Orange Order
The Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order, is a Protestant fraternal organisation based predominantly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, but with lodges throughout the Commonwealth and in the United States. It was founded in Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland in 1795.
Controversy
Its members and supporters see it as a pious organisation, celebrating Protestant culture and identity. Its critics accuse it of sectarianism and anti-Catholicism. The Orange Order is most well known for holding parades, called the Orange Walk, mainly in Ulster (Northern Ireland and border counties of Republic of Ireland), Scotland and Canada. These parades take place throughout the summer "marching season", climaxing on the 12th of July. Some members may choose to refuse to wear green on Saint Patrick's Day, preferring to wear orange. However, in recent years Saint Patrick's Day has become a more cross-community event, with several loyalist band parades commemorating Saint Patrick.
Sir James Craig (later Lord 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".
History
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, going through organisations such as the Whiteboys from the 1760s, the Orange Order has its direct roots in inter-communal violence of the 1790s. Secretive Catholic agrarian groups were active, including the Defenders[1]. 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 was the parent organisation.[2]
The role of James Wilson
After Protestant homes were attacked in Benburb, County Tyrone, on 24th June 1794, the Freemason James Wilson[3] 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".[4] He had already organised a group called the "Orange Boys" in 1792.[5]
Many of the Orange orders' terms and language derived from Freemasonry, examples include "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] specificly deny any connection between the two institutions.
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.[10]
Early years
The first and last attempt by an organisation to be non-sectarian in securing reform occurred in the 1790s. When this failed due to the corrupt Irish parliament, rebellion began. The organisation — set up as reaction to the United Irishmen, composed of Anglicans, Dissenters (i.e., non-Anglican church protestants, mainly Presbyterian) and Roman Catholics — was outlawed. It then went underground.
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…"
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 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."
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.
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, in 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.
The Twelfth
The highlight 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 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 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.
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.[11] 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", 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
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.[12] Many Masonic usages survive such as the organisation of the Order into "Lodges". The Order has a system of "degrees" which new members advance through. These degrees are interactive "plays" with references to the Bible. There is particular concern over the ritualism of "higer degrees" such as the Royal Arch Purple and the Royal Black Institutions.[13]
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.
Recent controversy
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 Orangemen 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[14].
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[15].
Political links
Until March 2005, the Orange Order was entitled to a voting bloc on the Ulster Unionist Council, the decision-making body of the Ulster Unionist Party. This had been the position since 1905, and though the UUP had long mulled over breaking the link, it was, in the end, the Orange Order that broke away.
The Order first became overtly political during Charles Stewart Parnell's campaign for Home Rule in the 1880s. In 1886, when William Ewart Gladstone's Home Rule Bill was before Parliament, Lord Randolph Churchill coined the famous phrase "Ulster will fight, and Ulster will be right" in an open letter to Irish Unionists. 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. This marked the beginning of a period when the upper classes began to realise the potential of the Order in preventing unwanted constitutional change, which culminated in the formal link in 1905. Support for the Land League (which fought for the rights of small farmers) from some elements of the Order (especially in Armagh) was effectively smothered as the landed gentry extended their influence. Fifty Orangemen from Cavan and Monaghan volunteered to bring in the harvest for Captain Boycott in County Mayo after he was ostracised by his local community (who usually provided him with labour) for rackrenting.
Related organisations
There are two 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.
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
The Orange Order 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, William Massey, who was Prime Minister of New Zealand, Harry Ferguson, inventor of the Ferguson Tractor, and Earl Alexander, the Second World War general.
The Orange Order in the 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."
The Orange Order in England
Most English lodges are based in the Liverpool area, including Bootle. An estimated 4000 Orangemen, women and children parade in Liverpool and Southport every 12th July, watched by thousands more.
The Orange Order in Scotland
The Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland is the largest Orange Lodge outside Northern Ireland, and has attracted controversy over alleged links with loyalist groups.
The Orange Order in the 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 12th 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 taunted 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: 300 protesters were injured, 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.
The Orange Order in Australasia
Information on this may be found at this Site Australian OrangeNet
The Orange Order in New Zealand
Bro. William Ferguson Massey, a native of Limavady who went on to be Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1912-1925, was a member of L.O.L. No.10 Auckland, New Zealand.
The Orange Order in 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.[16]
The 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.
