An Tóstal (, meaning "The Gathering") was the name for a series of festivals held in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
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, Ireland. Drumshanbo is surrounded by a scenic area of soft rolling hills, woodlands, lakes and the Sliabh an Iarainn and Arigna mountains. It is a well ...
.
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. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people:
...
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 language, literature, music, art, folklore, cuisine, and sport associated with Ireland and the Irish people. For most of its recorded history, Irish culture has been primarily Gaelic (see Gaelic Ireland). It has ...
, with an emphasis upon drawing tourists into the country during the
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
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.
Chess competitions
Chess competitions were held as part of An Tóstal by the
Irish Chess Union
The Irish Chess Union (ICU; ), is the governing body for chess in Ireland since its formation in 1912. ICU is a member of FIDE since 1933 and the European Chess Union. The ICU promotes chess in Ireland and maintains the chess rating for player ...
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 ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
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, in Anderlecht – 3 October 1980, in Brussels) was a Belgian chess Grandmaster (1956), an International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1962), and the third ICCF W ...
, and the 1957 competition was won by Czech Grandmaster
Luděk Pachman
Luděk Pachman (German: Ludek Pachmann, May 11, 1924 – March 6, 2003) was a Czechoslovak-German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and political activist. In 1972, after being imprisoned and tortured almost to death by the Communist regime in ...
.
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
O'Connell Bridge () is a road bridge spanning the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland, which joins O'Connell Street to D'Olier Street, Westmoreland Street and the south quays.
History
The original bridge (named ''Carlisle Bridge'' for the then ...
, 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
in 1959 grew out of An Tostal as well. The 2013 tourism initiative
was a similar initiative to An Tostal. 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 Tostal, which included currach races; The winning currach team from the 1955 festival opened the festival.