Established in 1927, this year sees Donnybrook celebrate its eightieth birthday, making it one of the oldest scouting groups in the country.

The 3rd/ 40th/ 41st Donnybrook Scout Group (DSG) still resides at the bottom of Eglinton Road Donnybrook, where every week around 200 beavers, cubs, scouts, venturers and leaders pass through the gates for a fun-filled night of learning and games.

With Gaisce awards, a UN Millennium Development Award and generations of fulfilled scouters under her belt, DSG need not shy away from the limelight. Over the past eighty years, DSG has gone through many changes, but still remains a focal point in the community it embraces.

The worldwide scouting movement itself is one hundred years old this year. Baden Powell, who set up the movement in 1907 as a place where young boys and girls could learn things that the education system couldn’t teach them, would be proud of the long and celebrated history that Donnybrook has undertaken.

At the beginning of 2004, Donnybrook joined 40,000 other scouts from all over Ireland when the two scouting establishments in Ireland, SAI (Scouting Association Ireland which was mostly dominant in the North) and CSI (Catholic Scouts Ireland) joined together to form Scouting Ireland.

With a new organisation and new guidelines, many changes occurred within Donnybrook, including a new uniform, but traditions at Donnybrook remained. Every year on St. Patrick’s Day, the boys and girls of Donnybrook march from their scout hall to Donnybrook Church for mass. The opening prayer is still spoken at the beginning of meetings, and the promise and mottos are the same of those spoken in the years before.

DSG has a strong relationship with the community and has established itself as one of the strongest scouting groups in the country. Many of the leaders at Donnybrook today joined as beavers at the age of six and worked their way up through the ranks to help, nurture and guide a new generation of scouts.

A well-deserved pat on the back to all the past and present members of Donnybrook Scout Group for helping in the continuation of a great outlet for children.

Any past members who would like to share their memories, stories and photographs of Donnybrook Scouts please contact Eadaoin at eadaoin-ashe@hotmail.com or write to us here at NewsFour, 15 Fitzwilliam Street, Ringsend, Dublin 4.