Rover Soc History
The society was official started in 2010 by Sean Mooney. However, evidence suggested that a scout and guide society might have existed in the university as far back as the 1980’s. For the first two years the members peaked just over 100 members with a small number of events ran. Following a rejuvenation in 2014/2015 member reached over 600 students.
The society became a bit inactive after covid but was revitalised again in 2022 with almost 1500 members by the end of 2022/23 academic year.
The society goes through cycles of prosperity and hardship. There first era of prosperity was from circa 2013 to 2016, led by James, Fionn and Cathal . The society continued until the Covid 19 pandemic when it was reduced to zoom meetings. However on a Wednesday the 20th of October 2021 a zoom meeting was held which went on to become a pivotal moment in the societies history. Niall was elected Auditor and Aodhán secretary. Other people were also elected but historians are unsure whether they were real people as they were never seen again. This committee lit the spark that would start the golden age of rover soc. The golden age really kicked off with the election of the 22/23 committee and the unlocking of the rover store. The 22/23 year started off strong with campfires, camps (including camping in the quad) and hammocking. €11k was spent on upgrading the societies equipment with a full suite of quality tentage, trangias, pioneering poles, the works. The following year continued this incredible trajectory with more adventures culminating in hosting rover intervarsities and a trip to Switzerland. The intervarsities were the first to be hosted in many years and despite the horrendous weather it was a success. The final event of the year was a trip to Kandersteg in Switzerland where participants volunteered their time preparing the centre for the summer. It is probably the cheapest week holiday anyone has ever had in switzerland with everything including transport, accommodation, some programme and food coming to just €120.
However nothing lasts forever and the first sign of a dark age was the knocking of the rover store. Now homeless, organising events became much more difficult. The following year, the risk assessments became more and more strict, severly limiting what the society could do. Now the society is waiting for a hero to come and fight the evil buildings and estates people to give them back a home and let them light fires on campus again.