Orange Institution

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Orangemen in traditional dress preparing to march
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Orangemen in traditional dress preparing to march

The Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly in Northern Ireland and Scotland with lodges throughout the Commonwealth and in the United States. It was founded in Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland in 1795.

Contents

[edit] Controversy

Its members and supporters describe it as a pious organisation, celebrating Protestant culture and identity. Its critics accuse it of sectarianism and anti-Catholicism. The Orange Order is well-known for holding parades, called the Orange Walk, mainly in Ulster, (Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland), Scotland and Canada. The parades take place throughout the summer marching season, climaxing on the 12th of July. Some members choose to not wear green on Saint Patrick's Day, preferring to wear orange instead. However, in recent years, Saint Patrick's Day has become more of a cross-community event, with several loyalist band parades joining in the commemoration of Saint Patrick.

James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, is quoted as stating on April 24, 1934 at Stormont, "I have always said that I am an Orangeman first and a politician and a member of this Parliament afterwards — they still boast of Southern Ireland being a Catholic State. All I boast of is that we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State."

[edit] History

[edit] Whiteboys and Peep O'Day Boys

Although the roots of the Orange Order can be traced back to the conflicts that arose from the Plantation of Ulster, particularly the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, (the Order's name comes from William of Orange and its parades commemorate his victory in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and the Battle of Aughrim in 1691), the Orange Order has its direct roots in inter-communal violence of the 1790s. Secretive Catholic agrarian groups were active, including the Defenders.[1][2] Protestant groups were formed to oppose the Catholic groups, one of which was the exclusively Anglican Peep O'Day Boys, which critics of the Order claim were the parent organisation.[3]

[edit] The role of James Wilson

After Protestant homes were attacked in Benburb, County Tyrone, on 24 June 1794, Freemason James Wilson,[4] asked his fellow masons to help defend vulnerable Protestants. After being refused he left the Freemasons claiming that he "would light a star .... which would eclipse them forever. He had already organised the Orange Boys at the Dian (County Tyrone) in 1792, as is evidenced by the notice in the Belfast News Letter on 1st February 1793, which referred to a meeting of the 138 members of the Orange Boys held on 22ndJanuary 1793."[5]

Many of the Orange Order's terms and language are derived from Freemasonry (e.g. lodge, grand master,[6] and degrees.[7] The two movements have grown apart; today the highest bodies in Freemasonry[8] and the Orange Order [9] specifically deny any connection between the two institutions.

[edit] Battle of the Diamond

The Orange Order proper was founded in Loughgall in County Armagh in 1795 after the Battle of the Diamond between the Catholic Defenders and the Protestant Peep O'Day Boys over trading rights which left around 80 dead.

James Wilson was joined by Daniel Winter and James Sloan.[6]

[edit] Early years

Much of the Order's early activities involved opposition to the Society of the United Irishmen, a revolutionary organisation set up to abolish sectarian distinctions and to create an independent Irish republic. It was composed of Anglicans, Dissenters (i.e., non-Anglican church Protestants, mainly Presbyterian), and Roman Catholics. The United Irishmen were violently opposed by the Orange Order.

Shortly after the Order's establishment, the Governor of Armagh, Lord Gosford, gave his opinion of the new group to a meeting of magistrates: "It is no secret that a persecution is now raging in this country… the only crime is… profession of the Roman Catholic faith. Lawless banditti have constituted themselves judges…" However, against the background of the seditious activity of the United Irishmen, the government backed the Orange Order from 1796. Thomas Knox, British military commander in Ulster, wrote in August 1796, "We must to a certain degree uphold them, for with all their licentiousness, on them we must rely for the preservation of our lives and properties should critical times occur."[10]

The Order spread rapidly in mid-Ulster and many Orangemen found their way into the government militia and Yeomanry. For their part, the United Irishmen exacerbated Catholic fear of the Order by spreading fabricated rumours of an "Orange extermination oath" to massacre all Catholics. Nevertheless, the order did expel up to 7000 Catholics from their homes in this period and by 1797, Henry Joy McCracken, the United Irish leader, was receiving word of the "barbarities committed on the country people in Moneymore, County Londonderry by the Yeomen and Orangemen."[11]

Many Orangemen fought on the government side in the subsequent Irish Rebellion of 1798. Moreover, many were also involved in reprisal attacks after the rebellion, in which over 60 Catholic churches were burned. Such a reaction was fueled by some rebel atrocities against Protestants, such as the Scullabogue Barn massacre.

In the wake of the rebellion, once its usefulness had passed, the Orange Order was once again seen by the authorities primarily as a threat to public order.

[edit] The Battle of Garvagh

In the early 19th century, much of the Order's activities were bound up with violent conflict with the Ribbonmen, a catholic secret society.

