An Tóstal (, meaning "The Gathering") was the name for a series of festivals held in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in the 20th century. Inaugurated in 1953 as a celebration of Irish life, it continued on until 1958 when it died out in most centres except
Drumshanbo
Drumshanbo (, ridge of the old huts) is a small town situated in the heart of County Leitrim, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Drumshanbo is surrounded by a scenic area of soft rolling hills, woodlands, lakes and the Sliabh an Iarainn and Arigna mo ...
.
After seeing the 1951
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951.
Labour Party cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the ...
the President of Pan Am Airlines thought of the idea of an Irish version.
The original purpose of the festival was a celebration of
Irish culture
The culture of Ireland includes the Irish art, art, Music of Ireland, music, Irish dance, dance, Irish mythology, folklore, Irish clothing, traditional clothing, Irish language, language, Irish literature, literature, Irish cuisine, cuisine ...
, with an emphasis upon drawing tourists into the country during the
Easter
Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
off-season. It was marked by a series of regional parades, arts and sporting events. Many towns began a clean-up plan, thus starting off the
National Tidy Town Awards, which is running still in Ireland. In 1953, a set of commemorative
stamps
Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to:
Official documents and related impressions
* Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail
* Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods
* Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...
designed by Limerick artist Fergus O'Ryan, were issued by the Irish Post Office.
Sean O'Casey
One of the last plays of Sean O'Casey, The Drums of Father Ned (1957) is set during the preparations for a Tostal in the fictional town of Doonavale. It was intended to be presented in the Dublin Tostal of 1958 but due to the objections of the Archbishop of Dublin was withdrawn along with a theatrical adaptation of Joyce's Ulysses. O'Casey thereafter banned professional productions of his plays in Ireland.
Chess competitions
Chess competitions were held as part of An Tóstal by the
Irish Chess Union from 1953 to 1957, from 1954, 1955 and 1956 it included International Chess masters, the 1957 competitions included a
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...
Zonal tournament. The competition in 1953 was won by T. Kelly after a playoff, the 1954, 1955 and 1956 masters competitions were won by Belgian Grandmaster
Albéric O'Kelly de Galway
Albéric Joseph Rodolphe Marie Robert Ghislain O'Kelly de Galway (17 May 1911 – 3 October 1980) was a Belgium, Belgian chess Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (1956), an International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1962), and the third ICCF ...
, and the 1957 competition was won by Czech Grandmaster
Luděk Pachman.
Rugby
In rugby, the winners of the Munster schools cup hosted their Leinster counterparts at Thomond Park. Blackrock were beaten by Rockwell.
Hockey
The Irish Hockey Union held an exhibition match between Connaught Selectd XI and The Schools of Ireland XI on April 9, 1953, at The Mental Hospital grounds Carlow which the School of Ireland won by 4 to 3. The Irish Times report by A. Goodridge on the following day stated that this was the "first ever appearance" of an Irish Schools Hockey team.
Bowl of Light
The 1953 Bowl of Light vandalism incident was linked to the An Tóstal. The Bowl of Light, erected in the centre of the
O'Connell Bridge, was an artwork that was part of the An Tóstal movement in 1953.
. The politician
remarked, on the Bowl of Light, in 1953 that, 'O’Connell Bridge has been spoiled by the ‘slab of concrete’ and it was a disgrace to the city to see workmen using shovels during recent weeks to remove the water from the various openings.'.
Drumshanbo in County Leitrim have the distinction of being the only place that An Tóstal has continued to run every year since 1953. Recent years has seen events have been held over a week, with events such as the ''Stylish Silage'' in the village, other events include Music performances, Fishing and Art workshops, Poetry readings, Motorbike stunts, Table Quiz, Water sports etc.
The cleaning up of towns inspired the creation of the National Tidy Towns Competition. The Festival of Kerry and
. The 2013 tourism initiative
was a similar initiative to An Tóstal. Film archives from the festival from 1953 to 1957 are held in the Irish Film Institute.
In 2011, Salthill in Galway staged a festival called An Tóstal, which included currach races; The winning currach team from the 1955 festival opened the festival.