IN AN ALL-IRELAND hurling final where the experience is weighed towards Limerick, Galway’s been-there, done-that management team will take on extra importance.
As Aaron Niland put it at the All-Ireland Series launch event last month: “They know the pathway – we don’t – so they can show us the way.”
The triumvirate of Micheál Donoghue, Francis ‘Franny’ Forde, and Noel Larkin first came to prominence 10 years ago as they took over a Tribe side that had unsuccessfully contested the 2015 All-Ireland final.
Since then, they have snapped Galway’s 29-year wait for Liam MacCarthy silverware, delivered three of the county’s four Leinster titles, and twice taken them to the brink of further national glory.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing across their eight seasons campaigning together – six at home and two up the M6 in Dublin – even if the results speak to their consistent returns.
Donoghue, Forde, and Larkin were steeled for inter-county management when they landed into a fraught Galway dressing room in late 2015.
Amid a stand-off between players and the previous management, Donoghue had to scramble to assemble his backroom team. Larkin, a carpenter by trade who trained Portumna to a Club All-Ireland in 2014 and Roscommon to a Nicky Rackard Cup in 2015, got the call from Donoghue on St Stephen’s Day.
Donoghue, who now works as a regional manager with BMW Financial Services, had similar credentials to Larkin, leading Clarinbridge to the 2011 title, before a stint in the Tipperary backroom team alongside Eamon O’Shea.
Galway manager Micheál Donoghue celebrates the 2017 Leinster final victory with Noel Larkin. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Forde, a successful minor coach with Galway and St Raphael’s, where he has been promoted to deputy principal, was a natural match. He has been a close confidant of Donoghue, dating back to their days winning an All-Ireland minor title in 1992 and a National League in ‘96. His player development skills have come to the fore with a fresh-faced panel this year.
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Joe Canning’s autobiography explains how Donoghue tactfully avoided any legacy issues at the time by handing the captaincy roles to players who had backed Anthony Cunningham to continue as manager and put it up to the squad to assume greater control.
Those small, significant details would become a calling card for this management team, having all boxes ticked in their organisation, tactical preparation, and player motivation.
Still, the pressure didn’t ease off as Galway were relegated from Division 1A in a relegation play-off and lost another Leinster final, which prompted Ger Loughnane to attach the ‘Fr Trendy’ nickname to Donoghue and infamously describe his team as “gutless”.
Forde would later reflect on the latter defeat: “When you put your hat in the ring for this job, you are very conscious of the fact that if things go wrong, it is going to be management’s fault.
“We certainly got a lot of flak, but you take it on the chin. Did any of us lose any sleep over it? No.”
They ended the season by showing their heart in victory to Clare and a narrow loss to Tipperary, but the tension flared up again with a league defeat to Wexford scuppering their promotion hopes.
From there, everything clicked with an 11-game unbeaten streak through the remainder of the season, carrying them to a National League and All-Ireland double.
They maintained that head of steam into the 2018 championship, but that final loss to Limerick sparked the Treaty’s golden age and snuffed out the Tribe’s empire-building ambitions.
Franny Forde, Micheál Donoghue, and Noel Larkin after the 2018 All-Ireland final. Tommy Dickson / INPHO
Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
Despite agreeing a two-year extension in April 2019, strained relations with the county board saw Donoghue exit four months later. At the time, Forde and Larkin were open to staying on, but with the bossman’s decision confirmed, they ultimately turned down a shot at the manager’s role.
Their next inter-county move was immediately controversial; an unexpected August 2022 announcement that they would be leading Dublin. Canning texted Donoghue, Forde, and Larkin voicing his disapproval; a moment humorously referenced in Donoghue’s recent interview with Canning for The Sunday Game’s All-Ireland final coverage. “All is forgiven if you win this All-Ireland,” joked Joe seven minutes into the video below.
Dublin were a thorn in Galway’s side over the subsequent two campaigns, with the trio combining to eliminate their previous charges from the 2024 championship, albeit they couldn’t achieve the next step of a Leinster title or All-Ireland quarter-final victory.
Having relinquished the Dublin gig, a call came in on behalf of the Galway panel. Donoghue, Forde, and Larkin were convinced to return.
Eamon O’Shea, who gave Donoghue his inter-county apprenticeship a decade previous and was involved in the final year of Henry Shefflin’s Galway tenure, stayed on board for the first season. Aidan Harte, who was involvd with the Clare U20s, added some recent playing expertise.
There was a common thread between the Limerick and Galway press events last week in how both managers spoke about the off-season.
John Kiely, who likewise has enjoyed a productive decade with Paul Kinnerk since his September 2016 appointment, spoke about an unprecedented deep-dive audit of where his team stood following a trophyless 2025. Donoghue has referenced in every interview this week how much work went into reviewing and transforming the Galway game plan, heaping credit on Forde as its architect.
Micheál Donoghue and Franny Forde at a Walsh Cup match in January 2016. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The high-octane style involves withdrawing the forward line, crowding the middle, and running the ball through the lines or delivering to an isolated targetman.
In Jason Rabbitte, alongside Aaron Niland, Cillian Trayers, Darragh Neary, and injury-victim Rory Burke, they have revitalised Galway with youth and speed.
“We recognised that we had to have a definite game plan and change maybe from where we were. As a management, we put in a lot of work in the off-season – probably the biggest amount of work we’ve ever done on it,” Donoghue said last week.
“Franny, he’s an absolute top coach and as time goes on, he’s just getting better and better. He kept coming back saying, ‘Look, we can do this and do that.’ And I think where we got the bounce was we were ready to go when we came back to pre-season.