A report from the time says:

"The 26th July, 1813 is memorable as the day on which a conflict occurred between Loyalists and Ribbonmen. The latter, who assembled to the number of 1500, attacked the house of a resident named Davidson, where the Orange Lodges were in the habit of meeting. The owner of the doomed premises, warned of their intentions, had a few trusty friends at hand to lend any necessary assistance. Three of the Ribbonmen were killed outright, while others, mortally wounded, died soon after. This did not end the trouble because a month later twelve men from the neighbourhood of Garvagh were charged before Judge Fletcher at Derry for murder. Three of the accused were acquitted and the others found guilty of manslaughter."

Of the acquittal a song says, "The Judge he then would us condemn Had it not been for the jurymen Our grateful thanks are due to them For they cleared the boys of Garvagh." The Ribbonmen were found guilty but were acquitted at a later assizes when it was stated "that both parties had become reconciled and were ready to give bail for their future good behaviour."

[edit] Years of suppression

The Orange Order, along with other organisations, was banned between 1823 and 1845 by the British government because of its involvement in promoting sectarian tension in Ulster. Although they were then illegal the parades continued. In 1829, seven people were killed during disturbances in Clones, County Monaghan, and eight in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. The first Orange-related disturbances in Scotland were reported in 1830.

In 1834, Presbyterians were allowed to join. In 1835, a Parliamentary Committee set up to investigate the activities of the Order heard from a local magistrate, William Hancock, that:

"For some time past the peaceable inhabitants of the parish of Drumcree have been insulted and outraged by large bodies of Orangemen parading the highways, playing party tunes, firing shots, and using the most opprobrious epithets they could invent... a body of Orangemen marched through the town and proceeded to Drumcree church, passing by the Catholic chapel though it was a considerable distance out of their way."

In 1836, the British army used artillery to quell trouble at the annual gathering at Scarva, County Down.

[edit] Battle of Dolly's Brae

Many Orange songs of the 19th century period suggest that the Royal Irish Constabulary were sympathetic to the Thrashers and turned a blind eye to numerous skirmishes in County Down. In July 1849 near Castlewellan, County Down there was a skirmish shortly before the Battle of Dolly's Brae.

On 12 July 1849, the Battle of Dolly's Brae took place. At least 30 Catholics were killed in clashes between Ribbonmen and Orangemen. The British government banned Orange Order marches again after this incident. The Grand Master of the Order, Lord Roden, was forced to resign his position as a justice of the peace after it emerged that he incited the Orangemen before the incident at a gathering hosted on his estate nearby.

[edit] Revival

By the later 19th century, the Order was in decline. However, its fortunes were revived by the spread of Protestant opposition to Irish nationalist mobilisation in the Irish Land League and then around the question of Home Rule. Some Protestants perceived the Land War (sometimes violent agitation for the rights of tenant farmers) to be anti-Protestant, as most of the Landowning class were Protestants. As a result, the Orange Order, in October 1880, sent 50 labourers from counties Cavan and Monaghan to work the lands of Charles Boycott (who was being boycotted by his own tenants). They also established the Orange Emergency Committee in 1881, to oppose the Land league and to help landlords. These actions gave the Order greater appeal among the Ulster Protestant landed gentry and business community.

The Order's revival was completed by the controversy over Home Rule (or self government for Ireland), which it virulently opposed on the grounds that Protestants would face discrimination in a Catholic dominated Ireland. Many of the Order's backers were also industrialists and valued the economic common market which the Act of Union guaranteed with Britain. In 1886, the Order was instrumental in the foundation of the Unionist Party, a coalition of former Liberal and Conservative Members of Parliament and an organisation named the Ulster Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union, in order to oppose the first Home Rule Bill.[12] Between them, the Orange Order and the Unionist Party became mass organisations in Ulster, gaining the support of much of the Protestant population there. In 1886, William Ewart Gladstone's Home Rule Bill was before Parliament. The Bill was defeated in June, and serious rioting broke out in Ulster, continuing on into the marching season in July. By September, fifty people were dead, and thousands had been driven from their homes.[13]

In 1894, the Order and the Unionists successfully opposed the Second Home Rule Bill, which was passed in the House of Commons but rejected by the House of Lords. British Prime Minister William Gladstone hinted at this time that special provision might need to be made for Ulster, a proposal that prefigured the subsequent partition of Ireland.[14]

In the first decade of the twentieth century, the Order suffered a split, when Tom Sloane left the organisation to set up the Independent Orange Order. Sloane had been suspended from the main Order after running against a Unionist candidate on a pro-labour platform in an election in 1902. The Independent Orange Order was initially more left wing than its parent organisation. By 1905, it had over 70 Lodges. However, its appeal was hurt by the suggestion of its first grand master, Lindsay Crawford, that unionists might accept Home Rule under certain circumstances. It later became associated with more traditional unionist politics, but remained critical of the close relationship between the Orange Order and the Unionist Party.

