History
After Lord Baden-Powell published ‘Scouting for Boys’ 1908, Scouting flourished throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Groups of boys formed little gangs and called them patrols. In some groups they included boating in their activities. From this early development came the first recognisable Sea Scouts in 1910. Sea Scouting established quickly in Dublin but official recognition of a local association was not until 1912 .In September of this year Lieutenant Henry. J. Rundle RN ‘Officer in Charge’ Coast Guard, Malahide was appointed 1st Sea Scout Commissioner by Robert Baden Powell. Sea Scouting sprung up Dublin, Bray, Malahide, Ardmore, and Wicklow. Groups at this stage would have opened, closed and reopened again.
This would have been common enough and when war broke out in 1914 many Sea Scouts joined up as volunteers and served as signalers in the Royal Navy. During the war years sea scouts at home were taken up by the Admiralty for signaling duties.
In 1919 Sea Scouting in Malahide was officially registered at The Boy Scout Association (Incorporated by Royal Charter), Imperial Headquarters, London SW 1. They were known as the 4th Port of Dublin Sea Scouts Local Association. Mr.McKelvey Foster, Station House, Malahide was appointed as Scout Master. Mr.McKelvey Foster was an employee of the GNR. 18 boys were registered. Meetings would have been held in various locations around the village..
Certificate of Incorporation of Malahide Sea Scouts under Royal Charter in 1919
John Dermot Dickie Sea Scout of the 4th Port of Dublin – Malahide Sea Scouts in 1919
In 1920 a coast guard cutter was presented by Coast Lines Ltd to the Sea Scouts in Malahide. After the foundation of the state in 1922 many sea scouts groups associated with the RN Coastguard would have closed. In 1934 the 4th Port of Dublin was re-registered to Dodder Sea Scouts in Ringsend.
Dublin Sea Scouts – rowing a coastguard cutter in 1912.
With the arrival of our new Rector in St. Andrews Parish in 1949 Rev.Gough Cooper started a Wolf Cub Pack .The group was registered at Boy Scout Association of Ireland as the 15th Dublin Scout Group. The Akela was Mr Bryan Callaghan assisted by Ms Nan Lindsay, Dorothy Bourne ,Alice Russel, and Alison Mills. Not long after, scouts began with Scout Master Mr.W.B.Scarlett and Mr. Stanley Baird as Assistant Scout Master. They met in St. Andrews School on Church Road and their first camp was in Malahide Castle. They became known locally as 1st Malahide Boy Scout Troop.
1st Malahide Boy Scout Troop, First Aid Competition, Phoenix Park 1952
Scouting worldwide celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1957 by having a Jamboree in Sutton-in-Ashfield in the UK. 18 leaders and boys from Malahide attended and joined with the other 34,000 scouts from 87 different countries.
Malahide was still a relatively small town and growth was not particular strong .Numbers at meetings would vary and increase during school holidays as many of the boys would be boarding during term in school.
By 1968 the 9th Port of Dublin Sea Scouts registered in Malahide. They would be known as the modern troop. There were 2 leaders and 22 boys. Sea Scouting flourished in Malahide with the building of new housing estates as we turned into the 70’s.
Scouts Boathouse ‘Lee-Ho’ on Broadmeadow 1972
However in 1971 the Scouts had acquired a floating boat house known as “Lee-Ho” moored in Broadmeadow Upper Estuary. Along with this we were camping in Malahide Castle grounds by kind permission of Lord Milo Talbot on a regular basis. We enjoyed storage for our tents in ‘The Loft’ in the Malahide Castle Courtyard. In 1973 the group had loss a friend ,Lord Talbot passed away in April of this year. The Sea Scouts attended a memorial Service to Lord Talbot in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
When the Island Golf Club ceased their ferry service across to the island the Scouts acquired the prime site at the bottom of Jame’s Terrace. Prior to the present brick building a temporary dwelling was given to us by the Lyons Builders who had just finished a project in Dublin Port. The Malahide Lions Club generously fitted the den out.
Although sponsorship by St. Andrew’s Parish came to an end in 1976, the group is ever grateful to the Parish and keeps close ties to date. In 1979 the group was presented with the Talbot de Malahide coat arms as a group badge with one small change. Instead of the 2nd lion a salmon was put in place as recognition of the red salmon the colour of our group scarf .
The present premises are completed in 1984 and again a credit to hard working parents committee. The group numbers increase with a record of 143 scouts from Malahide camped with 10,000 other scouts at the Irish National Jamboree in Portumna 1985.
143 Sea Scouts from Malahide camping at the 1985 National Scout Jamboree Portumna ’85.
At the beginning of 1990 girls were now encouraged to join as scouts. The total membership during the 90’s passed the 400 mark. Up to 2003 there were 2 scout associations, but at the beginning of 2004 a new association was formed called Scouting Ireland. Malahide Sea Scouts today is the largest scout group in Ireland, but also the largest Sea Scout Group in Europe with a total membership of 510 made up of 80 adult volunteers and 430 youth members.
Malahide celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of scouts in 1907 by sending 25 scouts to the World Scout Jamboree in 2007 held in Chelmsford, Essex. UK. Scouts are boating and canoeing 5 evenings during the week and all weekend during the boating season (May-September).
In 2009 we celebrated the 90th Anniversary of Sea Scouting in Malahide. To commemorate the event an anniversary scarf was presented to each member. The scarf depicts a sea scout in uniform of 1919 in the middle of a diamond, representing ‘The Diamond’ in Malahide. The Scout fleur -de- lis on an anchor is internationally recognized as a Sea Scout Emblem. The red tabs represent our present group scarf while the black and yellow/gold are colours of the Talbot Family. One of our planned highlight was to take a photo of all the members together in front of Malahide Castle. 347 present members came out on the day in April.
Celebrating 90th Anniversary of Malahide Sea Scouts, in April 2009
In 2012 , Malahide Sea Scouts celebrated the Centenary of Sea Scouting in Ireland by taking part fully in the Centenary programme. A plaque has being erected on the wall of the den to commemorate the first Sea Scout Commissioner appointed by Robert Baden Powell, in 1912 Lt.Henry.J.Rundle RN, Officer in Charge of Malahide Coastguard RN .In this the Centenary year Malahide Sea Scouts won all four National Sea Scouting Competitions, Woodlatimer Trophy(D. Vekins Memorial), Long Distance Dublin Bay Skiff Race, Captain Hamil Cup, and Sir William Fry Cup.
Centenary commemorative plague to the 1st Sea Scout Commissioner Lieut Henry J Rundle ,Malahide Coast Guard 1912
Since its beginnings the leaders in the group have received the following adult awards, 4 Order of Cu Chulainn, 2 Silver Elk, 4 Silver Shamrocks, 8 Gold Awards , 7 Silver Awards,29 Bronze Awards,3 Bars to the Medal of Merit, 12 Medals of Merit and 51 Chief Scout Commendations.