Figure 1.--First Communion suits can be quite simple, at least for the boys. Paul Gallagher, brother of Noel and Liam of Oasis fame, here in 1973 wears a white shirt and bow tie with his grey school shorts. To make the outfit a little specual, mother has replaced grey school socks with wite socks. These double t-bar sandals may be his school shoes, although single bar sandals were more common.

We do not yet have much information on First Communion suits in England during the 19th Century and early 20th Century. While a largely Protestant country, there is a substantial Catholic minority. Since Tudor days the Catholics have been an opressed minority, only winning their civil rights in the 19th century. Cathloics have been largely working class Britons. Many Irish immigrated to Britain beginning with the Potato Famine of the 1840s. This substatially increased the Catholic population. Money for an expensive First Communion suit was not always available. This issue was addressed in The Green Years, although the story was set in Scotland. The Government eventually began to support Catholic schools and continues to do so today. Many schools had the boys use part of their school uniform for First Communion. First Communion was an important milestone for Roman Catholic children at the age of 7 or 8 during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The outfits the boys wore varied. An English contributor to HBC recalls in the 1960s getting a new short pants suit for First Communion. Some of his school mates got long pants suits. He does not recall boys wearing white suits, but all the girls had long dresses. Other oys just wore white shirts with their grey school shorts, perhaps with white socks and strap sandals. The boy here in 1973 is a good example (figure 1). .

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Created: March 18, 2001
Last edited: 8:39 AM 3/13/2008