Ribbonism, whose adherents were usually called Ribbonmen, was a 19th century popular movement of Catholics in Ireland. It was active against landlords and their agents, and was ideologically and sometimes violently opposed to the Orange Order.
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The Ribbon Society was principally an agrarian secret society, whose members consisted of rural Irish Catholics.[1] The society was formed in response to the miserable conditions in which the vast majority of tenant farmers and rural workers lived in the early 19th century in Ireland. Its objective was to prevent landlords from changing or evicting their tenants. Ribbonmen also attacked tithe and process servers, and later evolved the policy of Tenants' Rights.[2] The existence of "ribandmen" was recorded as early as 1817.[3] The name is derived from a green ribbon worn as a badge in a button-hole by the members.[4]
Depending on the district, the society was variously known as the Fraternal Society, the Patriotic Association or the Sons of the Shamrock. The Ribbonmen's organisation was similar to that of the Whiteboys or the Defenders of earlier periods. They were organised in lodges, and during the 1820s were in contact with certain organisations of Radicals in England.[2]
The ideology of the Ribbonmen supported the Catholic Association and the political separation of Ireland from Great Britain, and the rights of the tenant as against those of the landlord.[5] The Ribbonmen were involved in violent (and sometimes deadly) riots with the Orange Order in the north of Ireland, and elsewhere used violence to resist paying tithes to the Protestant Church of Ireland.[5] As the agitation for Catholic Emancipation grew, the tension between Ribbonism and Orangeism increased.[4]
On 26 July 1813 the Battle of Garvagh in County Londonderry took place. Four hundred Catholic Ribbonmen attempted to destroy a tavern in Garvagh where the Orange Lodge met. They were armed with sticks and bludgeons, but Protestants were waiting inside armed with muskets and repelled them. Several of the Ribbonmen were killed and the rest fled.[6]
On 12 July 1830, Orange parades led to confrontations between Orangemen and Ribbonmen in Maghera and Castledawson in County Londonderry. Several Catholic homes were then burned by Protestants following these clashes. In November of the same year,ribbonmen attacked an Orange band, puncturing some of their drums. The Orangemen retaliated by burning the Catholic village of Maghery, County Armagh to the ground. 12 July 1849 saw the Battle of Dolly's Brae. Up to 1400 armed Orangemen marched from Rathfriland to Tollymore Park near Castlewellan, County Down. When 1000 armed Ribbonmen gathered, shots were fired, Catholic homes were burnt and about 80 Catholics killed.[6]
Ribbonists were most active between 1835 and 1855 and in the Tithe War.[4]
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.