Orangemen's Day

Orangemen's Day, also called Marching Day and Battle of the Boyne Day, and the start of the Marching Season, takes place on 12th July each year in Northern Ireland and in parts of the world where there are large communities of Northern Irish people. It is a celebration of the victory of the protestant Prince William of Orange over the catholic King James II of England which took place at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland.

The Battle itself started on 1st July 1690 under the Julian calendar (as the Gregorian had not yet been adopted) which equates to 12th July in the calendar we use today, although the final victory did not occur until the Relief of Derry, some four weeks later on August 12th. Both days are commemorated by marches.

These marches have been taking place, by the original route taken by the victors in 1690, every year since then. Unfortunately, since the route of some marches passes through areas which today have mainly catholic populations, since the start of the latest "troubles" they became a cause of protest, frequently turning into violence and even riots.

Because compromise is seen by some as the result of weakness rather than strength, both sides became entrenched in their positions: the protestants insisting on their right to march the traditional route, and the catholics on their right to a peaceful existence untroubled by displays of triumphalism. In recent years, it has taken repeated police action, backed up by various legal enactments, to finally bring the situation under some sort of control. The marchers generally march to the border of the areas in question, where police set up and man barricades to deny them access. After some problems in the past, these barricades are now high enough to prevent much in the way of missile throwing.

Despite the bad press, in fact there are more than 2,000 of these marches every year, and only a few of them have ever been an occasion of violence. Hopefully, now that peace has been agreed between the various factions, we will see no more of this. But don't be surprised if somebody somewhere puts a word out of place at the wrong time with explosive results. Memories in Northern Ireland are long.

Outside Northern Ireland, marches to celebrate Orangemen’s Day take place in Scotland, some cities in England, and various other places, but they are usually low key affairs attracting little publicity.

If you're looking for a way to commemorate this event, you might be interested in this article: Commemorations with Cross Stitch

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