Orange Order

Orange parade in Glasgow (1 June 2003)

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 Canada and the United States. It was founded in Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland in 1795; its name is a tribute to Dutch-born English king William III, of the House of Orange-Nassau (William defeated the Catholic army of James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690).

The Twelfth

Main article: The Twelfth

The highlights of the Orange year are the parades 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.

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 whom 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) as well as the two other County Lodges in Northern Ireland, the City of Belfast Grand Lodge and the City of Londonderry Grand Lodge, two each from the remaining Ulster counties (Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan), one from Leitrim, and 19 others.

Requirements for entry

Members are required to be Protestant with a belief in the Trinity. This excludes Catholics, Unitarians and certain other Christian denominations and all non-Christians. 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.

Religion and culture

Orange Order poster depicting historical and religious symbolism

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. 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.

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 denomination 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

Orange Halls have often been the target of Republican/Nationalist vandalism, paint bombings, sectarian graffiti and arson attacks with many of the halls suffering severe damage, if not complete destruction. The Order claims that there is considerable evidence of an organised campaign of sectarian vandalism by republicans. Interview in Irish Times

Controversy

Its spokespeople and supporters describe the Orange Order as a pious organisation, celebrating Protestant culture and identity, but it is accused 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, England and Canada. The parades take place throughout the heated marching season, climaxing on the 12th of July. As a mark of defiance, 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. There are at least two Orange Lodges in Northern Ireland which represent the heritage and religious ethos of St 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."

Political links and related organizations

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. Recently, however, Orangemen have begun voting for Paisley in large numbers due to their opposition to the Good Friday Agreement. 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.

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 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.

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

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.

Republic of Ireland

The main annual Orange parade in the Republic of Ireland is at Rossnowlagh, County Donegal, an event which has been free from trouble and controversy. [1] The Order has Lodges in Leitrim, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Dublin, Wicklow and West Cork. At one stage there were more than 300 Orange Lodges in Dublin alone. The last July 12th parade in Dublin took place in 1937.

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 parade 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 service), 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."

The 2006 Dublin riots were a series of riots which occurred in Dublin on 25 February 2006, precipitated by a controversial Unionist demonstration which was due to parade down O'Connell Street in the city.

England

"Most English lodges are based in the Liverpool area, including Toxteth. An estimated 4,000 Orangemen, women and children parade in Liverpool and Southport every 12 July, watched by tens of thousands more.

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 of Liverpool. 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.

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 European Capital of Culture year by the Grand Lodge of England which will be held on Saturday 3rd May 2008.

Throughout England there has been a resurgence of interest and membership in the Orange Order with many new members being made aware of the Orders' existence through media such as individual Lodge websites. An awakening of cultural, heritage and religious convictions have seen many people seek admission .

Scotland

Main article: Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland

The Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland is the largest Orange Lodge outside Northern Ireland. 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. While almost all parades pass off peacefully among members, opposition groups and by standers following parades can often clash.

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. Lodges are also based in the North East of Scotland, the most northerly lodges are located in Aberdeen, Alford, Peterhead and Inverness. The orders presence in the North of Scotland can be located to the fishing industry and imposition of workers from Belfast and Glasgow to the north and north east and migration of fishermen in the opposite direction.

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. 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.

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.

Scottish Orangeism has come out against Scottish independence, and on 24 March 2007, a parade of 10,000 Orangemen went through Edinburgh's Royal Mile to protest against it. [2]

Wales/Cymru

Cymru LOL 1922 is at this time the only Orange lodge sitting within the Welsh border.

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 paraders 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.

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.

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.

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.

Military contributions

Orangemen fought with General Isaac Brock at the Battle of Queenston Heights in Upper Canada 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.

Orangemen contributed largely to the numbers of volunteers serving in the Ulster Defence Regiment(UDR) during the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s.

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 were casualties on the first day of the battle.

The Ulster Tower in Thiepval, France.

Ulster Tower

Main article: Ulster Tower Thiepval

The Ulster Tower in Thiepval, France 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. The inscription specifically mentions the fallen as having been "Members of the Orange Order".

Orange Order flag

The Orange Order flag consists of an orange background, a St George's Cross in the top left corner and a purple star which was the symbol of the Williamite forces.

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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |ed= ignored (help) (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.

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. (1980). The sash Canada wore: A historical geography of the Orange Order in Canada. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802054935. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• 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. {{cite book}}: Text "University of Toronto Press" ignored (help)
• 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.

External links

• Eric Kaufmann's Orange Order Page
• The Orange Order, Militant Protestantism and anti-Catholicism: A Bibliographical Essay (1999)
• Grand Orange Lodge of England
• The Grand Orange Lodge Of Ireland
• Video clip of Mohawk LOL 99 Orange Order in Belfast
• Orange Chronicle
• OrangeNet
• City of Londonderry Grand Orange Lodge
• Newbuildings Victoria LOL 1087
• Woodburn Ebenezer LOL787
• Edmonton's "Strathcona" Loyal Orange Lodge1654
• Parkmount Junior LOL150, Portadown
• Orange Order Information