Minor and under-21
Skehill first played for Galway as goalkeeper on the minor hurling team on 23 July 2005. He made his first appearance in a 3-13 to 1-11 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat of Wexford. [6] In the subsequent All-Ireland final on 11 September 2005, Skehill kept a clean sheet and claimed a winners' medal after Galway's 3-12 to 0-17 defeat of Limerick. [7]
Skehill was eligible for the minor grade again the following year. On 3 September 2006, he was in goal when Galway were defeated by eleven points by Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. [8]
By 2007 Skehill had progressed onto the Galway under-21 hurling team. On 8 September 2007, he won an All-Ireland medal after keeping a clean sheet in Galway's 5-11 to 0-12 defeat of dublin in the final. [9]
Skehill's final two seasons ended with All-Ireland semi-final defeats by eventual champions Kilkenny and Clare. [10] [11]
Senior
Skehill made his first appearance for the Galway senior hurling team in 2007 against Tipperary in the NHL. His second was in a 2-24 to 3-17 National Hurling League defeat of Clare on 10 February 2008. [15] He later made his championship debut on 28 June 2008 in a 6-21 to 1-10 defeat of Antrim at Casement Park. [16]
Over the next few seasons Skehill made several National League appearances, however, Colm Callanan was Galway's first-choice goalkeeper for the championship. [17] [18] On 2 May 2010, Skehill won a National League medal as a non-playing substitute following Galway's 2-22 to 1-17 defeat of Cork in the final. [19]
On 8 July 2012, Skehill was in goal for Galway's first ever Leinster Championship title following a 2-21 to 2-11 defeat of Kilkenny in the final. [20] He later lined out in goal for Galway's All-Ireland final meeting with Kilkenny on 9 September 2012. Galway led by 1-09 to 0-07 at half-time, however, it took a 73rd-minute free from Joe Canning to level the scores a 2-13 to 0-19. [21] In Galway's final training session, Skehill dislocated his shoulder and was a doubt for the replay. [22] [23] Medics gave him a "20-80" chance of playing, however, Skehill was named on the starting team and lined out in goal on 30 September 2012. The injury affected his puck-outs, which were much shorter, while he also kicked a ball away from his own goalmouth instead of stooping to lift it. Skehill later admitted that even with a heavy dose of painkillers every puck-out "was like getting stabbed". [24] He left the field in a distressed state at half-time, with Galway trailing by 1-11 to 2-04, and was replaced in goal by Fearghal Flannery. Galway eventually lost the game by 3-22 to 3-11. [25] [26] Skehill ended the season by being nominated for an All-Star award. [27]
After a winter of recuperation, Skehill returned to the Galway panel in May 2013. [28] He returned as first-choice goalkeeper for the Leinster Championship but was replaced by Colm Callanan for the All-Ireland Championship. [29]
On 11 March 2014, news broke of Skehill's shock departure from the Galway senior panel. Selector Damien Curley stated: "There is no real spin to put on it at all, James just told us after training on Friday night that he wanted to leave the panel. We spoke with him and tried to talk him round, but he was adamant he wanted to leave. He works in Cong and I think the long drive over and back to training might have something to do with it. Apart from that I don’t know why he might have decided to leave." [30] [31] [32] Skehill later admitted that he had lost his "bite" for the game. [33]
After a period of time in the United States, Skehill returned to the Galway senior panel for the 2015 season. On 6 September 2015, he was an unused substitute in Galway's 1-22 to 1-18 defeat by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. [34]
On 23 April 2017, Skehill was sub-goalkeeper when Galway defeated Tipperary by 3-21 to 0-14 to win the National League. [35] Later that season he won his second Leinster Championship medal as an unused substitute after Galway's 0-29 to 1-17 defeat of Wexford in the final. [36] On 3 September 2017, Skehill was sub-goalkeeper for Galway when they won their first All-Ireland in 29 years after a 0-26 to 2-17 defeat of Waterford in the final. [37]
On 8 July 2018, Skehill won a third Leinster Championship medal, his second on the field of play, following Galway's 1-28 to 3-15 defeat of Kilkenny in the final. [38] [39] On 19 August 2018, Skehill lined out in goal for Galway's 3-16 to 2-18 All-Ireland final defeat by Limerick. [40] In the 58th minute he was replaced by Fearghal Flannery after injuring himself when he went to block a Cian Lynch shot at goal. [41]
Skehill announced his retirement form inter-county hurling in January 2021. [42]
