My interest in Orangeism originally sprang from my explorations into English-Canadian identity. This uncovered the tremendous influence played by the Orange Order in Canadian life in the period 1830-1970. My curiosity was also sparked by Philip Buckner (now of Institute for Commonwealth Studies, London) who comes from a British-Loyalist Toronto background: ‘I wonder what ever happened to the Orange Order in Toronto – they used to run the place’. My research on the subject began with a series of smaller grants in 1999 and soon extended to Northern Ireland, where Executive Officer George Patton (now of Ulster Scots Agency) was extremely accommodating. I was then fortunate enough to win two ESRC awards which allowed me to research and write on this subject during 2001-5.  More details on my most recent ESRC project, a joint grant with Professor Henry Patterson of University of Ulster (‘The Decline of the Loyal Family?: Popular Unionism and the Devolution Process’) under the rubric of the ESRC’s Devolution and Constitutional Change programme, may be found here. The research resulted in my new books, The Orange Order: A Contemporary Northern Irish History (Oxford University Press, April 2007), and, with Henry Patterson, Unionism and Orangeism in Northern Ireland since 1945: the decline of the loyal family (Manchester University Press, May ’07), as well as a number of other books, papers, photos, maps, datasets and articles.

Books

The Orange Order: A Contemporary Northern Irish History (Oxford University Press 2009), now out in revised paperback edition for £20

See articles, photos, maps, articles and other material related to the book here

Henry Patterson and Eric Kaufmann, Unionism and Orangeism in Northern Ireland Since 1945:The Decline of the Loyal Family (Manchester University Press, May 2007)

Recent work and news:

Jon Tonge and Jim McAuley have recently released a new book on Orangeism, Loyal to the Core?: Orangeism and Britishness in Northern Ireland. See UTV interview of Jon Tonge on some of the findings here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Loyal-Core-Orangeism-Britishness-Northern/dp/0716530872.

‘Northern Ireland: Fragile Peace in an Age of Austerity’ , invite-only roundtable I organised at Birkbeck College, Council Room, Oct. 14, 2011. Basis of special issue of Political Quarterly in early 2012 and special panel on Northern Ireland at Political Studies Association, Belfast, 2-6 April 2012. Participant biographies Programme

See my recent article, ‘Demographic Change and Conflict in Northern Ireland: Reconciling Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence,’ Journal of Ethnopolitics, vol. 3, no. 4, September, 2011, pp. 369-89 on demographic change, Orangeism and ethnic politics in Northern Ireland.

‘Why Orangemen must put best foot forward’, Belfast Telegraph, July 8, 2010

Links:

• Orangenet
• Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
• Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland
• Grand Orange Lodge of Canada
• Grand Orange Lodge of England
• Alex Rough’s Canadian Orange Historical Site
• Canada’s Orange Roots site
• Donald MacRaild’s Orange Bibliography
• Devolution & Constitutional Change Project Website
• ‘Attitudes Toward the Union’ – Professor Iain MacLean (Nuffield, Oxford) – Two-Year Leverhulme Project  Click for project description

Subpages:

• Unionism and Orangeism in Northern Ireland Since 1945:
• The Orange Order: A Contemporary Northern Irish History
• Orange Photos
• Orange Lodge Maps
• Orange Lodge Maps, continued
• Conferences, Workshops and Associated Papers
• Articles and Policy Papers
• Datasets