Joe Connolly (born 13 October 1956) is an Irish former hurler who played as a centre-forward at senior level for the Galway county team.
He arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he first linked up with the Galway minor team, before later joining the under-21 side.
As a member of the Connacht inter-provincial team at various times, Connolly won two Railway Cup medals.
As the third eldest of the Connolly dynasty, many of his brothers, John, Pádraic, Michael, Tom, Gerry and Murt, played with distinction for Castlegar and Galway.
[4] Connolly joined the Castlegar senior hurling panel in 1974, however, the team were beaten in their quest for three championships in-a-row.
[5] Old rivals Tremane provided the opposition in the subsequent provincial decider, however, a 4–12 to 0–5 victory gave Connolly a third Connacht medal.
[7] Connolly first came to prominence on the inter-county scene with the Galway minor and under-21 teams but enjoyed little success in these grades.
In 1980, Connolly was appointed captain as Galway defeated Kildare and Offaly to reach the final against Munster champions Limerick.
[10] Due to the crowd celebrations on the pitch, it took Connolly ten minutes to reach the rostrum in the Hogan Stand to collect the Liam MacCarthy Cup; however, once there he delivered, in his native Irish, one of the most famous acceptance speeches of all-time.
"The final phrase is an echo of Pope John Paul II's address to the young people of Ireland the previous year.
The celebrations did not just end with Connolly's speech as Joe McDonagh seized the microphone and lead the crowd in a version of the West's Awake.
Connolly retained the same position on the team and was appointed captain in 1980 as Connacht faced Railway Cup specialists Munster in the decider.
He has also worked as an analyst on Seó Spóirt and has co-hosted reality show Jockey Eile with Seán Bán Breathnach.
[16] Born in Castlegar on the outskirts of Galway, Connolly was educated at Briarhill national school and later attended St Mary's College.