The Sligo county hurling team represents Sligo in hurling and is governed by Sligo GAA, the county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The team competes in the Nicky Rackard Cup and the National Hurling League. It formerly competed in the abolished Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, finishing as runner-up in 1900 and 1906.

Sligo's home ground is Markievicz Park, Sligo. The team's manager is Stephen Sheil.

The team has never won the Connacht Senior Championship, the All-Ireland Senior Championship or the National League.

History Sligo is traditionally a weak team at senior level. Despite this, the hurlers have attained noticeably more success than their football counterparts, with the county's most notable early achievement being

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

Sligo won the 2005 National Hurling League Division 3 title.

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 team did not achieve promotion however, losing a play-off to Roscommon.

The under-16 team won the 2012 All-Ireland "C" hurling title by defeating Tyrone at the Monaghan Centre of Excellence.

2018 had both senior and minor teams bring national silverware back to the Land of the Shells. Sligo won a senior All-Ireland title for the first time since 2008. The men, jointly managed by Daithí Hand and Darragh Cox in their first senior hurling management role, defeated Lancashire in the 2018 Lory Meagher Cup final, with a last-minute Kevin Gilmartin goal (his third of the game) sealing the victory. Benny Kenny's under-17 squad, a few weeks later, defeated Donegal to become All-Ireland Celtic Challenge Cup Champions in the Michael Feery Cup, also defeating Mayo, Roscommon and others along the way.

The county team won a second consecutive senior title in 2019 under Hand, Peter Galvin and coach Colum O'Meara. Having been promoted to the Nicky Rackard Cup, the team topped Group 2, eliminating favourite Mayo, in a drawn game after beating Tyrone and Louth in previous games.

Following on from a 2–21 to 2–17 victory over Warwickshire at Celtic Park, Sligo advanced to the 2019 Nicky Rackard Cup final at Croke Park.

Facing a heavily tipped Armagh side, Sligo became champions with a Conor Griffin point, a Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch goal and a 73rd-minute point by young substitute Kieran Prior. The scoreline at the game's conclusion was 2–14 to 2–13; though the team was four points behind Armagh as the game entered injury-time, the two lates points and the goal meant Sligo secured a one-point victory. James Weir, at 19 years of age and the youngest ever All-Ireland winning captain, lifted aloft the Nicky Rackard Cup

Hand and fellow management team member Peter Galvin tendered their resignations on the evening of 14 September 2020, less than one month before the team was scheduled to contest a National League final and make its debut in the Christy Ring Cup. 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. The county board did not report their departures until 20 September. The coach, later named as Colum O'Meara, then applied (unsuccessfully) to become Hand's successor; O'Meara, a native of Killimor, County Galway, had joined the Sligo set-up as coach ahead of the 2019 season after parting ways with Longford.

Padraig Mannion ultimately succeeded Hand as Sligo manager in late 2020.

Panel

INJ Player has had an injury which has affected recent involvement with the county team. RET Player has since retired from the county team. WD Player has since withdrawn from the county team due to a non-injury issue.

Management team Appointed 6 October 2023: Manager: Stephen Sheil Management team: Donal O'Brien, Séamus Qualter

Managerial history

Mickey Galvin: 2008, e.g. Lory Meagher Cup (see The Irish Times source) Daithí Hand and Darragh Small: 2018 Daithí Hand: 2019–20

Padraig Mannion: 2020–2023 Stephen Sheil: 2023–

Players Notable players

Records Paul Seevers would be a prominent hurler for his county for more the 20 years. Seevers won the 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup with his county, three Railway Cups with Connacht and represented Ireland against Scotland in the 2003 Shinty-Hurling International Series. Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch also represented Ireland, in his case in 2018.

Awards Champion 15:

2015: Keith Raymond, Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch, Gary Cadden 2018: James WeirGary Cadden2nd 2019: James Weir2nd, Keith Raymond2nd, Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch2nd 2021: Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch3rd 2022: Andrew Kilcullen

List of seasons Season-by-season record YearChampionshipNational Hurling LeagueOtherCompetitionLvlPldWDLPtsPositionDivisionPositionCompetitionPosition2005Nicky Rackard Cup331022Group StageDivision 211th (R) — —200642115Quarter-FinalsDivision 37th200720020Group Stage2nd20086501101st (lost promotion playoff)5th (R)200931022Won relegation playoffDivision 41st201042024Semi-FinalsDivision 3B5th201120020Quarter-Finals6th201220020Quarter-FinalsDivision 3A6th (R)201320020Quarter-FinalsDivision 3B2nd2014 4 0 0 4 0 Qualifier Round 1 (relegated)4th2015Lory Meagher Cup453026Runners-Up4th201653026Runners-Up4th2017530263rd3rd20185 4 3 0 1 6 1st (promoted)3rd2019Nicky Rackard Cup4 5 4 1 0 9 1st (promoted)2nd2020Christy Ring Cup320020Round 21st (P)202131022Semi-FinalsDivision 3A1st (P)2022510425thDivision 2B2ndConnacht Hurling League2nd2023 5 3 0 2 6 3rd 6th(R) QF2024 5 0 0 5 0 6th (relegated)Division 3A 2nd QF2025Nicky Rackard Cup4521254thDivision 37th(R)

Competitive record Head-to-head Championship record Every championship result since the restructuring of the hurling championships in 2005.

As of 17 August 2022. County teamFirst meetingLast meetingProvince Armagh510420%20072019Ulster Cavan320167%20082018Ulster Derry30030%20202022Ulster Donegal20110%20052006Ulster Fermanagh650183%20052018Ulster Fingal210150%20082011Leinster Kildare10010%20222022Leinster Lancashire5500100%20152018Britain Leitrim320167%20152017Connacht London20020%20102022Britain Longford10010%20142014Leinster Louth930633%20062019Leinster Mayo20110%20192022Connacht Meath10010%20092009Leinster Monaghan420250%20092014Ulster Offaly10010%20212021Leinster Roscommon410325%20082021Connacht Tyrone630350%20052019Ulster Warwickshire530260%20082019Britain Wicklow1100100%20222022Leinster Sligo has not played the following teams in the championship since 2005: ProvinceNo.CountiesConnacht1GalwayLeinster6Carlow, Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Westmeath, WexfordMunster6Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, WaterfordUlster2Antrim, Down

Honours National Christy Ring Cup Semi-finalists (1): 2021 Nicky Rackard Cup Winners (2): 2008, 2019

Lory Meagher Cup Winners (1): 2018 Runners-up (2): 2015, 2016 National Hurling League Division 3 Winners (2) 2004, 2021 National Hurling League Division 3B Winners (1): 2020 National Hurling League Division 4 Winners (2): 2009, 2026

Provincial Connacht Senior Hurling Championship Runners-up (2): 1900, 1906 Connacht Junior Hurling Championship Winners (3): 1968, 1973, 2019 Runners-up (7): 1929, 1930, 1954, 1963 1967, 1976, 2004

References