[edit] Role in the partition of Ireland

In 1912, the Third Home Rule Bill was passed in the British House of Commons (though it was held up by the House of Lords for two further years). The Orange Order, along with Irish Unionists and the British Conservative Party, were forthright in opposing the Bill. The Order organised the 1912 Ulster Covenant a pledge to oppose Home Rule that was signed by up to 500,000 people.

In addition, in 1911 some Orangemen in County Tyrone had begun to arm themselves and engage in military training with the intention of resisting Home Rule. To facilitate this, several Justices of the Peace revived an old law permitting the formation of militias "for the purpose of maintaining the constitution of the United Kingdom as now established."[15] This practice spread to other Orange lodges and in 1913, the Ulster Unionist Council decided to bring these groups under central control, creating the Ulster Volunteer Force, a militia dedicated to resisting Home Rule. There was a strong overlap between Orange Lodges and UVF units. A large shipment of rifles was imported from Germany to arm them in April 1914 in what became known as the Larne Gun Running. Civil war looked likely to break out between the Ulster Volunteers and the nationalist Irish Volunteers. However, the crisis was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 and the temporary suspension of the Home Rule Act placed on the statute books with Royal Assent. Many Orangemen served in the war with the 36th (Ulster) Division suffering heavy losses and commemorations of their sacrifice are still an important element of Orange ceremonies.

After the war, the south of Ireland became embroiled in the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), which pitted the Irish Republican Army against British state forces. The Orange Order appealed for Protestant unity in this period, condemning militant labour action such as strike for a 40 hour week in Belfast in 1919. In addition, some members of the Order were involved in paramilitary activities against nationalists. The leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Wilfrid Spender, wrote to James Craig in 1920, "Some of the Orange Lodges have decided that the UVF is too slow and have decided to raise a special force of their own." [16] Many Orangemen were subsequently recruited into the Ulster Special Constabulary, an Auxiliary, mostly Protestant police force. Many of them were allegedly involved in attacks on Catholics, in which over 350 people were killed in the period 1920-1922.

The Fourth Home Rule Act was passed as the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the north eastern part of Ulster was partitioned from Southern Ireland as Northern Ireland. This self governing entity within the United Kingdom was confirmed under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. Southern Ireland became first the Irish Free State then in 1949 the Republic of Ireland.

[edit] In Northern Ireland

The Orange Order had a central place in the new state of Northern Ireland. It acted as a basis for the unity of Protestants of all classes and as a mass social and political grouping. At its peak in 1965, the Order's membership was around 70,000, which meant that roughly 1 in 5 adult Protestant males were members.[17][18][19]

It had very close ties to the ruling Unionist Party and the senior leadership of both frequently overlapped. James Craig said in 1934, "I am an Orangeman first and a politician and a member of parliament second."

Membership of the Order was also useful in obtaining jobs and public housing.

The Order's principle commemoration on the 12th of July was made a public holiday and in effect, Northern Ireland's national day.

In recent decades, the Order's influence has shrunk somewhat as it has lost a third of its membership since 1965, notably in Belfast and Derry. The Order's political influence suffered greatly when the Unionist-dominated Stormont parliament was prorogued in 1972.[17]

Traditionally, the Orange Order was affiliated with the institutions of establishment Unionism: the Ulster Unionist Party, Royal Ulster Constabulary, and Church of Ireland. It had a fractious relationship with the Democratic Unionist Party, Protestant paramilitaries, Independent Orange Order, and the Free Presbyterian Church. The Order urged its members not to join these organisations, and it is only recently that some of these intra-Unionist breaches have been healed. [17]

[edit] The Twelfth

Main article: The Twelfth

The highlights of the Orange year are the marches leading up to the celebrations on the Twelfth of July. The Twelfth however remains a deeply divisive issue, not least because of allegations of triumphalism and anti-Catholicism against the Orange Order in the conduct of its Walks and criticism of its alleged behaviour towards Roman Catholics.

[edit] Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland is the governing body of the Orange Order in Ireland. It has 373 members, 250 of which are appointed by County Lodges. Its Central Committee is made up of three members from each of the six counties of Northern Ireland (Londonderry, Antrim, Down, Tyrone, Armagh, and Fermanagh), two each from the remaining Ulster counties (Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan), one from Leitrim, and 19 others.

[edit] Requirements for entry

Members are required to be Protestant with a belief in the Trinity, which excludes Unitarians and certain other Christian denominations and all non-Christians.[20] Most jurisdictions require both the spouse and parents of potential applicants to be Protestant, although the Grand Lodge can be appealed to make exceptions for converts. Members of the Order face the threat of expulsion for attending any Catholic religious ceremonies.

The Laws and Constitutions of the Loyal Orange Institution of Scotland of 1986 state, "No ex-Roman Catholic will be admitted into the Institution unless he is a Communicant in a Protestant Church for a reasonable period." Likewise, the "Constitution, Laws and Ordinances of the Loyal Orange Institution of Ireland" (1967) state, "No person who at any time has been a Roman Catholic… shall be admitted into the Institution, except after permission given by a vote of seventy five per cent of the members present founded on testimonials of good character…" In the 19th century, Rev. Dr. Mortimer O'Sullivan, a converted Roman Catholic was a Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order in Ireland.

