Orange Order

The Orange Order is a Protestant fraternal organisation largely based in the province of Ulster, Ireland and in western Scotland but which has a worldwide membership. The Orange Order was founded in Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland in 1795. Its members and supporters see it as a pious organisation, celebrating Protestant culture and identity. Its critics accuse it of sectarianism and anti-Catholicism.

History and origins

Roots

The Orange Order was founded in the 1790s, but its roots go back to conflicts arising out of the creation of English and Scottish Protestant communities in Ulster in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the Plantation of Ulster, lands were seized from the native Irish and Catholic population and "planted" with Presbyterian settlers from the Lowlands of Scotland and Anglicans from northern England. This included many of the infamous border Reiver clans. Small numbers of Gaelic-speaking Highland Scots settled the area as well. Later, in the 1690s, there were further waves of Lowland Scots and French Huguenot immigration into Ulster. (See also Plantations of Ireland).

Related Topics:
Ulster - 16th - 17th centuries - Plantation of Ulster - "planted" - Presbyterian - Lowlands - Anglican - England - Reiver - Gaelic - Highland - Huguenot - Plantations of Ireland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Plantation was preceded by the defeat and exile of the native Irish aristocracy in Ulster. After their defeat in the Nine Years War, they fled Ulster for Catholic Europe in an event that has become known as The Flight of the Earls) thus eliminating the native Gaelic aristocracy in Ulster.

Related Topics:
Nine Years War - Flight of the Earls

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The resulting political vacuum allowed for the speedy implementation of the Plantation of Ulster. However, the bulk of the native Irish Catholic population remained and their hostility to the new settlers eventually led to the Irish Rebellion of 1641. October 1641 saw a massacre of up to 12,000 Protestants by Catholics determined to win back their land. In 1649, Oliver Cromwell took revenge on the Catholic population. The bloodshed of the these wars created a lasting bitterness which still resonates today.

Related Topics:
Plantation of Ulster - Irish Rebellion of 1641 - 1641 - Oliver Cromwell - Took revenge on the Catholic population - Wars

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another, more celebrated, round of this conflict between settler Protestants and native Catholics was fought in the 1690s, in the Williamite war in Ireland, when Irish Catholics backed the Roman Catholic King James II and Protestants supported William of Orange, who had deposed James in the Glorious Revolution. The modern Orange Order derives its name from William III's colours and celebrates his military victories over the Jacobites, notably the siege of Derry, the battle of the Boyne and the battle of Aughrim. Ulster Protestants believed that these victories had saved them from further massacres at the hands of Catholics and had guaranteed their religious and civil liberties. (See also the Glorious Revolution for political context and battle of the Boyne for the history of Irish Protestant commemorations).

Related Topics:
Williamite war in Ireland - James II - William of Orange - Glorious Revolution - Jacobites - Siege of Derry - Battle of the Boyne - Battle of Aughrim

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the Orange Order, the Glorious Revolution remains central to its appeal. It stresses the importance of the 'Protestant succession' to the throne and of the triumph of Parliament and its Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement as the embodiment of that triumph. It celebrates the victory of William over James every year on 12 July.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Foundation

However, while these wars were commemorated by Irish Protestants since the 17th century, the Orange Order has its direct roots in inter-communal violence of the 1790s. Many secretive Catholic agrarian groups such as the Defenders, Whiteboys, Hearts of Steele and Hearts of Oak, Thrashers, Ribbonmen, and the Carders were set up in the 1700s to defend Catholic property and rights. Protestant groups were formed to oppose these, one of which was the Peep o'Day Boys which later became the Orange Order.

Related Topics:
Defenders - Whiteboys - Hearts of Steele - Hearts of Oak - Thrashers - Ribbonmen - Peep o'Day Boys

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Orange Order was founded in Loughgall in Ireland in 1795 after the so-called "Battle of the Diamond" (a pitched battle between rival guilds based along sectarian lines over trading rights). After a disturbance in Benburb on 24th June 1794, in which Protestant homes were attacked, the Freemasons' organisation was appealed to by one of its members, James Wilson, to organise themselves to defend the Protestant population. The Masons refused, whereupon an indignant Wilson left them and prophesied that he "would light a star...which would eclipse them forever". He had already organised the Orange Boys at the Dyan (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 22nd January 1793.It is said the three main founders were James Wilson, Daniel Winter and James Sloan. It was named to commemorate the victory of the Protestant William of Orange over his father-in-law the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 during the Glorious Revolution.

Related Topics:
Ireland - 1795 - Benburb - Freemasons - County Tyrone - William of Orange - James II - Battle of the Boyne - 1690 - Glorious Revolution

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However the Orange Order's establishment was more a reaction to increasing Catholic involvement in the economy of Ulster as the Penal Laws, which discriminated against Catholics and Presbyterians were phased out, in particular the linen trade and the purchase of land, and to the creation of separatist groups of the late eighteenth century such as the United Irishmen (which was dominated by Ulster-Scots Presbyterians).

Related Topics:
Penal Laws - Eighteenth century - United Irishmen - Ulster-Scots - Presbyterian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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. A lawless banditti have constituted themselves judges ..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1818, the Mayor of Liverpool prevented Orangemen from publicly burning effigies of the Pope and the local cardinal after a parade.

Related Topics:
1818 - Liverpool - Pope - Cardinal

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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, Fermanagh. The first Orange-related disturbances in Scotland were reported in 1830

Related Topics:
1823 - 1845 - British government - Ulster - 1829 - Clones - County Monaghan - Enniskillen - Fermanagh - 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."

Related Topics:
1834 - Presbyterians - 1835

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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

Related Topics:
1836 - British army - Scarva - County Down

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Battle of Garvagh

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 Londonderry 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."

Related Topics:
Loyalist - Londonderry - Garvagh

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Defence Of Crossgar

The Whiteboys, a mid-18th century secret agrarian society, were later known by different names such as Carders, Terry Alts, Rockites, Whitefeet and Thrashers. Many Orange songs of the period suggest that the Irish Constabulary were sympathetic to the Thrashers and turned a blind eye to numerous skirmishes in County Down. In July 1849 near Castlewellan, in Down there was a skirmish shortly before the "battle of Dolly's Brae".

Related Topics:
18th century - Irish Constabulary - Castlewellan

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Battle of Dolly's Brae

12 July 1849 saw the "Battle" of Dolly's Brae when 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, is forced to resign his position as a justice of the peace after it emerges that he incited the Orangemen before the incident at a gathering hosted on his estate nearby.

Related Topics:
12 July - 1849 - British government

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~