History of Scouting in Ireland
1908 - Present The Scout Association of Northern Ireland
1908 – 1921 Part of the U.K. Scouts.
1921 – 1937 Irish Free State Scout Council.
1927 – 1983 Catholic Boys Scouts of Ireland.
1937 – 1949 Éire Scout Council.
1949 – Ireland declared itself a Republic and a new independent National Association was formed known as The Boy Scouts of Ireland. Ireland was admitted to the World Brotherhood of Scouting at the Boy Scouts’ International Conference held in Norway in September 1949.
1965 – 2004. Federation of Irish Scout associations was formed which allowed C.S.I. to be recognised by the World Organisation of the Scout Movement .
1968 – The Boy Scouts of Ireland became the Scout Association of Ireland.
1971 – C.B.S.I. Knight Errant Clans became Venture Scout Units.
1976 – Girls Admitted to Scout Association of Ireland and the first S.A.I. Beaver Colony is founded.
1978 The first C.B.S.I. Beaver Scout Colony was formed in Dublin. The new Beaver Scout section was approved by the C.B.S.I. National Council in 1980 by which time there were 26 Colonies in existence.
1983 – Catholic Scouts of Ireland girls admitted to Venture Scouts.
1999 – 2004 The Scout Association of Ireland and The Catholic Scouts of Ireland both adapt Scouting Ireland to their names becoming Scouting Ireland S.A.I. and Scouting Ireland C.S.I., in 2004 both associations dropped the S.A.I. and C.S.I. forming a united organisation Scouting Ireland.
2004 – Present Scouting Ireland.
In 1965 the Federation of Irish Scout Associations was formed which allowed C.S.I. to be recognised by the World Organisation of the Scout Movement. Cumann Gasóga na hÉireann was used on the badges of the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland, Federation of Irish Scout Associations badges had the Co before Cumann Gasóga na hÉireann when written in Irish.
The first recorded meeting took place at the home of Mr. Richard P. Fortune, 3 Dame Street, Dublin on 15th February 1908 where four boys were enrolled in the Wolf Patrol of the 1st Dublin Troop. At the time of the first meeting Ireland was part of the U.K. When the Irish Free State was established in 1921 the Irish Free State Scout Council was formed. In 1937 de Valera (Irish President) published the 1937 constitution which changed the name from The Irish Free State to Ireland or in Gaelic Éire, the name of the Scout Council was changed to Éire Scout Council.
In 1949 the Ireland declared itself a Republic and the Éire Scout Council was changed to The Boys Scouts of Ireland.
Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland C.B.S.I.
The C.B.S.I. was formed in 1927. In 1983 girls were admitted to Venture Scouts and the name was changed to The Catholic Scouts of Ireland. In 2004 the C.S.I. merged with the S.A.I. forming Scouting Ireland.
Oganaigh Fódla Scouts
Oganaigh Fódla (Fódlach) National Youth or Juveniles of the Nation. Before the formation of the Federation of Irish Scout Associations in 1965 C.B.S.I. Scouts could not take part in International Scouting events because they were not members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). I am not sure when Oganaigh Fódla was formed, the first mention of it I could find was at the World Scout Jamboree in 1947 held in France. Scouts remained members of their respective Irish Scout organisation as well as being members of Oganaigh Fódla. Oganaigh Fódla Scouts wore a white shirt instead of their usual uniform shirt.
Rawley Scouts.
Not sure if this term applied to Scouts in other Irish or world Scouting organizations but in the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland a Rawley Scout was a boy who had joined the Troop but had not gained his Second Class Scout badge, in order to be invested a boy had to have passed the Second Class Scout tests.
To get your Second Class Scout badge the first thing a boy had to do was know the Scout Law and Promise (see C.B.S.I. Law and Promise below). Up until the end of the 1970s and maybe beyond a boy being invested into the C.B.S.I. was expected the know the Promise and Law both of which had to be recited from memory at the investiture ceremony, having the Promise and Law read from a book and repeated by the boy was not acceptable. As if learning the Law and Promise was not enough some boys had to learn it in English and Irish.
