The Order of CúChulainn is the highest award for adults in

Scouting Ireland Scouting Ireland () is one of the largest youth movements on the island of Ireland, a voluntary educational movement for young people with over 45,000 members, including over 11,000 adult volunteers . Of the 750,000 people between the ages of 6 ...

History

It was introduced in 2004 to replace

Scouting Ireland (CSI) The Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland (CBSI; ) was an Irish Catholic Scouting organisation active from 1927 until 2004, when it formed Scouting Ireland by merging with the former Scout Association of Ireland (SAI), a non-denominational Scout orga ...

's ''Silver Wolfhound'' and the equivalent award of Scouting Ireland S.A.I., the ''Silver Elk''. In the early years of Scouting in Ireland, key figures were awarded the Silver Wolf by the Scout Association including

Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath (31 July 1841 – 11 October 1929) was an Irish politician and philanthropist. Life Reginald Brabazon was born into an old Anglo-Irish family in London, the second son of William Brabazon, 11th Earl of M ...

Mervyn Wingfield, 8th Viscount Powerscourt Mervyn Richard Wingfield, 8th Viscount Powerscourt (16 July 1880 – 21 March 1947) was an Anglo-Irish peer. Life Wingfield was born to Mervyn Wingfield, 7th Viscount Powerscourt, whom he succeeded as Viscount Powerscourt in 1904. He was ...

and

Hans Hamilton, 2nd Baron HolmPatrick Hans Wellesley Hamilton, 2nd Baron HolmPatrick (8 August 1886 – 5 September 1942) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and peer. Hamilton was born in Abbotstown, Castleknock,''1911 England Census'' the only son of Ion Hamilton, who was raised to the ...

. The first awards were presented at

Larch Hill Larch Hill International Scout and Guide Centre is the national campsite, and administrative and training headquarters, of Scouting Ireland. It was previously owned by Scouting Ireland (CSI), one of the two scout organisations which merged to for ...

with all those who held the highest award of the previous associations being invested as Honorary Members of the Order of CúChulainn by Martin Burbridge, the Chief Scout.

Origin of the name

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

, Cúchulainn ('Hound of Culann') is the pre-eminent hero of

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

in the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle (), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Do ...

. The image of Cúchulainn is invoked by both

Irish Nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

s and

Ulster Unionist The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded as the Ulster Unionist Council in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist oppositi ...

s, in murals, poetry, literature and other art forms.

Requirements

The Award is presented for outstanding commitment to Scouting over many years. Investiture into the Order is only made at functions with an appropriate level of importance. It is presented by the Chief Scout except in circumstances whereby they are unable to attend and another appropriate presenter is chosen.

Insignia

Order pendant

Members of the Order wear a yellow and red ribbon around the neck from which a miniature replica of a hound hangs, along with the World Crest. It is one of only four items which may be worn around the neck by members of Scouting Ireland, the others being the Lanyard, the

Wood Badge Wood Badge is a Scout leader training program, first implemented by The Scout Association, The Boy Scouts Association in the United Kingdom in 1919 and subsequently adopted, with variations, by some other Scout organizations. Wood Badge Course ...

and most commonly, the

Neckerchief A neckerchief (from ''neck'' (n.) + ''kerchief''), also kerchief, scarf, and bandana, is a type of neckwear associated with those working or living outdoors, including farm labourers, cowboys and sailors. It is most commonly still seen today in ...

Citation

Each member receives a certificate, on which there is a citation which details the Scouting career of the recipient and reasons why he/she has been deemed to have made an exceptional contribution to the provision of Scouting in Ireland. The citation is read formally before the presentation is made.

Order pin

An Order of CuChulainn pin may be worn on the adult award ribbon. The pin consists of a hound, identical to that on the pendant.

Similar awards

The

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of Scouting America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting program. The ...

is an international equivalent award to the Order of CúChulainn. The Scout association (UK) awards the Silver Wolf, which was awarded to a number of figures from Ireland prior to Irish independence but has also been awarded since, such as in the case of the award to Michael Webb in 1985.

Scouts Australia Scouts Australia is a trading name of The Scout Association of Australia, which is the largest scouting organisation in Australia, with over 50,000 Youth Program Participants, and is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. It ...

awards the Silver Kangaroo. The

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organization in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922. It has 176 members. ...

awards the

Bronze Wolf The Bronze Wolf Award is an award presented by the World Organization of the Scout Movement for outstanding service by an individual to the Scout Movement. Just over 400 people have received the Bronze Wolf since its creation in 1935. WOSM has r ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Order of CuChulainn Scout and Guide awards Scouting Ireland