2019, Canning suffered a groin injury in the 2019 National Hurling League semi-final defeat against Waterford which required surgery ruling him out of action for 14 to 16 weeks.

[85] On 29 November 2020 in the All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick, Canning scored four points from sideline balls which was a new championship record.

[93] He married Megan Hoare in November 2022 in County Limerick and runs a restaurant in Galway and a bar in Athlone.