Irish Youth Group Uniforms


Figure 1.--This Irish Cub was probably photographed in the 1980s. He wears a blue jersey and grey short pants and kneesocks. HBU is not sure if the traditional Cub peaked cap was still being won in the 1980s. Notice the colored tabs on his kneesocks, this was common for Cubs and Scouts in Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales.

Ireland is a devided country. The Irih were controlled bu the English for centuries and treated shabily for much of that time. Catholics were disenfranchised and the English and their Protestant Irish allies seized the land. British policies during the Potalo famine of the 1850s was particularly horendous. This eventually led to an independence movement. It began with the Easter Rebellion in Dublin (1916) during World War II. The Irish Revolutionary Army using terrorist attacks forced the British to relingish power to the Irish Free State, except in northern Ireland (Ulster) which ha a substantial Protestant population. Most Irish at the time thought this was a temporary arrangement that would eventually lead to a united independent Ireland. The Irish Free State evolved in to the Irisj Republic, but Ulster has remained a partb of the United Kingdom. Youth groups in the two Irelands are sepsrate.

Irish Republic

HBC currently only has information about Irish Scouts. We know of no other uniformed Irish boys' group. We speculate that the Boys' Brigade may have been active in Ireland. We also wonder about the Irish scouts which may have been seen as an English movement at first. Presumably most Catholic boys in the 1900s and 1910s could not have afforded to paticipate. Thus began to change with the creation of the Irish Free State in the early 1920s.

Irish Scouts

HBU at this time has been unable to find much information about the Irish Scout movement and Irish Scout uniforms, but would be very interested in any more detailed infornation HBU visitors could provide. After Lord Baden Powell published his book Scouting for Boys in fortnightly parts in 1908, Scout Groups started spontaneously throughout Great Britain. Within a few months Scouting also started in Ireland, which at that time was part of the United Kingdom. We also wonder about the Irish scouts which may have been seen as an English movement at first. Presumably most Catholic boys in the 1900s and 1910s could not have afforded to paticipate. Thus began to change with the creation of the Irish Free State in the early 1920s.

Boys' Brigade

We speculate that the Boys' Brigade may never have been very important in overwealmingly Catholic Ireland. The Brigade, however, was and continues to be an essentially Protestant group and would thus have appaered to only a small number of boys--except in Ulster.

Nationalist Groups

There have been many Irish nationalist groups. The most famous of course is the Irish Revolutionary Army (IRA). While many young people--especially older teenagers have participated in the IRA, we are not sure to what extent younger boys did. Certainly the sons and younger brothers of IRA members knew about the IRA and served as lookouts and messengers. The IRA for much of its history has been a outlaw or secret organizxation and thus has not had uniforms. We do not know if there was any uniformed nationmalist group for younger boys. The Nationalist organisations (like the Cumman na Gael) also had youth sections - no real uniform though. These were absorbed into the Scouts of Ireland after independence.

Other Groups

We do not know at this time of any other Irish uniformed youth group.

Ulster

We do not at this time have a great deal of information on Ulster. The most important youth group is the Scouts. As part of the United Kingdom, Ulster Scouts wear the same uniformn as the British Scouts. The Boy's Brigade is popular in Ulster among Protestant boys. The Orange Lodges have youth sections and bands. Uniforms are similar to the Boys' Brigade.







HBU






Navigate the Historic Boys' Uniform Web Site:
[Return to the Main Countries page]
[Introduction] [Activities] [Biography] [Chronologies] [Essays] [Garments] [Organizations] [Other]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [FAQs] [Questions] [Unknown images]
[Boys' Uniform Home]



Created: September 7, 2000
Last updated: 3:20 AM 7/15/2004