In the 1950s, Scotland also had a converted Roman Catholic as a Grand Chaplain — Rev. William McDermott.

[edit] Religion and culture

Orange Order poster depicting historical and religious symbolism
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Orange Order poster depicting historical and religious symbolism

[edit] Protestantism

The basis of the modern Orange Order is the promotion and propagation of "biblical Protestantism" and the principles of the Reformation. As such the Order only accepts those who confess a belief in a Protestant religion.

The Order considers the Fourth Commandment to forbid Christians to work on Sundays. In March 2002 it threatened "to take every action necessary, regardless of the consequences" to prevent the Ballymena Show being held on a Sunday. The County Antrim Agricultural Association immediately complied with the Order's wishes.

Some evangelical groups claim that the Orange Order is still influenced by Freemasonry.[21] Many Masonic usages survive such as the organisation of the Order into lodges. The Order has a system of degrees through which new members advance. These degrees are interactive plays with references to the Bible. There is particular concern over the ritualism of higher degrees such as the Royal Arch Purple and the Royal Black Institutions.[22]

[edit] Parades and Orange Halls

Parades form a large part of Orange culture. Most Orange lodges hold an annual parade from their Orange Hall to a local church. The sect of the church is quite often rotated, depending on local demographics.

Monthly meetings are held in Orange Halls. Orange Halls on both sides of the Irish border often function as community halls for Protestants and sometimes those of other faiths, though this was more common in the past. The halls quite often host community groups such as credit unions, local marching bands, Ulster Scots and other cultural groups as well as religious missions and political parties such as the Ulster Unionist Party.

[edit] Recent controversy

In April 2005 the now defunct Daily Ireland newspaper revealed in an article by journalist Ciaran Barnes that Orange Order chaplain Rev Stephen Dickinson had mocked the ailing Pope John Paul II at a gospel meeting in Lisburn. Rev Dickinson was widely criticised for making impressions of the pontiff. Members of the audience included Lagan Valley DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson.

In June 2005, the Order's Grand Master Robert Saulters was cautioned by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) over his involvement in an apparently illegal parade. However, the Parades Commission were forced to back down on other parades because of the threat of loyalist violence (notably the annual 1st July East Belfast "mini-twelfth" which was declared illegal, on the basis that the 11-1 forms, Notice of Intention to Organise a Public Procession, were filled out incorrectly). The lodges had been filing 11-1 forms collectively to avoid legal culpability for failing to follow the Commission's guidelines, instead of naming an individual prepared to take responsibility, which the parades commission deemed to be illegal. The PSNI and the British government later said there was no illegality. In his Twelfth of July speech in 2005, Saulters compared the PSNI to the Gestapo in their cautioning of him.

On 12 September 2005, PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde blamed the Orange Order for inciting serious rioting after an Orange parade in Belfast was banned. Television coverage of the rioting showed people wearing Orange regalia, throwing missiles at the police. Orde's accusation was disputed by senior Orangeman who stated that the police were heavy handed, and that some responsibility lay with the Parades Commission.[23]

In 2006 Roy Bather, the Grand Master of the Orange Order in England, attracted controversy when he refused to expel two Orangemen who had been convicted of membership of the illegal paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force. A similar case had occurred in 2000, when two Orangemen who had been convicted of membership of the Orange Volunteers were not expelled from the Order.[24]

[edit] Political links

The Order first became overtly political during Charles Stewart Parnell's campaign for Home Rule in the 1880s. Since 1905 the Orange Order was entitled to a voting bloc on the Ulster Unionist Council, the decision-making body of the Ulster Unionist Party. Although the UUP had long mulled over breaking the link, it was, in the end, the Orange Order that broke away in March 2005. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) attracted the most votes in an election for the first time in the 2003. Ian Paisley, who is not a member of the Orange Order, maintained a bitter campaign of conflict with the Order since 1951, when the Order banned members of Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church from acting as Orange chaplains and openly endorsed the Official Unionists (UUP) against independent Unionist parties like Paisley's.[25][26] Recently, however, Orangemen have begun voting for Paisley in large numbers due to their opposition to the Good Friday Agreement.[27] Relations between the DUP and Order have healed greatly since 2001, and there are now a number of high profile Orangemen who are DUP MPs and strategists.[28]

[edit] Related organisations

There are three related organisations, the Independent Orange Institution (which disapproved of the link with the Official Unionist Party), the Apprentice Boys of Derry (named after Protestant guild apprentices who closed the city gates on a Jacobite army seeking to enter the walled city of Derry in 1688 and helped withstand the siege of Derry), whose roots lie in urban working-class Protestant communities, and the Royal Black Preceptory (RBP). There is some dispute as to the RBP's origins, some suggesting that they are descended from the remnants of the Knights of the Order of St John.

