Keady made his debut on the inter-county scene at the age of sixteen when he was selected for the Galway minor team.
After being chosen on the Connacht inter-provincial team for the first time in 1985, Keady was a regular choice on the starting fifteen for the following few years.
Keady played his club hurling with Killimordaly and enjoyed much success at juvenile and underage levels.
After losing back-to-back county senior championship finals in 1984 and 1985, Killimordaly overcame Turloughmore by 0-17 to 2-7 in the 1986 decider, with Keady as a key member of the team.
Galway reached a second successive All-Ireland final on 11 September 1983 with Tipperary providing the opposition on this occasion.
Offaly provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final on 1 September 1985 and it was their goal-scoring ability that proved crucial.
On the day a different story unfolded as four goals - one from John Fenton, two from Tomás Mulcahy and one from Kevin Hennessy - stymied the Galway attack and helped Cork to a 4–13 to 2–15 victory.
[1] Keady enjoyed his first success at senior level in 1987 when Galway won their first National Hurling League title in over a decade following a 3–12 to 3–10 defeat of Clare.
Noel Lane again scored the crucial goal for Galway while Nicky English sent a late penalty over the bar for a point.
Another solid performance at centre-back resulted in a second All-Star award, while he also became the third Galway player to win the Texaco Hurler of the Year.
Shortly after collecting a second National League medal he travelled to the United States to play an exhibition game for Laois against Tipperary.
When he returned to Ireland the Games Administration Committee of the Gaelic Athletic Association decided to make an example of Keady and he was banned from playing for a year.
The team even considered withdrawing from the championship; however, in the end they decided to play, albeit without the services of Keady.
On the morning of 8 August 2017, Keady suffered a major heart attack at his home and was taken to University Hospital Galway.
[9][10][11] During the 2017 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final, in which Galway defeated Waterford, supporters of both teams applauded in tribute to Keady after six minutes of the match.