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The Twelfth (also called Orangemens' Day) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution and victory of Protestant king William of Orange over Catholic king James II at the Battle of the Boyne, which ensured an Anglican Protestant Ascendancy and the passing of the Penal Laws, which restricted Catholics. On and around the Twelfth, large parades are held by the Orange Order and Ulster loyalist marching bands, streets are decorated with and bunting, and Eleventh Night are lit. Today, the Twelfth is mainly celebrated in Northern Ireland, where it is a public holiday, but smaller celebrations are held elsewhere, such as Scotland, Canada, and Australia.
The Twelfth began in the late 18th century in Ulster, and many Ulster Protestants see it as an important part of their culture. Catholics and Irish nationalists see it as anti-Catholic and supremacism. Since the beginning, it has been occasionally accompanied by sectarian violence, especially during times of political tension. Orange marches through Catholic neighbourhoods, and the burning of Irish flags on bonfires, are especially controversial. The Drumcree conflict is the most well-known dispute involving Orange marches. Sectarian violence around the Twelfth worsened during the Troubles, but today, most events pass off peacefully. Recently, there have been attempts to draw tourists to the main Twelfth parades and promote them as family-friendly events.
When 12 July falls on a Sunday, the parades are held instead on the next Monday, 13 July.
The Twelfth itself originated as a popular celebration of the Battle of Aughrim, which took place on 12 July 1691 in the 'Old Style' (O.S.) Julian calendar then in use. Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite war, in which the predominantly Irish Catholic Jacobitism army was destroyed and the remainder capitulated at Limerick, whereas the Battle of the Boyne was less decisive. The commemorations continued in the early 18th century, featuring bonfires and parades. The Battle of the Boyne (fought on 1 July 1690) was commemorated with smaller parades on 1 July. However, the two events were combined in the late 18th century. The first reason for this was the British switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, which repositioned the nominal date of the Battle of the Boyne to 11 July New Style (N.S.) (with the Battle of Aughrim nominally repositioned to 23 July N.S.). The second reason was the founding 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 when Catholicism was having a resurgence in the 1790s, the Boyne became more appealing to the Order than Aughrim. The Jacobites were routed at the Boyne, whilst at Aughrim, they had fought hard, but suffered many casualties.
The Order's first marches took place on 12 July 1796 in Portadown, Lurgan, and Waringstown.McCormack, W J. The Blackwell Companion to Modern Irish Culture. Wiley-Blackwell, 2001. Page 317. The Twelfth parades of the early 19th century often led to public disorder, so much so that the Orange Order and the Twelfth were banned in the 1830s and '40s (see below).
From June to August, Protestant, unionist areas of Northern Ireland are bedecked with flags and bunting, which are usually flown from street light and houses. Most commonly the Union Jack and Ulster Banner. Kerbstones are sometimes painted red, white and blue; and murals made. Steel or wooden arches, covered with flags and Orange symbolism, are raised over certain streets.Neil Jarman9781859731291, Berg Publishers. ISBN 9781859731291 These 'Orange arches' are inspired by triumphal arches.
Additionally, the flags of loyalist paramilitary groups, such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA), are flown in some areas. The raising of these flags near Catholic/Irish nationalist neighbourhoods, or in "neutral" areas, sometimes leads to tension and violence. It is seen as deliberately provocative and intimidating.
There is a long tradition of Protestant and loyalist marching bands found in most towns in Northern Ireland, who are hired by the Orangemen to march in the parades. An instrument largely unique to these marches is the Lambeg drum. Popular songs include "The Sash" and "Derry's Walls". More controversial songs, such as "Billy Boys" are sometimes played as well.
The vast majority of marchers are men, but there are some all-women bands, and a few mixed bands. Some all-male bands have female flag or banner carriers. There are also some Women's Orange Lodges, which take part in the parades. Orangewomen have paraded on the Twelfth in some rural areas since at least the mid-20th century, but were banned from the Belfast parades until the 1990s.
Orangemen on parade typically wear a dark suit, an orange sash, white gloves and a bowler hat. Certain Orangemen carry a ceremonial sword. In hot weather, many lodges will parade in short-sleeved shirts. Orangewomen have not developed a standard dress code, but usually dress formally. The supporting bands each have their own uniforms and colours. Both the Orangemen and bands carry elaborate banners depicting Orange heroes, historic or Biblical scenes, and/or political symbols and slogans. The most popular image is that of King William of Orange crossing the River Boyne during the famous battle there.Bryan, p.99 At the field, some lodges and bands don humorous outfits or accessories and make the return journey in them, and the mood is generally more mellow, although in times of tension it can also be more aggressive.
The Northern Irish and County Donegal parades are given extensive local TV and press coverage, while the BBC Northern Ireland programme The Twelfth is the longest-running outside broadcast programme in Northern Ireland.
One of the largest Orange demonstrations held anywhere each year is the annual parade held at Rossnowlagh, a tiny village near Ballyshannon in the south of County Donegal in the west of Ulster. County Donegal being one of the Ulster counties in the Republic of Ireland, the Rossnowlagh demonstration is the only major Orange event in the Republic. A number of much smaller Orange events take place each year in East Donegal as well.