Recently, the Orange Institution has joined with the Royal Black Preceptory and the Independent Orange Institution in talks with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and the Roman Catholic Church in order to explain the background to Orange parades and demonstrate the Institution's willingness to have dialogue with Roman Catholics. This has been seen by some people as a development of the relationship between the Orange Institution and the Independent Orange Institution which has resulted in the holding of joint church services and which some people believe will ultimately result in a healing of the split which led to the Independent Orange Institution breaking away from the mainstream Order.

[edit] Orange charities and societies

Main article: Orange Charities and Societies

The Orange Order runs a number of charitable ventures including:

  • The Grand Orange Lodge of British America Benefit Fund
  • Lord Enniskillen Memorial Orange Orphan Society
  • Orange Foundation

[edit] Throughout the world

The Orange Institution spread throughout the English-speaking world and further abroad. It is headed by the Imperial Grand Orange Council. It has the power to arbitrate in disputes between Grand Lodges, and in internal disputes when invited. The Council represents the autonomous Grand Lodges of Ireland, Scotland, England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Ghana, Togo, and Wales

Famous Orangemen have included Dr Thomas Barnardo, who joined the Order in Dublin, Sir. John A. MacDonald, who was Prime Minister of Canada, William Massey, who was Prime Minister of New Zealand, Harry Ferguson, inventor of the Ferguson Tractor, and Earl Alexander, the Second World War general.

[edit] Republic of Ireland

In 2005, controversy was generated when the organisers of Cork's St Patrick's Day parade (in the Republic of Ireland) invited representatives of the Orange Order to march in the celebrations, part of the year-long celebration of Cork's position of European Capital of Culture. The Orange Order accepted the invitation and was to parade with their wives and children alongside Chinese, Filipino and African community groups in an event designed to recognise and celebrate cultural diversity. A threatening phone call was made to a person connected to the parade’s organising committee. An anonymous male caller said, "Be careful. We know what you’re planning." Subsequently, after consultation with the Garda Síochána (the Irish police force), the Orange Order grand secretary Drew Nelson said both his organisation and the parade organisers were disappointed that the Order would not be attending the festivities.

He added that he welcomed the invitation and hoped the Order would be able to participate in the event next year. A Church of Ireland clergyman, Reverend David Armstrong, spoke out against the invitation. Now based in Carrigaline, near Cork, Reverend Armstrong and his family were forced to leave their home in Limavady, County Londonderry, by loyalist paramilitaries after he spoke out against the bombing of the local Catholic church. He stated that local Orangemen told him at the time that "the bombing was God's work." It should be stressed that such views do not represent the Orange Institution but rather were opinions held by individuals at a particular point in time.

[edit] England

"Most English lodges are based in the Liverpool area, including Bootle. An estimated 4,000 Orangemen, women and children parade in Liverpool and Southport every 12 July, watched by thousands more."[29] Organisations commonly associated with Northern Ireland, such as the Orange Order, Royal Black Institution, and Apprentice Boys of Derry are all in existence and contribute to the diverse cultural patchwork of Liverpool.

[edit] History

The Orange Order has had a presence in Liverpool since at least 1819 when the first parade was held to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, on July 12. In its early years in the city the Twelfth was known as Carpenters Day due to the abundance of shipwrights who, having emigrated from Belfast, took part. The organisation was not just an association for migrants from Ireland however; their politics ensured that the majority of Orangemen were English-born. Indeed, the Institution in England was started by soldiers returning to the Manchester area from Ireland. The organisation was its strongest in the Toxteth and Everton areas. Many prominent Liverpudlians were members, including, reputedly, the founders of Liverpool Football Club.

In the nineteenth century the movement became very closely linked to the dominant Conservative and Unionist Party although in 1909 the Liverpool Protestant Party was founded by George Wise. The party returned several councilors but became defunct in 1974 after their power base was destroyed. Today, Orange Order members in Liverpool, almost unanimously, vote for the Conservative Party.

At one stage the Order was reputed to have over 40,000 members in Liverpool but the post-war years have seen a steady decline in numbers. The Institution split in 1989 and some members left to attach themselves to the Independent Orange Order after a dispute about paramilitary flags. Today, the combined memberships stand at around 4,000.

[edit] Parades

The Orange Order in Liverpool holds their annual Twelfth parade in Southport, a seaside town north of Liverpool. The Institution also holds a parade there on Whit Monday whilst the Apprentice Boys hold their parade in June, also in Southport. The Black Institution holds their Southport parade on the first Saturday in August.

The Orange Order also parade in Liverpool on the Sunday prior to the Twelfth and on the Sunday after. These parades go to and from church. Other parades are held to commemorate significant events. For example, in July, the Apprentice Boys parade to and from church in commemoration of the Battle of the Somme.

