Robert Baden-Powell served in the British Army he was made famous during the Second Boer War when he successfully defended the town of Mafeking in what became called The Siege of Mafeking.
During his time in the Army he wrote a number of short books about scout training and reconnaissance in Africa. On his return to the UK he found these books were being read to young boys. He re-wrote these books (Aids to Scouting) into a format more suited to youth readership.
With help and influences from friends he put together some ideas and methods of working and in August 1907 held a Camp for around 20 – 21 boys on Brownsea Island in Poole Dorset to try the ideas out then the following year the book Scouting for Boys was published, at first in six instalments but eventually as one complete book.
The Camp and publication of Scouting for Boys is regarded as the start of the Scout movement. “Scouting” took off with groups springing up all over the UK and then out into the then Empire and elsewhere.
The first adult training took place in 1910 and 1911 and by 1922 there were over a million Scouts in 32 countries and by the outbreak of the Second World War about 3.3 million. By 2010 there were around 32 million scouts.
History of Scouting in Ireland
The first recorded Scout meeting in Ireland 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 second Troop was formed a week later. 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.
During the 1920 Fr. Tom Farrell and his brother Fr. Ernest Farrell considered the possibility of establishing a scouting association with a Catholic ethos. Some ad-hoc Catholic Troops were already operating. In 1925 Fr. Ernest wrote a series of articles in Our Boys magazine, under the nom-de-plume “Sagart”, advocating the formation of an Irish Catholic Scout association. Fr. Tom founded the Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland in 1927.
Scouting Ireland was formed on 1st January 2004 from the two original Scouts Associations. It now has 40,000 members across the whole island.
Ballygunner Beavers Waterford 