Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland
| Scouting Ireland (CSI) | |||
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| Headquarters | Larch Hill | ||
| Country | Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland | ||
| Founded | 1927 | ||
| Defunct | 2003 | ||
| Affiliation | World Organization of the Scout Movement | ||
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The Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI; Irish: Gasóga Caitliceacha na hÉireann) was an Irish Catholic Scouting organisation active from 1927 until 2004, when it formed Scouting Ireland by merging with the former Scout Association of Ireland (SAI), a mainly Protestant body. The CBSI changed its name to "Catholic Scouts of Ireland" (CSI) when it admitted girls and to "Scouting Ireland (CSI)" in the run-up to the SAI merger. It was active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Scouting in Ireland traces its roots to 1908 and the founding of the Scout Association of Ireland. As it was then part of the British Empire, and later the British Commonwealth, the SAI was affiliated to its British counterpart The Scout Association, sharing a common Chief Scout in Robert Baden-Powell.
In 1925 and 1926, Father Ernest Farrell, a curate in Greystones, County Wicklow began working with a youth programme loosely modeled on the Scout Method. Under the pen-name "Sagart", he wrote a series of articles in Our Boys, a magazine published by the Christian Brothers, advocating the formation of an official Catholic Scout organisation. This initial group, while more in line with the methods of the Boys' Brigade was viewed as an effective means of imprinting a Catholic ethos on the young men of Ireland. Father Farrell's brother, Father Tom Farrell, a curate in the Pro-Cathedral gave this fledgeling association the backing of the church and its resources. In 1927 the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland was officially founded, with a constitution drawn up and a headquarters from which the association could be organised, clothed and supplied.
At an early stage John O'Neill, a motor works proprietor and former member of Seanad Éireann who had been associated with Fr. Ernest's Greystones venture, became Chief Scout. A "national committee", forerunner of the National Executive Board, was set up. Fr. Tom kept up constant contact with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, and with the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, Passionists, Jesuits, Capuchins and other religious houses, all of which sponsored CBSI troops in Dublin at a very early period.
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