A larger than usual Twelfth parade is being planned for 2008 to mark Liverpool's Capital of Culture year.

[edit] Scotland

Orange parade in Glasgow (1 June 2003)
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Orange parade in Glasgow (1 June 2003)
Main article: Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland

The Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland is the largest Orange Lodge outside Northern Ireland, attracting controversy over alleged links with loyalist groups. Like its cousin in Northern Ireland, the organisation's Grand Lodge has tried to rein in troublemakers within its ranks who have support in some local lodges in order to improve its public image.

Membership is almost entirely working-class, changing little in social composition since the late nineteenth century. Most lodges are concentrated in west central Scotland around Glasgow, Lanark, and parts of Renfrew and Ayr. However, the Order is also very strong in West Lothian, and, to a lesser extent East Lothian, but not in Edinburgh. In 1881, fully three quarters of Orange lodge masters were born in Ireland and, when compared to Canada, Scottish Orangeism has been both smaller (no more than two percent of adult male Protestants in west central Scotland have ever been members) and more of an Ulster ethnic association which has been less attractive to the native Protestant population.[30][31] The strongest predictor of Orange strength in a Scottish county for the period 1860-2001 is the proportion of Irish-Protestant descent in the county.[32]

Scottish Orangeism's political influence crested between the wars, but was effectively nil thereafter as the Tory party at all levels began to move away from Protestant politics toward a more neo-liberal economic agenda.[33]

[edit] Wales

Currently only one orange lodge is open in Wales - Cymru Prince of orange LOL1922. It is growing in numbers currently around ten members and is seeking to expand further.[34]

[edit] United States

In 1871, in New York City, Mayor Hall and Superintendent Kelso, head of the New York Police Department, issued a decree on 10th July banning the 12 July demonstration. Nine people had been killed and more than a hundred injured (including children) during the parade the year before, when a riot broke out after the marchers had angered Irish Catholics with sectarian songs and slogans. The ban appalled many nativists, who saw it as bowing down to the wishes of the Irish Catholic immigrant community. The New York Times had a July 11 headline, Terrorism Rampant. City Authorities Overawed by the Roman Catholics. The ban was revoked by State Governor Hoffman, after pressure from the city's elite. He promised the Orangemen protection by the state and Federal authorities if the city of New York could not provide it.

Over 1000 state militiamen (the mainly Catholic 69th Regiment had been confined to barracks) formed a protective barrier around less than 100 Orangemen. Thousands protested the march on Eighth Avenue, throwing bottles and rotten food at the marchers, and the day soon descended into mayhem when shooting broke out. The death toll of the day was 50 protesters and six policemen including the injury of 300 protesters and 60 police and army personnel. Only two Orangemen were injured. Almost 400 Irish Roman Catholics were arrested for various offences. There was no trouble in the 1872 demonstration in New York and no demonstration in 1873. At the second sessions of the State Grand Lodge of New York in June 1874 there were discussions on further Twelfth marches in New York. The report concluded:

"The prevailing opinion is that parading through the streets on the Twelfth of July is entirely unnecessary, and as the authorities have decided in favour of the society have the same rights extended to them as other societies -- the right to parade it is now deemed not at all necessary... that instead each lodge should meet at their headquarters and celebrate the anniversary... by a social reunion".

The Twelfth, 1874, being a Sunday, the brethren attended services at Holy Trinity Church where the Rev. S. H. Tynge was the preacher. He said of the Orangemen, "They were American Protestants -- no longer Irish Protestants. They did well to remember the deeds of the brave men of Enniskillen, and sternness of Prince William, but he would beseech them to be done with the enmities, to cast aside the prejudices born in these hours of trial." The next Orange parade was in 1890 when there was a march with a picnic in Jones Wood at which 4,000 were present. The last New York parade was in 1900 when the Imperial Grand Orange Council of the World had its sessions in the city.

[edit] New Zealand

Bro. William Ferguson Massey, a native of Limavady who went on to be Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1912-1925, was a member of L.O.L. No.10 Auckland, New Zealand.

[edit] Continental Europe

In July 2005, 12 people were fined €6,000 each by local government officials after organising an illegal Orange march in Benidorm, Spain, a popular holiday resort.[35]

[edit] Canada

Main article: Orange Order in Canada

The Orange Order played an important role in the history of Canada, where it was established in 1830. Most early members were from Ireland, but later many English, Scots, and other Protestant Europeans joined the Order.

[edit] Ghana

The Orange Order in Ghana appears to have been founded by Scots-Irish missionaries some time during the 19th century. Its rituals mirror those of the Orange Order in Ulster though it does not place restrictions on membership to those who have certain Roman Catholic family members. The Orange Order in Ghana is currently being subjected to attack by charismatic churches.[36]

[edit] Military contributions

Orangemen fought with General Isaac Brock at the Battle of Queenston Heights in the War of 1812.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ogle Robert Gowan commanded the Queen's Royal Borderers. He was wounded at the Battle of the Windmill, near Prescott, Ontario, in 1838 while Canadians were defending themselves from an attack from the United States.