As well as knowing the Law and Promise a boy had to demonstrate he knew and understood the principles of Scout Participation, Scout Craft and Scout Sprit.
- Scout Participation was easy, attend Patrol meeting and take an active part in a hike or two and attend at least one camp.
- Scout Craft. Not so easy, there were a series of 39 tests, these are listed at the back of the Scouting Trail. A boy had to demonstrate a knowledge and participate in the tests, one of which, number 36, was to be able to join in the singing of the Catholic Scout Anthem Salve Regina
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiæ,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevæ,
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.
Scout Sprit. A boy had to demonstrate he knew how to live by the Scout Law and Promise and by the principals of Scouting.
The story below appeared In the January 31st 1920 edition of The Scout The Official organ of The Boy Scouts.
Scouts to the Rescue
The above image appeared on the cover with the caption Sounding the alarm which brought the 6th South Dublin (Leeson Park) Troop speeding to the rescue of a burning aeroplane. For the prompt and resourceful assistance of its members, this troop has been awarded the Silver Cross by Imperial Headquarters.
The account of the heroic rescue continues inside the magazine. Near by the camp of the 6th South Dublin (Leeson Park) Troop at Laytown, Co. Meath, was the Gormanston Aerodrome.
Many a time the Scouts had enjoyed watching wonderful exhibitions of flight.
One day, as the Scouts were scattered about amusing themselves, they noticed that a machine was flying rather low. Suddenly there was a crash and in a moment the aeroplane was a seething mass of flames.
With great presence of mind the bugler sounded the alarm as he dashed towards the blazing machine. Scouts bobbed up from everywhere and rushed in the same direction.
Now we can let the pilot finish the tale. “Immediately on crashing my machine burst into flames. I slipped off my belt and crawled out of the seat and looked around for A.M. Gray. Not seeing him, I thought he had got clear of the machine, but on getting round the other side he was not to be seen, so I ran back to the observer’s cockpit and found him lying senseless at the bottom.
I managed to get his body out of the cockpit, but his right leg was firmly held by part of the gun mounting. Holding his body to prevent it from falling back into the pit I tried to free his right leg.
I was getting very dazed from exhaustion and the heat of the machine, when several Boy Scouts appeared, and while I held Gray’s body, they ran around to the other side and freed his right leg. Their action was just in time, and the very least I could say Brave as the machine was a mass of flame and the heat was terrible.
The Scouts helped Gray and myself to their encampment, where they gave us First Aid treatment and brought Gray to his senses. In the meantime they had dispatched one of their number to the aerodrome and posted a guard of several others around the remains of the machine until men from the aerodrome arrived.”
For its splendid behaviour Imperial Headquarters has awarded the Silver Cross to the whole troop collectively.
Catholic Boy Scout of Ireland
I am not sure how it is now but in the 1960s and into the 1970s the C.B.S.I. had an official way in which Scouts should greet each other.
Moladh d’Iosa Chriost
(Praise be Jesus Christ)
This greeting was to be met with the reply.
Agus do Mhuire a Naomh Mháthair
(And Mary, his blessed Mother.)
The greeting was expected to be made in Gaelic but the English version was acceptable
Catholic Boy Scout of Ireland Promise.
(1960s-1970s)
On my Honour, with the Grace of God, I promise to do my best to love, honour, and serve Christ my King, His Holy Church, and His Blessed Mother: to help my neighbour at all times: and to obey the Scout Law.
The 2014 version of the Scouting Ireland Promise.
The 1964 edition of The Scouting Trail gives the following meaning of the Scout badge.
The Cross reminds you of your Holy Faith which is the most important thing in your life.
The Shamrock reminds you of:
- The Most Holy Trinity.
- The three Scout Principals, especially the second.
- The three parts of the Scout Promise.
The Shamrock resting on the Cross shows that truelove of country is based on love of God, and never goes against the teachings of religion.
The C.B.S.I. Sign
The C.B.S.I. Prayers 1960s - 1970s
Prayer made up by Saint Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, is the Scout prayer. You should say it every day.
