Joe Canning

His uncle Frankie Canning, played minor hurling with Galway for three years in their ill-fated Munster Championship campaign in the 1960s and was a non-playing substitute when the Galway senior team were defeated by Offaly in the All-Ireland final of 1981.

Canning is the brother of Séamus, Frank, Davy, Ollie, Ivan and Deirdre.

All but one of those siblings would go on to win an All-Ireland medal at either club or inter-county level in either hurling or camogie.

Ollie played for and captained the Galway senior hurlers winning four All Stars, while Deirdre played for the county camogie team.

Joe's family instilled a love of hurling in him, and he was a talented underage hurler and rugby player.

Canning was educated locally, before going on to study Business and Marketing at the Limerick Institute of Technology.

Joseph Canning (born 11 October 1988 ) is an Irish hurler who plays for club side Portumna and previously at inter-county level with the Galway senior hurling team.

Joe Canning was born in Portumna in 1988.

He made his senior debut for the club aged 15 in May 2004 and immediately established himself as an integral player.

He made his first appearance for the club's senior team as a 15-year-old during the 2004 Galway Championship.

On 31 October, he was at left corner-forward for Portumna's 0–15 to 0–13 defeat by Athenry in the final.

On 13 November 2005, Canning scored 1-11 for Portumna in their 3–21 to 3–14 defeat of Loughrea to win their second ever Galway Senior Championship title.

He was again the top scorer for Portumna on 20 November in their 2–22 to 0–06 defeat of Four Roads to win the Connacht Championship.

In his second season, Canning helped the club to a second ever County Championship title before ending the campaign with the 2006 All-Ireland Club Championship.

Canning won his first All-Ireland Championship medal on 17 March 2006 following Portumna's 2–08 to 1–06 defeat of Newtownshandrum in the All-Ireland final.

After scoring 1-06 of the Portumna total, Canning was named man of the match.

On 22 October 2006, Canning scored seven points from left corner-forward when Portumna suffered a 1–13 to 0–15 defeat by Loughrea in the 2006 Galway Championship final.

In 2007 Canning was in his first year as a member of the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) hurling team.

He won a Fitzgibbon Cup medal that year as the National University of Ireland, Galway were defeated by 2–15 to 0–13 in the final.

Canning lined out at left corner-forward in a third successive Galway Championship final on 21 October 2007.

He scored 3-04, including three frees, in the 6–12 to 0–11 defeat of Kinvara.

On 18 November he scored five points when Portumna defeated James Stephens by 6–23 to 0–07 to win the last Connacht Championship title.

It was the first of four county championship titles in five seasons, while he also added All-Ireland titles to his collection in 2008 and 2009.

After his senior debut in April 2008, Canning would go on to end the season with his first All-Star award, as well as being named Young Hurler of the Year.

LIT hoped to claim historic back-to-back titles in 2008 and qualified for the final against the Waterford Institute of Technology.

In spite of Canning scoring a remarkable 1–16 of LIT's total in a tightly contested final, he still ended up on the losing side.

On 17 March 2008, hit a total of ten points, eight coming from placed balls, including a free from well over 100 metres out and a sideline cut in the All-Ireland final.

Canning ended the 2012 season with his third All-Star and his first Hurler of the Year nomination, having been part of Galway's inaugural Leinster Championship-winning campaign.

In spite of enjoying just one Fitzgibbon Cup success during his career, Canning was named at full-forward on the Fitzgibbon Cup centenary team in 2012.

Canning joined the Portumna club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels.

Canning won a fifth county championship in 2013 before ending the season with a fourth All-Ireland club winners' medal.

Canning lined out for Galway in three different grades of hurling over a 17-year period.

At underage levels, he was regarded as a prodigy and won two All-Ireland Minor Championships from three consecutive final appearances and an All-Ireland Under-21 Championship.

Often considered one of the greatest players of his generation and widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers of all time, Canning enjoyed a 14-season career with the Galway senior hurling team, won five All-Stars and was named GAA-GPA Hurler of the Year in 2017.

He won seven major trophies in his inter-county career, including one All-Ireland Championship, three Leinster Championships and three National Hurling Leagues.

A prolific scorer from play and placed balls, Canning holds the record for most sideline cuts scored (28) and is the championship's all-time top scorer with 27 goals and 486 points.

His 62 championship appearances is a Galway record.

Born and raised in Portumna, County Galway, Canning first played competitive hurling at juvenile and underage levels with the Portumna club.

2017 saw him named Hurler of the Year, having played a key role in Galway's clean sweep of National League and Leinster Championship successes, as well as a first All-Ireland Championship in 29 years.

Canning earned a fifth All-Star award and a third Hurler of the Year nomination in 2018 after winning a third Leinster Championship title and appearing in his fourth All-Ireland final.