1956 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

1956 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

All-Ireland Champions
Winning team	Galway (4th win)
Captain	Jack Mangan
Manager	John "Tull" Dunne
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Cork
Captain	Donal O'Sullivan
Manager	Éamonn Young
Provincial Champions
Munster	Cork
Leinster	Kildare
Ulster	Tyrone
Connacht	Galway
Championship statistics
Top Scorer	Frank Stockwell
Player of the Year	Seán 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.

Results

Connacht Senior Football Championship

17 June 1956
Quarter-Final

Galway	5–13 – 2–5	Mayo
		M Stewart (1–2) & J Curran (1–3, 0–2 frees).

McHale Park, Castlebar

Attendance: 12,000

---

24 June 1956
Semi-Final

Sligo	3–5 – 0–11	Leitrim

Markievicz Park, Sligo

---

8 July 1956
Semi-Final

Galway	1–9 – 0–2	Roscommon

Tuam Stadium, Tuam

---

15 July 1956
Final

Galway	3–12 – 1–5	Sligo

Markievicz Park, Sligo

Attendance: 13,000

Leinster Senior Football Championship

6 May 1956
Preliminary Round

Longford	3–7 – 1–6	Laois

O'Connor Park, Tullamore

---

6 May 1956
Preliminary Round

Wicklow	4–12 – 1–4	Carlow

Geraldine Park, Athy

---

20 May 1956
Preliminary Round

Kildare	1–9 – 0–9	Louth
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)

Páirc Tailteann, Navan

---

13 May 1956
Quarter-Final

Wexford	2–11 – 1–5	Westmeath

Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow

---

27 May 1956
Quarter-Final

Dublin	0–11 – 0–5	Wicklow

St. Patrick's Park, Enniscorthy

---

27 May 1956
Quarter-Final

Offaly	1–14 – 1–5	Meath

St. Conleth's Park, Newbridge

Referee: E Moulds (Wicklow)

---

10 June 1956
Quarter-Final

Kildare	1–12 – 2–6	Longford
P.Loughlin 1–2, R.Swan, S.Harrison, S.Aldridge 0–3, L.McCormack 0–1.

Cusack Park, Mullingar

---

24 June 1956
Semi-Final

Wexford	2–7 – 0–7	Dublin

Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow

---

1 July 1956
Semi-Final

Kildare	1–8 – 0–7	Offaly
S.Harison 0–3, D.Dalton 1–0, P.Mooney 0–2, P.Loughlin, R. Swann, E.Treacy 0–1

O'Moore Park, Portlaoise

Attendance: 22700

Referee: W Goodison (Wexford)

---

22 July 1956
Final

Kildare	2–11 – 1–8	Wexford
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

Croke Park, Dublin

Attendance: 47,856

Referee: Mick McArdle (Louth)

Munster Senior Football Championship

3 June 1956
Quarter-Final

Tipperary	2–4 – 0–7	Clare

Gaelic Grounds, Limerick

Referee: G. Cremins (K)

---

24 June 1956
Semi-Final

Cork	0–12 – 0–1	Waterford
S. Moore (0–1), E. Goulding (0–1), N. Collins (0–4), J. Creedon (0–3) & P. Murphy-sub (0–1).

Castle Grounds, Lismore

---

24 June 1956
Semi-Final

Kerry	3–7 – 3–2	Tipperary
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)

Austin Stack Park, Tralee

Referee: P. O'Grady ( C )

---

15 July 1956
Final

Cork	2–2 – 2–2	Kerry
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).

Cork Athletic Grounds, Cork

---

29 July 1956
Final Replay

Cork	1–8 – 1–7	Kerry
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)

Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney

Ulster Senior Football Championship

3 June 1956
Quarter-Final

Tyrone	3–7 – 2–4	Derry

O'Neill Park, Dungannon

---

10 June 1956
Quarter-Final

Donegal	1–8 – 2–8	Monaghan

Bundoran

Attendance: 4,500

---

17 June 1956
Quarter-Final

Cavan	3–15 – 2–4	Antrim

Casement Park, Belfast

---

24 June 1956
Quarter-Final

Armagh	2–5 – 0–6	Down

Páirc Esler, Newry

---

8 July 1956
Semi-Final

Tyrone	2–9 – 0–7	Monaghan

The Playing Fields, Lurgan

Attendance: 9,000

---

15 July 1956
Semi-Final

Cavan	1–9 – 1–5	Armagh

St. Mary's Park, Castleblayney

---

29 July 1956
Final

Tyrone	3–5 – 0–4	Cavan

St. Tiernach's Park, Clones

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

August 5, 1956
Semi-Final

Cork	0–9 – 0–5	Kildare
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

Croke Park, Dublin

---

August 12, 1956
Semi-Final

Galway	0–8 – 0–6	Tyrone

Croke Park, Dublin

---

Main article: 1956 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final

October 7, 1956
Final

Galway	2–13 – 3–7	Cork
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).

Croke Park, Dublin

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.
• Kildare win their first Leinster title since 1935 and was their last until 1998.
• Tyrone win their first Ulster title.
• The All Ireland semi-final between Galway and Tyrone was their first meeting between the two teams.
• 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.
• 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.