Eric Kaufmann

1. John Millar Andrews, second Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (1940-43) and Grand Master during 1948-54. During Andrews’ tenure, Grand Lodge openly urged its members to vote for the Official Unionists. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

2. Senator Samuel Kinghan, c. 1967 – A high-ranking Unionist Party man and Deputy Grand Master of County Down, Kinghan’s traditionalist faction unsuccessfully battled populists like Martin Smyth, James Molyneaux and John Brown to prevent the expulsion of two Unionist politicians for attending a Catholic funeral in 1967. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

3. Rev. Martin Smyth and Sir George Clark, 1967 – (l to r): Grand Secretary Walter Williams, L.P.S. Orr (MP and Imperial Grand Master), Sir George Clark, Martin Smyth and Rev W.S.K.Crossley (Grand Chaplain and Convenor of the Education Committee). Clark was one of the last representatives of patrician Stormont Orangeism. Smyth, by contrast, represented the new breed of grassroots populist leader. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

4. Clifton Street Orange Hall, c. 1970. At the time, the hall was busy every night of the week. Today, less than a third as many men meet within its now faded, mesh-covered facade. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

5. Past Grand Master John Bryans turns sod for House of Orange, Dublin Road, 1974. Others in the photo include (l to r): Grand Master Martin Smyth, Antrim Grand Master Rev. John Brown and Grand Secretary Walter Williams. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

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6. Tullyvallen Orange Hall – Located in South Armagh near the border, this hall was attacked by PIRA gunmen, who burst through the door beneath the ‘exit’ sign on 1 September 1975 killing five Orangemen. (Private photo)

7. Unionist and Orange protest against the Anglo-Irish Agreement, 23 November 1985 – These protests helped to set limits on the British government’s freedom to pursue constitutional reforms but were flagging by the early 1990s. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

8. Bombing of House of Orange, Dublin Road – During the Troubles, numerous Orange halls were burned or targeted by republican terrorists. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

9. Bicentenary Parade at Loughgall, Co. Armagh, 23 September, 1995 – From left, Rev. Victor Ryan, Fred Stewart (Imperial and American Grand Master), Martin Smyth, Norman Allen (Armagh County Master), Charles Ferrel (New Zealand Grand Master), James Molyneaux and Grand Secretary John McCrea. McCrea was an early and consistent opponent of Orange reformers in Brian Kennaway’s Education Committee. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

10. Martin Smyth and James Molyneaux Making Presentation, 1997 – Both men rose from ordinary backgrounds to high positions in the Order and Ulster Unionist Party. For nearly two decades, they successfully rebuffed all British constitutional reforms. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

11. Grand Master Robert Saulters, Past Master Martin Smyth and Kenneth Watson, Past Antrim Grand Master, c. 1997 – Saulters took over from Smyth as Grand Master in 1996. Lacking Smyth’s gravitas, Saulters was buffeted by both hardline and liberal pressures on Grand Lodge. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

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12. Drumcree – Orange demonstration with Drumcree Church in the background. The involvement of loyalist paramilitaries and the televised scenes of violent clashes with police tarnished the image of Orangeism in the world media and split the Institution. (Courtesy of Neil Jarman)

13. Orange Band, Waterfront Festival, 29-30 March 1999 – In the 1990s, the Order realised it was a cultural organisation which could fit in well with the new liberal discourse of multiculturalism, cultural funding and group rights. (Courtesy of GOLI archives)

14. Silver Band, Rossnowlagh Parade, Donegal, Republic of Ireland – The artistry of silver bands in this depoliticised setting demonstrates that Orange marches are about culture as well as power. (Courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

15. Bandsmen Drinking at the Field, Belfast Twelfth, 2005 – The lack of respectability of many bandsmen highlights the clash between traditional Orangeism and the new loyalist youth culture. (Courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

16. LOL #145 Ulster-Scots Emigrant Ship Float, Belfast Twelfth, 2005 – This local initiative affirms the Order’s revived Ulster-Scots identity and promotes the Twelfth as a tourist attraction  (Courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

17. Crude UDA paramilitary band banner – Though a majority of Orangemen disapprove of paramilitarism, the paramilitaries’ rebel Unionism is so popular among urban youth that it has made significant inroads in some city lodges.  (Courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

18. Platform at the Field, Belfast Twelfth, 2005 – The speeches at the field in Belfast are a peripheral part of the Twelfth, and highlight the limited political consciousness of many Orange and Unionist spectators.  (Courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

19. Rev. Brian Kennaway – This Presbyterian minister became a Belfast County Deputy Chaplain in 1977 and a Deputy Grand Chaplain of Grand Lodge in 1978, positions he held until the late 1990s. He later headed the reform-minded Education Committee which clashed with SOD militants after 1995. Thereafter, Kennaway rose to prominence through regular press appearances. In 2006, he published a controversial, hard-hitting book which excoriates the Order’s leaders for bending to the militants’ agenda. (Source: Brian Kennaway)

Other Orange Photos:

A youthful-looking Sir George Clark, the last patrician Grand Master of the Orange Order and a high-ranking Official Unionist. (Courtesy of Grand Lodge of Ireland reports of proceedings) Always a conciliator and centrist, Clark led the anti-reform elements in the Official Unionist Party, but tried to drag the Order toward a more accommodationist approach. By the mid-1960s, pressure from the grassroots – articulated by figures like Martin Smyth, Rev. John Brown and James Molyneaux – forced him to oppose the policies of Terence O’Neill and his reformers within the Official Unionist Party.