Dearest Jesus, teach me to be generous,
Teach me to love and serve Thee as Thou deservest;
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for rest;
To labour and to look for no reward;
Save that of knowing that I do Thy Holy Will. Amen.
Being the C.B.S.I. one prayer was not enough and Scouts were expected to know The Scout Prayer.
We ask Thee, Almighty Father, through Jesus Christ Thy Son, to pour the gifts of Thy Sprit into the hearts of Catholic Scouts, so that they may Know, Love and serve Thee all the days of their lives. We also pray that Scouts throughout the world may come to share with us the one True Faith. Amen.
There were four Holy Days or Feast Days which all Catholic Boy Scouts were expected to attend Mass and receive Holy Communion and pray for all members of the C.B.S.I. living or dead. In the days when I used to go to Mass you had to fast from the night before and have had received absolution at Confession. The four Holy Days were:
- Feast of Christ the King – Last Sunday in October.
- Feast of the Immaculate Conception – 8th of December.
- Feast of Saint Patrick – 17th of March.
- Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels – 2nd of October.
Mass on Camp C.B.S.I.
Up to the late 1970s or early 1980s all C.B.S.I. Senior Scouts would have been expected to know how to set up the Alter on Camp. Some Scout groups would have a Priest that would regularly visit camp to say Mass and Mass would usually be said at large Scouting events such as National and Regional events. Scouts groups without a Priest to visit camp and say Mass had to endure the Scout Master’s obsession with attending 8am Mass in the Church at least an hours hike away.
If you are fortunate you will have a Priest with you on camp and have Mass each morning. Be sure you are particularly clean and tidy for Mass.
If you are not near a Church, you may find that you have to set up an altar for Mass. Place the altar stone in the centre of the table or camp-altar. Over this you lay three altar cloths, the bottom two run merely the length of the altar table, while the top cloth falls don on both sides to touch the ground.
At the back-centre of the altar, there is a Crucifix. On each side of the Crucifix is a lighted candle. These candles must be at least 65% wax. Against the base of the Crucifix you may lean the large chart (explanation below), but do not allow it to cover any part of the figures of Our Lord; if necessary raise the Crucifix on a box. The small chart goes on the Epistle side, leaning against the candlestick. The missal stand is placed straight on the Epistle side of the altar, towards the front. On it is the missal, the spine to the right.
A small table or box covered with a white cloth is put near the altar on the Epistle side. On it are the cruets, one containing wine the other water; a small bowl; a white finger towel; the Communion plate; and the bell. (The bell may also be left where the server kneels.)
If you have to lay out the scared vestments you do so in the following order: 1. Chasuble, 2. Stole, 3. Maniple, 4. Cincture - this should be doubled and the two tassels put on the right-hand side, 5. Alb, 6. Amice. The Priest himself will always dress the Chalice.
Altar Charts more commonly known as Cards (the larger is in the center, containing prayers which the priest reads at the Offertory and Canon. The smaller one on the Epistle side has the prayers read by the priest when washing his hands after the Offertory).
C.B.S.I. First Aid
One top-tip in the First Aid section of the 1964 edition of the C.B.S.I. handbook is how to perform an emergency Baptism. Every person has the power to give baptism but except in the case of necessity, only a Priest can lawfully give it. A person gives baptism by pouring water on the head of the person to be baptised saying at the same time: “I baptise thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Another piece of advice given in the same book under First Aid advises the Scout, when coming across the scene of an accident to remember to say an act of contrition into the ear of the casualty as hearing is often the last sense to go in a dying person and in the fuss adults usually forget such points.
An act of contrition is a prayer said to absolve you of all your sin, in the event of a person being unable to speak another person may say the act of contrition for them, there were a few different versions but it usually went something like this:
O my God, I am heartily sorry
for having offended Thee
and I detest my sins
above every other evil
because they displease Thee, my God,
Who, in Thy infinite wisdom,
art so deserving of all my love
and I firmly resolve
with the help of Thy grace
never more to offend Thee
and to amend my life.
Amen