 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.The 1953 Bowl of Light vandalism incident was linked to the An Tóstal.