TRAINING young people from the Newry area to be responsible and self-sufficient citizens, has been the valuable contribution by leaders of the Boy Scouts movement for over half-a-century.

Scoutmasters and troop leaders instilled qualities of service and self-discipline into generations of local boys. They went on to fulfil important roles in a variety of trades, professions and walks-of-life, such as the church, industry and commerce, the civil service, - on land, sea, and in the air.

Back in the days of the mid-40’s, a group of responsible men of great integrity in the frontier town, inspired by Wilfred Gibson, - whose son, Dr Sean would later star for Antrim GAA, - as well as George O’Hare, an experienced Scoutmaster from Liverpool, and a leader in the Knights of Malta, established the first local scout troop, with popular pastor, Fr Jim Boyd as chaplain.

According to the records, at the first meeting in 1944, “Mr Gibson gave PT and drill exercises; there was also tug-of-war; while knots and their uses were demonstrated by George O’Hare.” Brendan Gallagher was appointed as first scoutmaster, with George O’Hare as his assistant. The Troop Scribe would be Pat O’Keefe.

Patrol leaders would be Paddy Traynor, Harry Gallagher and Jim Kelly, with Eddie Goodman, Eric Anderson and Noel Morgan as their assistants. The Troop Anthem would be "O’Donnell Abu."

First Annual Camp was held in Mourne Park at Kilkeel. And the new troop’s football ability was soon demonstrated by victories over teams from St John Bosco Boys’ Club squad, as well as Kilkeel scouts.

Within two years, the scouts were escorting Corpus Christ Processions “with reverence, neatness and the respect which such an occasion deserves.” They were finalists in the Newry Feis Cup; and been involved in a novel form of fund-raising, using a lorry to collect empty jam-jars. A Senior Section was formed under George O’Hare, while John Taggart received the First Class Badge.

The Year of 1949 saw the first Cubs’ section being invested under the command of Jim Treanor; the Junior Camp was held at Castlebellingham, while the seniors headed for Lancashire. This was an occasion for “high marks and happy memories,” with football victories over English scout sides, as well as a Certificate for Good Camping, while Joe Fearon `stole the show` with his rendering of “The Legion.” Senior section leader Paddy Traynor received the First Class Badge.

One of the earliest scouts had been Malachy Delahunt from Mary Street, later principal of St Patrick’s primary school at the Meadow, and still a member of the Cathedral choir, as well as the Cloughmore Male Voice Choir. Among his fellow scouts were Colman Cushenan, who became a plumber, went to Canada and was appointed as a newspaper editor. His brother, Fr Jarlath, was also in the Troop.

Recalling annual camps, Malachy described how George O’Hare “knew some guy, who decided to cook for us. He got a load of eggs, and proceeded to make a soufflé, - an exotic dish we had never heard of. We were all starving but, to our horror, were presented with this plate of fluffy stuff.

“At that stage we would have eaten anything. Getting some raw potatoes, we made a kind of stew. And we improvised by cutting a small trench, putting bars across to draw the air, and cooking on them. My mother said that it was the best thing that ever happened as, up till then, I had been very pernickety about my food. After that, I would have eaten anything!

“There was great craic at the camp in Castlebellingham; and it was there I learned to fish, using an ordinary fork, tied to a stick. Paddling along the river, we would stab the fish with the fork. But at night, while we were in our bell-tent with pole in the middle, a bunch of senior scouts came in and started racing around the pole, so that the tent collapsed on top of us.”

One night, while the troop was camping at the Alexian Brothers in Warrenpoint, they were kept awake by a loud clumping noise around the tents. Everybody was afraid to venture out and investigate. Next morning they discovered that the culprit was a Clydesdale horse!

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