1956 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Football championship

1956 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
All-Ireland Champions
Winning teamGalway (4th win)
CaptainJack Mangan
ManagerJohn "Tull" Dunne
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing teamCork
CaptainDonal O'Sullivan
ManagerÉamonn Young
Provincial Champions
MunsterCork
LeinsterKildare
UlsterTyrone
ConnachtGalway
Championship statistics
Top ScorerFrank Stockwell
Player of the YearSeán Purcell
← 1955
1957 →

The 1956 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was played from May to October, 1956. Kerry entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were defeated by Cork in a Munster final replay.

Galway were the winners, defeating Cork in the final on October 7th, 1956.[1][2]

Results

Connacht Senior Football Championship

Galway5–13 – 2–5Mayo
M Stewart (1–2) & J Curran (1–3, 0–2 frees).
Attendance: 12,000
Sligo3–5 – 0–11Leitrim
Galway1–9 – 0–2Roscommon
Galway3–12 – 1–5Sligo
Attendance: 13,000

Leinster Senior Football Championship

Longford3–7 – 1–6Laois
Wicklow4–12 – 1–4Carlow
Kildare1–9 – 0–9Louth
E.Treacy 1–3, L.McCormack, R.Swan 0–2, D.Dalton, S.Harrison 0–1. K. Beahan (0–4, 1f), A. Monk (0–2), S. White (0–1), J. Reynolds (0–1), Jim McArdle (0–1, 1'45)
Wexford2–11 – 1–5Westmeath
Dublin0–11 – 0–5Wicklow
Offaly1–14 – 1–5Meath
Referee: E Moulds (Wicklow)
Kildare1–12 – 2–6Longford
P.Loughlin 1–2, R.Swan, S.Harrison, S.Aldridge 0–3, L.McCormack 0–1.
Wexford2–7 – 0–7Dublin
Kildare1–8 – 0–7Offaly
S.Harison 0–3, D.Dalton 1–0, P.Mooney 0–2, P.Loughlin, R. Swann, E.Treacy 0–1
Attendance: 22700
Referee: W Goodison (Wexford)
Kildare2–11 – 1–8Wexford
Seamus Harrison 0-7f, Paddy Loughlin 1–2, Ned Treacy 1–1, Ned Loughlin 0–1 Mick Byrne 1–1, Paddy Kehoe (0-2f) and Frank Morris 0–2 each, Padge Kehoe, Pako Sheehan, Jack Goff 0–1 each
Attendance: 47,856
Referee: Mick McArdle (Louth)

Munster Senior Football Championship

Tipperary2–4 – 0–7Clare
Referee: G. Cremins (K)
Cork0–12 – 0–1Waterford
S. Moore (0–1), E. Goulding (0–1), N. Collins (0–4), J. Creedon (0–3) & P. Murphy-sub (0–1).
Kerry3–7 – 3–2Tipperary
J. Dowling (0–1), M. O'Connell (0–1), P. Sheehy (0–1), T. Long (0–1), J. Brosnan (0–1), J. Cronin (2–1) & T. Lyne (1–1)
Referee: P. O'Grady ( C )
Cork2–2 – 2–2Kerry
N. Fitzgerald (0–2), T. Furlong (0–4) & N. Duggan (0–2). J. Dowling (0–1), T. Lyne (0–1), J. Brosnan (1–0) & D. O'Shea (1–0).
Cork1–8 – 1–7Kerry
D. Kelleher (0–1), N. Fitzgerald (0–5), T. Furlong (1–0) & N. Duggan (0–2). J. Dowling (0–1), T. Lyne (0–2),J. Brosnan (0–1), J. Cronin (1–0) & P.Sheehy (0–3)

Ulster Senior Football Championship

Tyrone3–7 – 2–4Derry
Donegal1–8 – 2–8Monaghan
Attendance: 4,500
Cavan3–15 – 2–4Antrim
Armagh2–5 – 0–6Down
Tyrone2–9 – 0–7Monaghan
Attendance: 9,000
Cavan1–9 – 1–5Armagh
Tyrone3–5 – 0–4Cavan

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Cork0–9 – 0–5Kildare
D. Kellaher (0–1), N. Fitzgerald (0–3), P. Murphy (0–1), T. Furlong (1–0) & N. Duggan (0–2). S.Harrison (4f) 0–4, E.Treacy 0–1
Galway0–8 – 0–6Tyrone
Galway2–13 – 3–7Cork
F. Stockwell (2–5), S. Purcell (0–3), G. Kirwan & J. Coyle (0–2) & F. Evers (0–1). D. Gallagher (0–1), N. Fitzgerald (0–5), T. Furlong (1–0) & N. Duggan (0–2).
Attendance: 70,772
Referee: Peter McDermott (Meath)

Championship statistics

Miscellaneous

  • Munster final ends in a draw and goes to a replay for the first time since 1909 when Cork took Kerry's All Ireland title.[3]
  • Kildare win their first Leinster title since 1935 and was their last until 1998.[4]
  • Tyrone win their first Ulster title.[5]
  • The All Ireland semi-final between Galway and Tyrone was their first meeting between the two teams.[6]
  • The All Ireland final between Galway and Cork gave Galway won their 4th All Ireland title on the day after three successive defeats between 1940 and 1942.[7]
  • An outbreak of polio in Cork and the fear of a spread of the disease to Dublin due to an influx of Cork supporters lead to the postponement of the All-Ireland final until 7 October 1956.[8]

References

  1. ^ Advertiser, Galway. "The 1956 All-Ireland final". Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  2. ^ Fallon, John (6 January 2022). "Galway GAA mourn the passing of 1956 All-Ireland winner". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  3. ^ "Terrace Talk :: Kerry Football :: :: 1956 Championship :: Munster Final Replay :: Kerry Vs Cork". www.terracetalk.com. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  4. ^ Studies, Kildare Local (7 April 2020). "Kildare Are Champions (Leinster Final, 1956) – Kildare eHistory Journal". Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  5. ^ "History". Tyrone GAA. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  6. ^ Stapleton, Shane (17 May 2023). "Football clashes — factfiles, player stats, form". OurGame. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  7. ^ "Gaelic Art - Home of Authentic Irish Art - Irish Sport Art - Irish GAA Art - Irish Golf Art". Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  8. ^ Moran, Seán. "Seán Moran: 1956, when polio ravaged Cork and hopes of a treble evaporated". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
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