This essay investigates the development of the boys' magazine, "Our Boys," and how this became a powerful auxiliary to the Christian Brothers' work in schools. It championed the values that the Christian Brothers had propagated since their foundation in 1802. Often characterised as Celtic and Romantic, it was neither, but aimed at promoting Catholic values to a global audience, in schools across the English-speaking world. Within the fledgling Irish State, however, it had a special role in fostering the Irish, Catholic values, which the founders of the state hoped would distinguish it from the old British regime. Yet, while "Our Boys" appeared triumphalist, in reality it was rooted in a chronic fear that those values would be rejected by the youth.