The idea of Rotary was brought to Ireland by
William Stuart Morrow, who returned
from the United States to his native land in 1911 - just six years after the
first Rotary meeting in Chicago in 1905. In conjunction with his
brother-in-law, William A. McConnell, Morrow formed the Dublin Club
(22nd February, 1911),(see
article below) after which he moved north where he brought into being the
Club of Belfast (24th July, 1911)
In 1912, a few months after the formation of
the Belfast Club, Hugh Boyd, the Honorary-Secretary of that Club, visited
the Rotary Headquarters in Chicago for the purpose of obtaining greater
knowledge of the Movement. Whilst there, he discussed the possibility of
Clubs in Great Britain and Ireland becoming affiliated to the 'National'
Association, and on his return, the six original Clubs in these islands did
affiliate as the result of the information which he was able to impart. At
its 1912 Convention, The National Association of Rotary Clubs was renamed
The International Association of Rotary Clubs (I.A.R.C.).
In May 1914, at a meeting held in London and
attended by representatives of the eight original clubs, the British
Association of Rotary Clubs (B.A.R.C.) was formally constituted. Each club
was entitled to appoint two of its members as Directors on the Board. Those
representing the Irish Clubs were Richard White and William A McConnell
(Dublin) and William C. Gabbey and Hugh Boyd (Belfast). At the Convention of
the international association held in June 1914, the B.R.A.C. was officially
recognised, and further, William Findlater (Dublin) and- W. H. Alexander
(Belfast) were respectively elected Vice-President and Director of the
International Association. In 1912 Charles E. White (Belfast) was one of
three representatives from the B.A.R.C on a joint Committee that met in
Chicago for the purpose of drawing up a constitution for the international
association. At the international convention in 1922, the International
Association of Rotary Clubs changed its title to Rotary International (the
suggestion of this new title coming from Charles E. White). At the same
time, the British Association voluntarily affiliated itself to the
international movement and changed its name from The British Association of
Rotary Clubs to Rotary International, Association Great Britain and Ireland;
this was subsequently changed again to Rotary International in Britain and
Ireland (R.I.B.I.). It was a condition of the affiliation by the British
Association to the International Association that the liberties and
practices already in force in the Clubs in these islands would be preserved,
and they were in fact safeguarded by the International Convention of 1927
and 1933.
'Cogs', the district magazine, first appeared
as a Dublin City publication on 17th November 1913. With the approval of the
District Council on 30th November 1928 Cogs became the official journal of
all the Clubs in the District. 'Cogs', together with our district directory,
or 'Roster' are the pride of the district. The detail contained in our
district directory remains unique in the Rotary world. The district's
presence on the Internet and increasing use of modern communications is a
natural extension of these publications.
History
[This note came from the
RI website]
Rotary spread like wildfire across the Atlantic to Ireland, Great Britain,
continental Europe, and the Middle East. Six years after Chicago lawyer Paul
Harris formed the first Rotary club in 1905, Rotary
admitted the Rotary Club of Dublin, Ireland, followed in 1912 by clubs in
Belfast and London and Manchester, England.
Harry Lauder was one among many Europeans who
embraced Rotary in those early days. As one of the world's most popular
entertainers through the first half of the century, Lauder joined the Rotary
Club of Glasgow in 1914. A year later he wrote, "Rotary is going to be the
greatest and grandest cooperative institution ever founded." Source:
www.rotary.org/
Paul Harris' visit sudden
and unexpected visit to Dublin!
Click here.
1914
report from The Rotarian
