The 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Championship final was the 111th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1998 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.

In 2018, Martin Breheny listed this as the third greatest All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.Breheny, Martin. "Martin Breheny's Greatest All-Ireland Finals". Irish Independent. 1 September 2018, p. 7.

Background This was Kildare's first appearance in an All-Ireland football final since 1935. They were assisted on their way there by a semi-final victory over Kerry, masterminded by Kerryman Mick O'Dwyer. Going into the final Kildare were favourites to beat Galway.

Kildare were marginal favourites to take the title after dethroning reigning champions Kerry in a tight and close game. As well as dethroning the reigning champions, Kildare had also defeated Meath and Dublin, the 1996 and 1995 champions respectively. Galway were never in danger of losing against Derry in the semi-final and won a five-points victory in the end.

Match This year's final was played on 27 September.

Summary Galway defeated Kildare by a scoreline of 1–14 to 1–10. They took their first Sam Maguire Cup in 32 years – since the 1966 team completed a three-in-a-row for the county.High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.

Like in their semi-final against Derry, Galway started well and had three unanswered points on the board by the 13th minute, one of which saw Michael Donnellan race towards the Kildare at great speed before taking his point. Kildare got their first score through Eddie McCormack In the 20th minute, Kildare took the lead, after Dermot Earley scored a goal.

In response, Michael Donnellan galvanised his team with a moment of GAA magic. From his own defence, he proceeded to charge up the field at lightning pace, exchanging a pass with Kevin Walsh in midfield. The ball found its way to Seán Óg De Paor who finished the move with a well-taken point. It was a score that quelled a potential run of scores for the Lilywhites. At the interval, the score was 1–5 to 0–5 in favour of Kildare.

After the restart, Ja Fallon sniped a point off the arrears before Pádraic Joyce struck with a wonderful goal where he rounded goalkeeper Christy Byrne before finishing in front of an empty net. Galway had regained the lead and would never surrender it until the final whistle. By the 50th minute, it was 1–11 to 1–6 to Galway. Kildare managed to cut the lead to three before injury time but Galway had the final score, courtesy of De Paor to give them their first title in 32 years.

Details

1 Martin McNamara 2 Tomás Meehan 3 Gary Fahey 4 Tomás Mannion 5 Ray Silke (c) 6 John Divilly 7 Seán Óg de Paor 8 Kevin Walsh 9 Seán Ó Domhnaill 10 Michael Donnellan 11 Jarlath Fallon 12 Shay Walsh 13 Derek Savage 14 Pádraic Joyce 15 Niall Finnegan Substitutes:16 Pat Comer 17 Brian Silke 18 Richie Fahey 19 Kevin Fallon 20 Damien Mitchell 21 Paul Clancy 22 Declan Meehan 23 Tommy Joyce 24 Fergal Gavin Manager:John O'Mahony1 Christy Byrne 2 Brian Lacey 17 Seamus Dowling 4 Ken Doyle 5 John Finn 6 Glenn Ryan (c) 7 Anthony Rainbow 8 Niall Buckley 9 Willie McCreery 10 Eddie McCormack 11 Declan Kerrigan 12 Dermot Earley 13 Martin Lynch 14 Karl O'Dwyer 15 Pádraig Graven Substitutes:16 Paul Flood 3 Ronan Quinn 18 Davy Dalton 19 Bryan Murphy 20 Pádraig Brennan 21 Martin Ryan 22 Paul McCormack 23 Derek Maher 24 Noel Donlon Manager:Mick O'Dwyer

Post-match Kildare lost against Offaly in the first round of the following year's Leinster championship and then were relegated from the National League Division 1, but won the Leinster Title again in 2000 before losing again to Galway in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Galway lost the following years Connacht final to Mayo. They reclaimed the Connacht & All-Ireland Title again in 2001, after losing to Kerry in the 2000 final after a replay. Michael Donnellan's run from defence culminating in a Seán Óg De Paor point was voted #1 in the 2005 TV programme Top 20 GAA Moments.

References