Damien Hayes (born 18 February 1982) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

hurler who played as a corner-forward at senior level for the Galway county team from 2001 to 2015. Hayes was born in

Portumna Portumna ( - meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with and linked by a bridge to County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where the River Shann ...

, County Galway in 1982. He was educated locally and later studied at

Limerick Institute of Technology The Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT; ga, Institiúid Teicneolaíochta Luimnigh) was an institute of technology, located in Limerick, Ireland. The institute had five campuses that were located in Limerick, Thurles, Clonmel, as well as a r ...

(LIT) where he won the Ryan Cup. He currently works in the family Volkswagen Car Sales business in Portumna, Al Hayes Motors Ltd. Hayes has had much success in the game of hurling. At inter-county he has won 2 All-Ireland minor medals, 2 All-Ireland senior runners-up medals, 2 National hurling League Medals (2004 and 2010) and 3 All-Star Award with

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

and a Railway Cup medal with

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms ( Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Del ...

. Hayes has also had an extremely successful hurling career at club level with

. He has won 6 Galway Senior Hurling titles and 3

All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Club Championship, known simply as the All-Ireland Club Championship, is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It is the highest inter-coun ...

medals in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He also has won 7 Senior League Titles with Portumna. Damien was awarded Connacht provincial Hurler of the year in 2005 and 2006. He has also been Galway's Hurler of the year on 3 occasions 2005, 2006 and 2010. Hayes was on the historic Galway team that won their first leinster title in 2012. He announced his retirement from inter-county hurling in January 2015.

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

is Hayes's second love and he has previously won an All-Ireland Under-18 medal with

Nenagh Nenagh (, ; or simply ''An tAonach'') meaning “The Fair of Ormond” or simply "The Fair", is the county town and second largest town in County Tipperary in Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond ...

as a winger.

Career statistics

Club

References

1982 births Living people Galway inter-county hurlers Hurling forwards Irish salespeople Portumna hurlers {{Galway-hurling-bio-stub