History of Scouting in Ireland

Ireland, then still part of the United Kingdom, was one of the first countries to have Boy Scouts. 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. A plaque marks the location of the house, now demolished, on the plaza next to Dublin’s City Hall. The 2nd Dublin formed the following week at 5 Upper Camden Street.

Details of the formation of early Scout Patrols and Troops are sketchy, as initially there was no administration to keep such records, but other Scout Troops formed in Dublin, and in Bray, Greystones, Dundalk and Belfast in the early months of 1908. The Greystones and Dundalk troops have been in continuous existence ever since.

In 1921 the Anglo-Irish Treaty created the Irish Free State, within the British Commonwealth. The Irish Free State (later Eire) Scout Council was created for Scouts in the 26-Counties, still linked to the UK Boy Scout Association. Membership was open to all religious faiths. Members of this association were popularly known as ‘B-P Scouts’.

B-P visited Ireland to review his Scouts in 1910, 1911, 1915 and 1928. He died and was buried in Kenya in 1941.