User talk:Fiona Brennan

Amateur drama is the practice of producing and staging a play or performance within or by a community/group. This activity us a voluntary, not for profit tradition that has been at the heart of Irish cultural and social life for generations. Cross-community and inter-generational, it operates at all levels of experience, Historically, since the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922, rural Ireland became the stronghold of amateur drama. Amateur drama was at the heart of the very founding of Ireland's national theatre, the Abbey Theatre, based in Dublin, which was amateur in ethos after its founding in 1904. Following the Irish Civil War, amateur drama became a means of supporting social life and reinvigorating communities. Amateur activities began to increase at a phenomenal rate, based, in part, on the dominant authority of the Roman Catholic Church. At a time of economic stagnation, communities rallied to support amateur drama. As groups sought to improve artistic standards, competitive festivals were founded from the early 1940s onwards. Identified as a viable means of promoting new cultural tourism markets, post-World War Two, the All-Ireland Drama Festival was founded in 1953. Undoubtedly, the festival circuit sustained a uniquely rich Irish performative and playwriting tradition. A number of Ireland's greatest playwrights, including Tom Murphy (author of A Whistle in the Dark, The Gigli Concert, Famine) and Hugh Leonard, began their careers within the amateur movement.

In 2024, the Irish amateur dramatic tradition was awarded formal state recognition. In 2015, Ireland ratified the UNESCO Convention on the safeguarding and preservation of intangible cultural heritage and is now inscribed on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.