Thomas Joseph Walsh (Wexford)

Thomas Joseph Walsh (20 November 1911 – 8 November 1988) was an Irish doctor, writer, and founder and director of the Wexford Opera Festival.^[1]

Life

Walsh was born in Wexford, Ireland, and graduated in medicine from University College Dublin in 1944.^[1] During his years in Dublin he took singing lessons from Adelio Viani at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. In 1972, he completed a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, the thesis becoming the basis for his 1973 book on Opera in Dublin.^[2]

He became chairman and artistic director of the Wexford Festival in 1951^[3] and established its international recognition over 15 years while still working as an anaesthetist at Wexford County Hospital.^[1][4] Known locally as "Doctor Tom" he "inspired great affection, admiration, and, given his great learning, even a measure of awe".^[5]

Writings

Walsh wrote several books relating to opera, covering 18th century Dublin, opera in Monte Carlo and the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris:

• Opera in Old Dublin, 1819–1838 (Wexford: The Free Press, 1952)
• Opera in Dublin, 1705–1797: the Social Scene (Dublin: Allen Figgis, 1973)
• Monte Carlo Opera, 1879–1909 (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1975). ISBN 978-0-7171-0725-4
• Second Empire Opera: The Théâtre Lyrique Paris 1851–1870 (London: John Calder & New York: Riverrun Press, 1981). ISBN 0-7145-3659-8
• Opera in Dublin, 1798–1820: Frederick Jones and the Crow Street Theatre (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993). ISBN 0-19-816397-5