Sir James Craig, later the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, served in the Second Boer War.

Orangemen fought in the Crimean War, Indian Mutiny, and other conflicts.

On one occasion when men of the Royal Irish Fusiliers were granted an audience with the Pope, several Orangemen in the regiment wore their sashes under their army uniforms, rather than display them overtly and risk causing offence.

Orangemen fought in both World Wars. The most famous battle in the folklore of the Order is the Battle of the Somme which began on 1 July 1916. Many Orangemen had joined the 36th (Ulster) Division which had been formed from various Ulster regiments and had also amalgamated Lord Edward Carson's Ulster Volunteer Force (who were formed to oppose Home Rule for Ireland) into its ranks. But for the outbreak of World War I, Ireland had been on the brink of civil war, as Orangemen had helped to smuggle thousands of rifles from Imperial Germany (see Larne Gun Running). Several hundred Glasgow Orangemen crossed to Belfast in September 1914, to join the 36th (Ulster) Division. Roughly 5000 members of the Division died on the first day of the battle.

[edit] The Ulster Tower

The tower
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The tower
Main article: Ulster Tower Thiepval

The Ulster Tower is a memorial to the men of the 36th (Ulster) Division who died during the Battle of the Somme, nine of whom were awarded the Victoria Cross.

[edit] Flag

Orange Order flag
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Orange Order flag

The Orange Order have a standard which consists of an Orange background with a St George's Cross in the top left corner and a purple star in the bottom right.

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Early Policing in Ireland. Police Service of Northern Ireland.
  2. ^ Smyth, Jim (1998). The Men of No Property: Irish Radicals and Popular Politics in the Late Eighteenth Century (Studies in Modern History). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0312213395. (Other groups were the Whiteboys (also known as the Hearts of Steele and Hearts of Oak, Terry Alts, Rockites, Whitefeet, Thrashers and Ribbonmen) and the Carders.)
  3. ^ Garvaghy Road: A History. Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition. ("Portadown has a conspicuous place in the history of Protestant militancy. The Orange Order was founded in the town of Portadown in 1795, an offshoot of a Protestant terrorist group known as the Peep O'Day Boys, named for their practice of attacking Catholics at dawn.")
  4. ^ The Orange Order. Inside the Hidden World of Secret Societies. ("James Wilson was probably the most influential of the founding fathers of Orangeism and was an ardent Freemason. Respected Orange historian R.M. Sibbett records, 'Wilson was a member of the Society of Freemasons, which fully qualified him for establishing a new Order of a secret character.'")
  5. ^ The Orange Order & Freemasonry. Ulster-Scots and Irish Unionist Resource.
  6. ^ a b Smyth, Jim (1995). The Men of No Popery: The Origins of the Orange Order. 1798 Ireland.
  7. ^ Orange Order. Phoenixmasonry Masonic Museum.
  8. ^ Freemasonry: Your Questions Answered. The United Grand Lodge of England.
  9. ^ Meredith, Ian; B. Kennaway. The Orange Order: An Evangelical Perspective. Ulster-Scots & Irish Unionist Resource.
  10. ^ Bartlett, Thomas, Kevin Dawson, Daire Keogh (1998). The 1798 Rebellion: An Illustrated History. Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 44. ISBN 1570982554.
  11. ^ Bartlett, Thomas, Kevin Dawson, Daire Keogh (1998). The 1798 Rebellion: An Illustrated History. Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 71. ISBN 1570982554.
  12. ^ Collins, M.E., Geraldine F. Grogan (1993). Ireland, 1868 1966 History in the Making. Edco, The Educational Company of Ireland. ISBN 0861673050.
  13. ^ Home Rule—The Elections of 1885 & 1886. Cork Multitext Project.
  14. ^ 1850-1909: Parnell, Gladstone and the battle for Home Rule. BBC News (March 18, 1999).
  15. ^ Collins, M.E., Geraldine F. Grogan (1993). Ireland, 1868 1966 History in the Making. Edco, The Educational Company of Ireland, 202. ISBN 0861673050.
  16. ^ Hopkinson, Michael (2004). Irish War of Independence. McGill-Queens University Press, 157. ISBN 0773528407.
  17. ^ a b c Kaufmann, Eric (2007). The Orange Order: A Contemporary Northern Irish History. Oxford University Press.
  18. ^ The Orange Order: A Contemporary Northern Irish History - Maps & Charts. Oxford University Press.
  19. ^ Kaufmann, E. (2006). "The Orange Order in Ontario, Newfoundland, Scotland and Northern Ireland: A Macro-Social Analysis" (PDF). The Orange Order in Canada; Dublin: Four Courts.
  20. ^ Qualifications of an Orangeman. City of Londonderry Grand Orange Lodge.
  21. ^ Inside the Hidden World of Secret Societies. Evangelical Truth. (An example)
  22. ^ The Orange Order. Inside the Hidden World of Secret Societies. ("On top of these previous concerns, there has been a growing evangelical opposition to the highly degrading ritualistic practices of the Royal Arch Purple and the Royal Black Institutions within the Orange over this past number of years.")
  23. ^ Leaders must 'back forces of law'. BBC News (September 12, 2005).
  24. ^ McDonald, Henry (July 9, 2006). MP calls for ban on jailed Liverpool Orangemen. The Observer.
  25. ^ Kaufmann, Eric (November 2005). The New Unionism. Prospect.
  26. ^ Kaufmann, Eric, Henry Patterson (2007). The Decline of the Loyal Family: Unionism and Orangeism in Northern Ireland. Manchester University Press.
  27. ^ Tonge, Jonathan; Jocelyn Evans (September 2004). Eating the Oranges? The Democratic Unionist Party and the Orange Order Vote in Northern Ireland. EPOP 2004 Conference, University of Oxford.
  28. ^ Kennaway, Brian (2006). The Orange Order: A Tradition Betrayed. Methuen. ISBN 0413775356.
  29. ^ The Orange Order throughout the world. Loyal Orange Lodge No'5.
  30. ^ (2006). "The Orange Order in Ontario, Newfoundland, Scotland and Northern Ireland: A Macro-Social Analysis" (PDF). The Orange Order in Canada (Dublin: Four Courts.
  31. ^ Maps. Eric Kaufmann's Homepage.
  32. ^ Kaufmann, Eric (2006). The Dynamics of Orangeism in Scotland: The Social Sources of Political Influence in a Large Fraternal Organization. Eric Kaufmann's Homepage.
  33. ^ Walker, Graham (1992). "The Orange Order in Scotland Between the Wars". International Review of Social History 37 (2): 177-206.
  34. ^ Members. Cymru LOL 1922 Prince of Orange.
  35. ^ Comment: Sue Denham: Barron evidence is so 'confusing' that McDaid is convinced by it. Times Online (July 24, 2005).
  36. ^ West Africa. OrangeNet.