The Orange Order in Ghana
The Orange Order in Ghana appears to have been founded by Scots-Irish missionaries some time during the 19th century. It's 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.[1]
The Orange Order in Wales
Currently only a small number over orangemen but we are seeking to expand the orange order in Wales and the chester area.. [2]
Military contributions of the Orange Order
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 1st 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 36th Ulster Division died on the first day of the battle.
The Ulster Tower
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.
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.
Notes and References
- ^ Other groups were the Whiteboys (also known as the the Hearts of Steele and Hearts of Oak, Terry Alts, Rockites, Whitefeet, Thrashers and Ribbonmen) and the Carders
- ^ "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."[Garvaghy Road]: A History, from the Garvaghy Road Resident's Association
- ^ "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.' The Orange Order, from the Evangelical Truth website
- ^ Freemasonry, from Ulster-Scots and Irish Unionist Resource
- ^ "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." Freemasonry, from Ulster-Scots and Irish Unionist Resource
- ^ "The fledgling Orange Order (and the Defenders) borrowed wholesale from Masonic practice and terminology. Orange 'lodges', 'masters', 'grand masters', 'oaths', 'signs' 'degrees', 'warrants' and 'brethren' all have a clear Masonic lineage." The Men of No Popery — The Origins of the Orange Order
- ^ Phoenixmasonry Masonic Museum — Orange Order
- ^ "There are numerous fraternal orders and Friendly Societies whose rituals, regalia and organisation are similar in some respects to Freemasonry's. They have no formal or informal connections with Freemasonry." UGLE:Other Organizations
- ^ Orange Order "Many have come to their own conclusions on the basis of hearsay, limited knowledge, or in some cases no knowledge at all. The writer of Proverbs warns us "He who answers a matter before he hears the facts, it is folly and shame to him." (Proverbs 18:11 Amplified Bible) The purpose of this study is to make it clear that, contrary to the popular belief of some, there is no connection between the Freemasons and the Loyal Orange Institution. We hope by setting the record straight, we will inform the mind, correct such misunderstandings as exist, and present an honest assessment of the purpose and place of the Loyal Orange Institution." From The Orange Order: An Evangelical Perspective — Orangeism Compared with Freemasonry, By Rev. Ian MEREDITH B.A., M.Th., Grand Chaplain Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland & Rev. Brian KENNAWAY M.A., Deputy Grand Chaplain Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
- ^ "James Wilson and James Sloan, who along with 'Diamond' Dan Winter, issued the first Orange lodge warrants from Sloan's Loughgall inn, were masons." The Men of no Popery, The Origins Of The Orange Order, by Jim Smyth, from History Ireland Vol 3 No 3 Autumn 1995
- ^ The full oath reads "An Orangeman should have a sincere love and veneration for his Heavenly Father; a humble and steadfast faith in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, believing in Him as the only Mediator between God and man. He should cultivate truth and justice, brotherly kindness and charity, devotion and piety, concord and unity, and obedience to the laws; his deportment should be gentle and compassionate, kind and courteous; he should seek the society of the virtuous, and avoid that of the evil; he should honour and diligently study the Holy Scriptures, and make them the rule of his faith and practice; he should love, uphold, and defend the Protestant religion, and sincerely desire and endeavour to propagate its doctrines and precepts; he should strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome, and scrupulously avoid countenancing (by his presence or otherwise) any act or ceremony of Popish Worship; he should, by all lawful means, resist the ascendancy of that Church, its encroachments, and the extension of its power, ever abstaining from all uncharitable words, actions, or sentiments towards his Roman Catholic brethren; he should remember to keep holy the Sabbath day, and attend the public worship of God, and diligently train up his offspring, and all under his control, in the fear of God, and in the Protestant faith; he should never take the name of God in vain, but abstain from all cursing and profane language, and use every opportunity of discouraging those, and all other sinful practices, in others; his conduct should be guided by wisdom and prudence, and marked by honesty, temperance, and sobriety; the glory of God and the welfare of man, the honour of his Sovereign, and the good of his country, should be the motives of his actions." Qualifications of an Orangeman from Orangenet
- ^ An example of this is the Evangelical Truth website
- ^ "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." The Orange Order from the Evangelical Truth website.
- ^ Leaders must 'back forces of law'
- ^ MP calls for ban on jailed Liverpool Orangemen — The Observer newspaper article, 9 July 2006
- ^ Section: "Trust Orangemen to turn Benidorm's mood sour" from Comment: Sue Denham: Barron evidence is so 'confusing' that McDaid is convinced by it, Sunday Times, July 24, 2005