“The lads recognised that we were doing something different, their enthusiasm came from that.”
They’ve shown the route, it’s up to the players to take it.
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Micheál Donoghue and his backroom generals still showing Galway the way 10 years on
IN AN ALL-IRELAND hurling final where the experience is weighed towards Limerick, Galway’s been-there, done-that management team will take on extra importance.
As Aaron Niland put it at the All-Ireland Series launch event last month: “They know the pathway – we don’t – so they can show us the way.”
The triumvirate of Micheál Donoghue, Francis ‘Franny’ Forde, and Noel Larkin first came to prominence 10 years ago as they took over a Tribe side that had unsuccessfully contested the 2015 All-Ireland final.
Since then, they have snapped Galway’s 29-year wait for Liam MacCarthy silverware, delivered three of the county’s four Leinster titles, and twice taken them to the brink of further national glory.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing across their eight seasons campaigning together – six at home and two up the M6 in Dublin – even if the results speak to their consistent returns.
Donoghue, Forde, and Larkin were steeled for inter-county management when they landed into a fraught Galway dressing room in late 2015.
Amid a stand-off between players and the previous management, Donoghue had to scramble to assemble his backroom team. Larkin, a carpenter by trade who trained Portumna to a Club All-Ireland in 2014 and Roscommon to a Nicky Rackard Cup in 2015, got the call from Donoghue on St Stephen’s Day.
Donoghue, who now works as a regional manager with BMW Financial Services, had similar credentials to Larkin, leading Clarinbridge to the 2011 title, before a stint in the Tipperary backroom team alongside Eamon O’Shea.
Forde, a successful minor coach with Galway and St Raphael’s, where he has been promoted to deputy principal, was a natural match. He has been a close confidant of Donoghue, dating back to their days winning an All-Ireland minor title in 1992 and a National League in ‘96. His player development skills have come to the fore with a fresh-faced panel this year.
Joe Canning’s autobiography explains how Donoghue tactfully avoided any legacy issues at the time by handing the captaincy roles to players who had backed Anthony Cunningham to continue as manager and put it up to the squad to assume greater control.
Those small, significant details would become a calling card for this management team, having all boxes ticked in their organisation, tactical preparation, and player motivation.
Still, the pressure didn’t ease off as Galway were relegated from Division 1A in a relegation play-off and lost another Leinster final, which prompted Ger Loughnane to attach the ‘Fr Trendy’ nickname to Donoghue and infamously describe his team as “gutless”.
Forde would later reflect on the latter defeat: “When you put your hat in the ring for this job, you are very conscious of the fact that if things go wrong, it is going to be management’s fault.
They ended the season by showing their heart in victory to Clare and a narrow loss to Tipperary, but the tension flared up again with a league defeat to Wexford scuppering their promotion hopes.
From there, everything clicked with an 11-game unbeaten streak through the remainder of the season, carrying them to a National League and All-Ireland double.
They maintained that head of steam into the 2018 championship, but that final loss to Limerick sparked the Treaty’s golden age and snuffed out the Tribe’s empire-building ambitions.
Despite agreeing a two-year extension in April 2019, strained relations with the county board saw Donoghue exit four months later. At the time, Forde and Larkin were open to staying on, but with the bossman’s decision confirmed, they ultimately turned down a shot at the manager’s role.
Their next inter-county move was immediately controversial; an unexpected August 2022 announcement that they would be leading Dublin. Canning texted Donoghue, Forde, and Larkin voicing his disapproval; a moment humorously referenced in Donoghue’s recent interview with Canning for The Sunday Game’s All-Ireland final coverage. “All is forgiven if you win this All-Ireland,” joked Joe seven minutes into the video below.
Dublin were a thorn in Galway’s side over the subsequent two campaigns, with the trio combining to eliminate their previous charges from the 2024 championship, albeit they couldn’t achieve the next step of a Leinster title or All-Ireland quarter-final victory.
Having relinquished the Dublin gig, a call came in on behalf of the Galway panel. Donoghue, Forde, and Larkin were convinced to return.
Eamon O’Shea, who gave Donoghue his inter-county apprenticeship a decade previous and was involved in the final year of Henry Shefflin’s Galway tenure, stayed on board for the first season. Aidan Harte, who was involvd with the Clare U20s, added some recent playing expertise.
There was a common thread between the Limerick and Galway press events last week in how both managers spoke about the off-season.
John Kiely, who likewise has enjoyed a productive decade with Paul Kinnerk since his September 2016 appointment, spoke about an unprecedented deep-dive audit of where his team stood following a trophyless 2025. Donoghue has referenced in every interview this week how much work went into reviewing and transforming the Galway game plan, heaping credit on Forde as its architect.
The high-octane style involves withdrawing the forward line, crowding the middle, and running the ball through the lines or delivering to an isolated targetman.
In Jason Rabbitte, alongside Aaron Niland, Cillian Trayers, Darragh Neary, and injury-victim Rory Burke, they have revitalised Galway with youth and speed.
“We recognised that we had to have a definite game plan and change maybe from where we were. As a management, we put in a lot of work in the off-season – probably the biggest amount of work we’ve ever done on it,” Donoghue said last week.
“Franny, he’s an absolute top coach and as time goes on, he’s just getting better and better. He kept coming back saying, ‘Look, we can do this and do that.’ And I think where we got the bounce was we were ready to go when we came back to pre-season.
“The lads recognised that we were doing something different, their enthusiasm came from that.”
They’ve shown the route, it’s up to the players to take it.
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GAA Galway GAA Hurling management team