The Orange Order: Myths and Facts*

Orange Myths

• The Orange Order has its origins with King William of Orange and his war in Ireland in 1689 -1699.
• King William of Orange won "civil and religious liberties" and the Battle of the Boyne.
• The Orange Order represents Irish Protestants
• The Orange Order has always been Unionist
  
  
     Orange Facts
  
• The Orange Order was founded not in the 1690s, but in the 1790s as a reaction to efforts, especially by the United Irishmen who were predominately Protestant, to unite people of all religious persuasions in the cause of civil rights in Ireland and independence from England.
  
• Far from William's victory bringing civil and religious liberty, it ushered in a century of loss of rights, not only for Catholics in Ireland, but for the majority of Protestants who were members of the Presbyterian Church and who also suffered loss of rights because they did not adhere to the "established" or state church, the Church of Ireland.
  
• When it was founded the Orange Order was exclusively for members of the Church of Ireland. Presbyterians were not admitted until 1834. It is a minority within Irish Protestantism; opinion among Protestants about the role of the order is divided and many oppose it.
  
• Dominated from the start by wealthy Protestant landlords, the Orange Order initially opposed the Act of Union [with Britain] of 1800 because the abolition of the Irish parliament, which only represented a tiny wealthy minority, seemed to threaten their privileges.
  
• The legal system of the Six Counties continues to be presided over by judges and magistrates who are members of the Orange Order. Many RUC also swear alliance to the Order. Unionist political leaders are generally Order members.
  
• Qualifications [from the Order's handbook]: "An Orangeman should... strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome, and scrupulously avoid countenancing any act or ceremony of Popish Worship; he should by all lawful means, resist the ascendancy of that Church, it encroachments and the extension of its power..."
  
• Expulsion: "Any member dishonoring the Institution by marrying a Roman Catholic shall be expelled; and every Member shall use his best endeavors to prevent and discountenance the marriage of Protestants with Roman Catholics..."
  
• The Penal Laws against Catholics were zealously backed by the Orange Order. Under these codes, the law did not even recognize the "existence" of an Irish Roman Catholic.
  
  

"We are not here to play games. We are here to save Ulster. If the parade doesn't go down Garvaghy Road there will be civil commotion to an extent the authorities cannot handle." -- Ian Paisley, July 7, 1996

"If we stand up to them now, our children won't have to grow up with that hatred." -- A Garvaghy Road resident, July 8, 1996

 

*An Irish Northern Aid Factsheet