The 1955–56 National Hurling League was the 25th season of the

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

New structure

As a result of a lack of interest from defeated first-round hurling teams in recent years, the

GAA Gaa may refer to: * Gaa language, a language of Nigeria * gaa, the ISO 639 code for the Ga language of Ghana GAA may stand for: Compounds * Glacial (water-free), acetic acid * Acid alpha-glucosidase, also known as glucosidase, alpha; acid, an e ...

's Central Council introduced a new system of relegation and promotion for the 1955-56 league. Division 1 was confined to ten teams comprising two groups of five. The bottom-placed team in each group would play off to decide which of the two teams would be relegated. Division 2 was made up of eight teams comprising two groups of four. The first-placed teams in each group contested the final with the winners being promoted.

Division 1

Tipperary came into the season as defending champions of the 1954-55 season. On 6 May 1956,

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

won the title after a 5–9 to 2–14 win over Tipperary in the final. It was their first ever league title.

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

were relegated.

Group 1A table

Group 1B table

Knock-out stage

Final

Division 2

In a new departure the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

introduced a second division for the 'second tier' hurling teams. Division 2 featured eight teams divided into two groups - 2A and 2B. The first group featured Down,

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

, Antrim and

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...

. The second group featured

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

Roscommon Roscommon (; ; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60 road (Ireland), N60, N61 road (Ireland), N61 and N63 road (Irelan ...

, Kerry and

Laois County Laois ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medieval kingdom. Hist ...

. Antrim finished top of group 2A and were crowned champions after defeating group 2B winners Kerry in the final. Antrim thus won promotion to division one for the following year.

Group 2A table

Group 2B table

Knock-out stage

Finals

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1955-56 National Hurling League National Hurling League seasons Lea Lea