The Twelfth

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Orangemen in traditional dress preparing to march.

The Twelfth is an annual Protestant celebration on 12 July, originating in Ireland. It is alternatively known also as Orangemen's Day or as the Boyne celebrations, commemorating the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and the Glorious Revolution. It is occasionally known as the Glorious Twelfth, but that term is more commonly used to refer to 12 August. Members of the Orange Institution stage parades throughout Northern Ireland.

1 History
2 Events on the Twelfth
3 Controversy
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Irish Protestants commemorated several events from the 17th century onwards, celebrating the survival and triumph of their community in the face of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the Williamite war in Ireland (1689-91). The first such commemoration was the anniversary of the 1641 rebellion on October 23, when it was believed that a plot to massacre all Protestants in Ireland had been narrowly averted. The second major day was the birthday of William of Orange, Protestant victor of the Williamite war in the 1690s on 4 November. Both of these anniversaries faded in popularity by the end of the 18th century.

The Twelfth itself originated as a celebration of the Battle of Aughrim, which took place on 12 July 1691 in the Julian calendar. Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite war, in which the predominantly Irish Catholic Jacobite army was destroyed. The Twelfth in the early 18th century was a popular commemoration of this battle, featuring bonfires and parades. The Battle of the Boyne (fought on July 1, 1690) was commemorated with smaller parades on 1 July. However, two events were combined in the late 18th century to switch the Twelfth comemorations to the Boyne.

The first reason for this was the British switch to the Gregorian calender in 1752, which put the Boyne rather than Aughrim on 12 July. The second reason was the foundation of the Orange Order in 1795. The Order preferred the Boyne, due to William of Orange's presence there. It has also been suggested that in the 1790s (a time of Catholic resurgence) the Boyne, where the Jacobites were routed, was more appealing to the Order than Aughrim, where they had fought hard and died in great numbers ^[1].

The Twelfth parades of the early 19th century often led to riots and public disorder, so much so that the Orange Order and the Twelfth were suppressed in the 1830s and 40s.

[edit] Events on the Twelfth

The traditional bowler hat worn by Protestant men on the Twelfth recalls the then-stylish headgear worn by their ancestors at the time of the creation of the Northern Irish state in 1921.

It is commonly celebrated in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Canada, and there are also marches in other places such as USA and Australia. Some Orange Marches are held in the Republic of Ireland, the largest being held at the beach resort of Rossnowlagh, County Donegal on the weekend before the Twelfth^[2].

12 July is an annual public holiday in Northern Ireland.

[edit] Controversy

Parades on the Twelfth are often controversial due to the sectarian nature of the Orange Order, and the Twelfth is a tense occasion in many parts of Northern Ireland, with riot police on duty at flashpoint parades to prevent clashes between some members of the nationalist community (who oppose the Orange Walks) and some of the unionist community, for whom the parades are an expression of heritage.^[3] There is an annual exodus from Northern Ireland around the Twelfth, as many residents of Northern Ireland take holidays abroad to avoid the violence and intimidation associated with the holiday.^[4]^[5]

Every Twelfth between 1970 and 2005, British Army soldiers were deployed in Belfast to help police the parades. In 2006, for the first time in more than three decades, soldiers were not deployed on the streets of Belfast during the Twelfth, in what was seen as a benefit of the reduced tensions under the peace process.^[6] Due to improved policing and the Northern Ireland peace process, recent parades have been more peaceful. Any complaints about parades may be referred to the Parades Commission, who can set restrictions or even ban a parade if it is seen to be too contentious.