RTÉ Shines Spotlight on Wexford Festival Opera's Founder and History
“The ubiquitous Dr. Tom Walsh was of course the driving force behind everything.” (RTÉ archives)
From Dr. Tom Walsh’s founding of the Festival in 1951, to this year celebrating our landmark 75th year, Wexford has always been about vision.
For a fascinating insight into the very beginnings of the Festival, we invite you to listen to an excerpt from the RTÉ Archives. This segment aired on RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday, 22 February 2026, as part of Bowman:Sunday where broadcaster John Bowman explores treasures from the RTÉ archives.
Experience the voice of Dr. Tom Walsh himself and hear how he transformed Wexford’s cultural landscape.
Listen back to the voice of a visionary on RTÉ Radio 1 Bowman: Sunday (starts 06:47)
It all started in 1922
Born in 1911, Dr Tom’s lifelong interest in opera began at just ten years old. In 1922, he saw his first opera, Rigoletto, at the old Theatre Royal in Wexford.
Reflecting on those early touring companies, Dr Tom noted the unique intimacy of the local stage:
“You got quite an impression of opera here because the theatre was so small and it was so intimate … there was no television, no radio—you had some gramophone records, perhaps. This was at least something live and something immediate.” Dr. Tom Walsh, 1951 archive recording (RTÉ archives)
From its inception, Wexford Festival Opera has never been about playing safe. From the earliest days, Festival organisers have asked audiences to listen with open ears and to trust unfamiliar names. Dr. Tom’s programming strategy gave the public ‘not quite what it wanted but what it might like’. 'This meant La Gazza Ladra instead of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, I due Foscari instead of Il Trovatore, Mireille instead of Faust, and the seldom performed Martha.'
Speaking in 1951, as the very first Festival took shape, Dr. Tom said:
“We hope that by next October or November, for some four or five days, that we’ll have a musical festival running here in the town.” Dr. Tom Walsh, 1951 archive recording (RTÉ archives)
Those four-days have since evolved into a world-renowned opera festival, a testament to the man who believed that even a small town could house the grandest of dreams.