[edit] Further reading

  • Gallagher, Tom (1987). Glasgow, the Uneasy Peace: Religious Tensions in Modern Scotland, 1819-1914. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719023963.
  • McFarland, Elaine (1990). Protestants First: Orangeism in Nineteenth Century Scotland. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN: 074860202X.
  • Neal, Frank (1991). Sectarian Violence: The Liverpool Experience, 1819-1914 : An Aspect of Anglo-Irish History. Manchester University Press. (Considered the principal study of English Orange traditions)
  • Sibbert, R.M. (1939). Orangeism in Ireland and throughout the Empire. London. (Strongly favorable)
  • Senior, H. (1966). Orangeism in Ireland and Britain, 1795-1836. London.
  • Gray, Tony (1972). The Orange Order. The Bodley Head. London. ISBN: 0370013409.

[edit] Further reading: Canada and United States

  • Akenson, Don (1986). The Orangeman: The Life & Ties of Ogle Gowan. Lorimer. ISBN 088862963X.
  • Cadigan, Sean T. (1991). "Paternalism and Politics: Sir Francis Bond Head, the Orange Order, and the Election of 1836". Canadian Historical Review 72 (3): 319-347.
  • Currie, Philip (1995). "Toronto Orangeism and the Irish Question, 1911-1916". Ontario History 87 (4): 397-409.
  • Gordon, Michael (1993). The Orange riots: Irish political violence in New York City, 1870 and 1871. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801427541.
  • Houston, Cecil J., Smyth, William J. (1980). The sash Canada wore: A historical geography of the Orange Order in Canada. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802054935.
  • Pennefather, R. S. (1984). The orange and the black: Documents in the history of the Orange Order, Ontario, and the West, 1890-1940. Orange and Black Publications. ISBN: 0969169108.
  • See, Scott W. (1983). "The Orange Order and Social Violence in Mid-nineteenth Century Saint John". Acadiensis 13 (1): 68-92.
  • See, Scott W. (1991). "Mickeys and Demons' vs. 'Bigots and Boobies': The Woodstock Riot of 1847". Acadiensis 21 (1): 110-131.
  • See, Scott W. (1993). Riots in New Brunswick: Orange Nativism and Social Violence in the 1840s. ISBN: 0802077706.
  • Senior, Hereward (1972). Orangeism: The Canadian Phase. Toronto, New York, McGraw-Hill Ryerson. ISBN: 007092998X.
  • Way, Peter (1995). "The Canadian Tory Rebellion of 1849 and the Demise of Street Politics in Toronto" (PDF). British Journal of Canadian Studies 10 (1): 10-30.
  • Winder, Gordon M. "Trouble in the North End: The Geography of Social Violence in Saint John, 1840-1860". Errington and Comacchio 1: 483-500.

[edit] External links

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