Orange Order’s history as told by Orangeman

Orange Order’s history as told by Orangeman

14 May 2014

A LOCAL man has written a new book charting the history of the Orange Order. Orangeism — From the Boyne to the Somme is the work of Mr. John McKee, a local author who has been a member of the Orange Order for over 50 years.

Mr. McKee, who lives near Downpatrick, is a member of Bell’s Hill LOL. He is a Past Master of the Lodge, a Past Master of Lecale District LOL and is currently Worshipful Master of the Loyal Orange Lodge of Research. He has written a number of books connected with the Orange Order, including a history of the Bell’s Hill Lodge.

Many histories of the Orange Order have been written, but a clue to what makes this one different is included in the title. Most historians date Orangeism from 1795 and the Battle of the Diamond at Loughgall, Co. Armagh, when the Protestant Peep ‘o Day Boys clashed with Catholic Defenders.

However, Mr. McKee begins his story in 1690 after the Battle of the Boyne with the creation of the Blue and Orange, a ‘friendly society’ formed by soldiers who fought with King William. Over the following decades sectarian unrest and injustice led to unrest, culminating in the formation of the Orange Order in 1795.

Mr. McKee describes how within a few years the Order had spread out from Armagh with lodges being formed throughout Ulster. The first known parade in the Lecale area was at Kilmore in 1812 when 21 lodges took part. On July 1 the following year, 36 lodges paraded to Down Cathedral in Downpatrick.

Despite occasional bans on parading the Order continue to gain in strength during the first half of the 19th century. The Twelfth of July in 1848 was celebrated in Saintfield by 45 lodges and by a further 25 lodges in Killyleagh, including brethren from Portaferry who travel-led across Strangford Lough by yacht. Also in 1848 there was a parade in Seaforde where Orangemen were joined by their Catholic friends.

Mr. McKee covers some momentous local events, such as the Battle of Dolly’s Brae near Castlewellan on July 12, 1849, when rival Protestants and Catholics clashed after a Twelfth parade, and the huge demonstration at Ballykilbeg, near Downpatrick, in 1866 which was organised by the celebrated William Johnston and attended by approximately 7,000 Orangemen, many of whom arrived into Downpatrick by train.

Mr. McKee also delves into the Home Rule question which dominated Irish politics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and quotes extensively from Down Recorder reports at the time.

He ends his story with the First World War when many Orangemen lost their lives on the Western Front, notably at the Battle of the Somme on 1916.

Copies of the book at £4 each are available from Mr. McKee at 028 4483 0669 or from the House of Orange in Belfast.