CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

1956 in Ireland

overview of Ireland-related events during the year of 1956

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ4568842 ↗
Source-derived summary

Events from the year 1956 in Ireland.

Incumbents

President: Seán T. O'Kelly

Taoiseach: John A. Costello (FG)

Tánaiste: William Norton (Lab)

Minister for Finance: Gerard Sweetman (FG)

Chief Justice: Conor Maguire

Dáil: 15th

Seanad: 8th

Events

15 February – Senator Owen Sheehy-Skeffington introduced a motion calling for the prohibition of all corporal punishment for girls in Irish national schools.

2 April – President Seán T. O'Kelly unveiled a bust of politician, revolutionary, and suffragist Constance Markievicz in St Stephen's Green, Dublin.

1 May – the Minister for Education Richard Mulcahy introduced the debate on a separate government department for the Gaeltacht.

21 May – President Seán T. O'Kelly opened the first Cork International Film Festival.

29 May – T. K. Whitaker was appointed new Secretary at the Department of Finance.

12 August – The Gaelic Athletic Association postponed the All-Ireland Hurling and Football Finals due to an outbreak of polio.

21 November – Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children was opened in Crumlin.

30 November – Petrol rationing was due to be introduced from next 1 January due to the Suez Crisis.

1 December – At the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, Ronnie Delany won Ireland's first Olympic gold medal for 24 years.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “1956 in Ireland” as overview of Ireland-related events during the year of 1956. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ireland, overview and Ireland-related.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1956—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Ireland, overview and Ireland-related providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “1956 in Ireland”, the useful work is to connect “overview of Ireland-related events during the year of 1956” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4568842. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1956.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “1956 in Ireland”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 1956 in Ireland primary sources, 1956 in Ireland archive and Ireland research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1956 in Ireland”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “1956 in Ireland” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.