Christmas Card from Terence O’Neill to Orange Grand Secretary Walter Williams, 1968. (Courtesy Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland archives) O’Neill has scrawled, ‘Let’s Hope 1969 may be a happier year’. 1968 had seen a growing rift between the Order and the reform-minded O’Neill. In the event, O’Neill’s hopes proved in vain. In 1969, Grand Lodge endorsed a no-confidence vote in O’Neill’s leadership of the troubled province and the IRA stepped up their bombing and assassination campaign, inaugurating the ‘Troubles’.

Martin Smyth in regalia (Courtesy of Dominic Bryan). Smyth began his career as a populist, but by the mid-70s had become traditionalist, serving as a voice of restraint against elements within the Order who wanted the association to be more militant and even violent. Smyth tried to retire several times, particularly after his ‘respectable’ wing lost out to ‘wets’ in the 1970s and 80s who helped overturn the principle of no alcohol in the lodge room. His absence from Drumcree 1995 was resented by many Orangemen – especially hardliners – and seized upon by the militant Spirit of Drumcree movement under Joel Patton. This grassroots rebellion forced Smyth to step down from the leadership in 1996.

Low turnout at the Field, Belfast Twelfth, 2002. The number who engage in the political side of the organisation is surprisingly small. This underscores the primarily ethnic, cultural and convivial basis of the organisation. (Courtesy of Dr. Clifford Stevenson, Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University of Belfast)

Drumcree Church (Courtesy BBC N. Ireland) This Church of Ireland church, located in ‘Protestant territory’ south of the Nationalist enclave in Portadown and at the terminus of the Garvaghy Road parade route, was the gathering point for Orange and many non-Orange protesters (including paramilitaries) from 1995 until the early 2000s. Its select vestry was more sympathetic to Orange grievances than the Northern Ireland leader of the Church, Robin Eames, and could thus overrule him. In 1996, UVF/LVF leader ‘Mad’ Billy Wright played a key role in the violence at Drumcree while in 2000 the same position was occupied by UDA/UFF frontman Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair. The protests split the Order between those who felt that the Order’s name was being blackened by the hangers-on at Drumcree, and the SOD hardliners who felt that the Order was at last living up to its promise of being an ‘active’ force for Unionism.

Portadown District Banner (courtesy of Dominic Bryan). Portadown is the district at the epicentre of the protests at Drumcree from 1995 to the present. More recently, they have been in the forefront of the Orange districts which have bypassed Grand Lodge policy and sought to negotiate indirectly with Nationalist Residents’ Groups and speak to the Parades Commission in an attempt to restore their Garvaghy Road Parade route.

UFF Paramilitary Marching Band, Orange 12th Parade, 2005 (courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

Accordion Band, Rossnowlagh parade, Donegal, Rep. Ireland (courtesy of Dominic Bryan). Parades are about power, but Southern parades (not to mention Canadian or English ones) demonstrate that local Protestants will parade for cultural, rather than simply political reasons.

Rossnowlagh Parade (courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

Belfast Twelfth, 2005 – Spectators (courtesy of Dominic Bryan). Much of the controversy around Orange parades involves the behaviour of Unionist spectators who are not in the Order. The Order’s stance toward these supporters is ambivalent – they appreciate the support, but many lament the alcoholism and poor deportment of some, and the damage this does to the Order’s image.

Finaghy Field, Belfast Twelfth, 2005 (courtesy of Dominic Bryan) Another sparse crowd for the political part of the proceedings.

Speeches from the Platform, Finaghy Field, Belfast Twelfth, 2005 (courtesy of Dominic Bryan) The makeshift character of the political platforms and simple decor reflect the lack of interest of most Twelfth participants in these political proceedings.

Unionist pre-Twelfth Bonfire – Burning Sinn Fein Candidates in Effigy, inner-city Belfast, 2005 (courtesy of Dominic Bryan) Bonfires are part of loyalist ritual in the lead-up to the Twelfth and are part of the inner-city loyalist youth culture which in many ways has displaced rather than complemented Orangeism in urban Northern Ireland.

Unionist pre-Twelfth Bonfire – Burning Irish Tricolour, inner-city Belfast housing estate, 2005 (courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

Unionist pre-Twelfth Bonfire – with young children’s attractions in background, inner-city Belfast housing estate, 2005 (courtesy of Dominic Bryan)

The iconic crane of Harland and Wolf (H&W) towers over East Belfast during the city’s Twelfth parade in 2005. H&W’s employees were largely Protestant and the skilled working class was overrepresented in Orange ranks. The company’s founders even feature on Orange lodge banners. The effective closure of Harland and Wolff after 2000 symbolises the decline of the Protestant working-class in the city who were once the backbone of Orangeism. (courtesy of Dominic Bryan)