Despite this, the hurlers have attained noticeably more success than their football counterparts, with the county's most notable early achievement being an appearance in the 1968 All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship final.

[clarify] Sligo won the All-Ireland Minor 'C' Hurling Championship in August 1986, defeating Tyrone by four points at Croke Park.

Sligo, under the management of Mickey Galvin, won its first All-Ireland hurling title at senior level by defeating Louth in the 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup Final.

The county team won a second consecutive senior title in 2019 under Hand, Peter Galvin and coach Colum O'Meara.

[5] James Weir, at 19 years of age and the youngest ever All-Ireland winning captain,[citation needed] lifted aloft the Nicky Rackard Cup thus giving Sligo official recognition as a dual county.

Confusion over efforts to register two players from Galway with Sligo heritage and the involvement of one of their coaches with a club, unbeknownst to Hand and Galvin, were cited as partly contributing to this unexpected decision.