1956 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

1956 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Championship details
Dates	22 April 1956 - 23 September 1956
Teams	13
All-Ireland champions
Winning team	Wexford (3rd win)
Captain	Jim English
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Cork
Captain	Tony O'Shaughnessy
Provincial champions
Munster	Cork
Leinster	Wexford
Ulster	Not Played
Connacht	Not Played
Championship statistics
No. matches played	12
Goals total	85 (7.08 per game)
Points total	199 (16.58 per game)
Top Scorer	Nicky Rackard (12-15)
All-Star Team	See here
← 1955 1957 →

The 1956 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 70th staging of the All-Ireland hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The championship began on 22 April 1956 and ended on 23 September 1956.

Wexford were the defending champions, and retained their All-Ireland crown following a 2-14 to 2-8 defeat of Cork.^[1]

Teams

A total of thirteen teams contested the championship, a reduction of one on the previous championship. Wicklow withdrew and did not field a team in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

Team summaries

Team	Colours	Most recent success
		All-Ireland	Provincial	League
Clare	Saffron and blue	1914	1932	1945-46
Cork	Red and white	1954	1954	1952-53
Dublin	Blue and navy	1938	1952	1938-39
Galway	Maroon and white	1923		1950-51
Kilkenny	Black and amber	1947	1953	1932-33
Laois	Blue and white	1915	1949
Limerick	Green and white	1940	1940	1946-47
Meath	Green and gold
Offaly	Green, white and gold
Tipperary	Blue and gold	1951	1951	1954-55
Waterford	White and blue	1948	1948
Westmeath	Maroon and white
Wexford	Purple and gold	1955	1955	1955-56

Results

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Laois v Offaly

22 April 1956 Quarter-final	Laois	5-9 - 4-5	Offaly	O'Moore Park
				Referee: J Mulcahy

Westmeath v Meath

29 April 1956 First round	Westmeath	9-6 - 6-1	Meath	O'Connor Park
				Referee: P O'Connell

Kilkenny v Westmeath

20 May 1956 Quarter-final	Kilkenny	6-11 - 3-9	Westmeath	O'Connor Park
				Attendance: 12,000 Referee: P O'Connell

Wexford v Laois

10 June 1956 Semi-final	Wexford	8-9 - 2-2	Laois	Nowlan Park
				Attendance: 20,000 Referee: J Mulcahy

Kilkenny v Dublin

17 June 1956 Semi-final	Kilkenny	3-8 - 1-8	Dublin	Nowlan Park
				Attendance: 20,000 Referee: P O'Connell

Wexford v Kilkenny

8 July 1956 Final	Wexford	4-8 - 3-10	Kilkenny	Croke Park
				Attendance: 52,077 Referee: M Spain

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Cork v Waterford

10 June 1956 Quarter-final	Cork	5-9 - 2-12	Waterford	FitzGerald Park
				Attendance: 18,500

Limerick v Clare

17 June 1956 Semi-final	Limerick	1-15 - 2-6	Clare	Thurles Sportsfield
				Attendance: 24,000 Referee: R Stakelum

Cork v Tipperary

1 July 1956 Semi-final	Cork	1-11 - 2-7	Tipperary	Gaelic Grounds
				Attendance: 36,946 Referee: M Pollard

Cork v Limerick

22 July 1956 Final	Cork	5-5 - 3-5	Limerick	Thurles Sportsfield
				Attendance: 47,017 Referee: R Stakelum

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Wexford v Galway

29 July 1956 Semi-final	Wexford	5-13 - 1-8	Galway	Croke Park
	N Rackard (5-3), English (0-2), W Rackard (0-2), Flood (0-2), Hearne (0-1), Ryan (0-1), Dixon (0-1), Kehoe (0-1).		Salmon (0-4), Fives (1-0), Conway (0-2), Cullinane (0-1), Molloy (0-1).	Attendance: 36,465 Referee: R Stakelum

Wexford v Cork

23 September 1956 Final	Wexford	2-14 - 2-8	Cork	Croke Park
	N Rackard (1-6), Kehoe (1-1), T. Flood (0-2), Codd (0-2), Dixon (0-2), W. Rackard (0-1).		Ring (1-5), Barry (1-1), Regan (0-1) Goulding (0-1).	Attendance: 83,096 Referee: T O'Sullivan (Limerick)

Championship statistics

Scoring

• Widest winning margin: 19 points
  • Wexford 8-9 - 2-2 Laois (Leinster semi-final, 10 June 1956)
• Most goals in a match: 15
  • Westmeath 9-6 - 6-1 Meath (Leinster first round, 29 April 1956)
• Most points in a match: 22
  • Wexford 2-14 - 2-8 Cork (All-Ireland final, 23 September 1956)
• Most goals by one team in a match: 9
  • Westmeath 9-6 - 6-1 Meath (Leinster first round, 29 April 1956)
• Most goals scored by a losing team: 6
  • Westmeath 9-6 - 6-1 Meath (Leinster first round, 29 April 1956)
• Most points scored by a losing team: 12
  • Cork 5-9 - 2-12 Waterford (Munster quarter-final, 10 June 1956)

Miscellaneous

• Wexford won a third Leinster title in-a-row. It remains the only time in their history that they went undefeated in the provincial championship for three successive campaigns.
• 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 23 September 1956.^[2]
• The attendance of 83,096 at the All-Ireland final remains an all-time record.
• Wexford retained the All-Ireland title for the only time in their history. The 2-14 to 2-8 victory remained their only championship defeat of Cork until July 2016 when they did it again in the round 2 Qualifiers. (Cork–Wexford hurling rivalry)

Sources

• Corry, Eoghan, The GAA Book of Lists (Hodder Headline Ireland, 2005).
• Donegan, Des, The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games (DBA Publications Limited, 2005).
• Horgan, Tim, Christy Ring: Hurling's Greatest (The Collins Press, 2007).
• Nolan, Pat, Flashbacks: A Half Century of Cork Hurling (The Collins Press, 2000).
• Sweeney, Éamonn, Munster Hurling Legends (The O'Brien Press, 2002).

External links

• 1956 All-Ireland Hurling Championship results

References

1. "All-Ireland win 1956". Ask About Ireland website. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
2. Reilly, Seán (28 May 2006). "Deadly polio nightmare of 50 years ago". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 October 2013.