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.

Results

Connacht Senior Football Championship

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

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
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
Kildare2–11 – 1–8Wexford
Seamus Harrison 0-7f, Paddy Loughlin 1–2, Ned Treacy 1–1, Ned Loughlin 0–1Mick Byrne 1–1, Paddy Kehoe (0-2f) and Frank Morris 0–2 each, Padge Kehoe, Pako Sheehan, Jack Goff 0–1 each

Munster Senior Football Championship

Tipperary2–4 – 0–7Clare
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)
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
Cavan3–15 – 2–4Antrim
Armagh2–5 – 0–6Down
Tyrone2–9 – 0–7Monaghan
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).

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.