In a 2011 survey of Orangemen throughout Northern Ireland, 58% said they should be allowed to march through Catholic or Irish nationalist areas with no restrictions, whilst 20% said they should negotiate with residents first. "Order poll on Catholic 'IRA sympathy'" . UTV News. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011. Some have argued that members of both communities once participated in the event; but this is disputed by others, who say it has always been a Protestant affair, with many Catholics opposing the marches.Agnes Irene Caldwell, ‘Rising from Our Knees: Nationalist Response to Loyal Order Parades in Portadown, 1945–1993’, (PhD dissertation), Wayne State University, Detroit, 2004
A list of violent occurrences:
Since the Troubles began, some bands hired to appear at Twelfth marches have openly shown support for loyalist paramilitary groups, either by carrying paramilitary flags and banners or sporting paramilitary names and emblems.Bryan, Dominic. Orange Parades: The politics of ritual, tradition and control. Pluto Press, 2000. p.146Ross, Marc Howard. Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. p.72 "Loyalist paramilitaries and the Orange Order". Republican News, 29 June 2000 A number of prominent loyalist militants were Orangemen and took part in their marches. When Orangemen marched past the site of the Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting in 1992, some marchers held up five fingers to mock the five dead. Secretary of State, Patrick Mayhew, responded that they "would have disgraced a tribe of cannibals". "Chronology of the Conflict: July 1992", Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)
Every Twelfth between 1970 and 2005, British Army soldiers were deployed in Belfast to help police the parades. Soldiers in barracks for Twelfth BBC News, 12 July 2006 Due to improved policing, dialogue between marchers and residents, and the Northern Ireland peace process, parades have been generally more peaceful since the 2000s. The Parades Commission was set up in 1998 to deal with contentious parades.
During the Troubles, some Irish Catholic and nationalist areas organised festivals to keep their children away from the parades, where they might come into conflict with Protestant children, and to make the Twelfth more enjoyable for their communities.
Former Tánaiste Michael McDowell said in 2010 that the Twelfth should be made a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland, as well as in Northern Ireland.
Controversies
The Twelfth can be a tense time in Northern Ireland, where around half the population is from a Catholic background. Orange marches through Catholic and Irish nationalist neighbourhoods are usually met with opposition from residents, which sometimes leads to violence. Many people see these marches as sectarian, triumphalist, supremacist, and an assertion of British and Ulster Protestant dominance. The political aspects have caused further tension.Tonge, Johnathan. Northern Ireland. Polity, 2006. Pages 24, 171-173.David George Boyce, Robert Eccleshall, Vincent Geoghegan. Political Thought in Ireland Since The Seventeenth Century. Routledge, 1993. Page 203.Mitchel, Patrick. Evangelicalism and national identity in Ulster, 1921–1998. Oxford University Press, 2003. Page 136. Marchers insist that they have the right to celebrate their culture and walk on public streets, particularly along their 'traditional routes'. Cracks in the Orange Order BBC News, 15 July 2008 Loyalist parade sparks riots in Catholic area The Guardian, 13 July 2004
The Troubles
The Troubles, the Twelfth was often accompanied by riots and paramilitary violence during the Troubles. Three people were shot dead on the Twelfth in 1972 in Portadown, and two people were killed in Belfast. Two were killed by Republican militant groups and three by Loyalist groups. Sutton's Index of Deaths: 12 July 1972. Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN) During the Drumcree conflict in 1998, three young boys were killed when loyalists firebombed their house in Ballymoney. The boys' mother was a Catholic, and their home was in a mainly Protestant housing estate. The killings provoked widespread anger from both Catholics and Protestants.
Outside Ulster
Britain
Although mostly an Ulster event, the Twelfth is also celebrated in other countries with strong links to Ulster, or a history of settlement by Irish Protestants. There are commemorations of the Twelfth in Scotland – particularly in and around Glasgow, where most Irish immigrants settled. In England and Wales, Orange marches are not common and Orange Order membership is found primarily in the Merseyside region, although numbers are still small.Northern Ireland: Conflict and Change, Jonathan Tonge. Pearson. p. 102. Marches here tend to be held a week or so before the Twelfth, due to the number of bands and lodges who travel to Northern Ireland to march there. The Liverpool lodges parade both in the city and in the seaside resort of Southport on 12 July.
Canada
The Twelfth March was first held in Canada in 1821, and is the longest consecutively held parade in North America, and the largest parade in Toronto, when thousands of Orangemen would march in front of tens of thousands of spectators, until the 1970s. At the time, the Orange Order held such sway that membership in the Order was an unspoken prerequisite for holding civic office. However, the march's popularity has drastically diminished in recent years, as only about 500 people participate in modern Orange parades. Orangemen's Day is still a provincial government paid holiday in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, . However, it is not a shops closing holiday..
Australia
An increase in Orange lodge membership in recent years has seen a revival of the Order in Australia, and an annual Twelfth of July parade is currently held in Adelaide. Parades were also formerly held in New Zealand on the Twelfth.Ruth Dudley Edwards, The Faithful Tribe: An Intimate Portrait of the Loyal Institutions, London, 2000, p. 136
Ireland
Until the Partition of Ireland in the early 1920s, the Twelfth was celebrated by Protestants in many parts of Ireland. However, the reduction of the Protestant population and relevance in the Republic of Ireland has resulted in the only remaining major annual parade now at Rossnowlagh, County Donegal. It was held on the Twelfth until the 1970s, when it was moved to the weekend before. There are no major Orange events in the rest of Ireland outside of the nine-county province of Ulster.
Spain
There is a big parade in Benidorm, Spain, first illegally held in 2005, but now a managed annual event, sanctioned by the town hall.
See also
Notes
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