Origins of Orangeism

Nestling in the heart of Armagh is the Ancestral Home of Dan Winter, one of
the founders of the Orange Order.

This early 18th-century listed vernacular thatched farmhouse was re-thatched
and restored in 2000 with a large proportion of the orginal fabric having
been conserved. The cottage has been maintained by the Winter family down
the years and on display for visitors are relics from the Battle of the
Diamond and old farming and dairy artefacts. The orginal timber, used to
build the cottage has just been dated to reveal that this is probably one of
the last houses to use Irish oak as a building timber.

The house is officially listed as "the meeting place following the Battle of
the Diamond where the decision to form the Orange Order was made." Still
owned by the Winter family the house is open daily for visitors.

(7)The Orange Lodge is based on an entirely different system of belief. In
this booklet we will look at the similarities but we wish to concentrate
mainly on the differences, so that you can judge our society on its own
merits and beliefs. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ORANGE LODGES AND OTHER LODGES The
Orange Order was founded in Ireland in 1795. Its background was the conflict
between Roman Catholics and Protestants, which exists sadly to this day. The
history and nature of this conflict would take a book in itself to explain.
In Ireland as a whole, Protestants have always been the minority and have
suffered much for their faith under the Roman Catholic majority.

In the year 1641 for instance, there was a terrible massacre in Ireland in
which it is estimated that up to 100,000 Protestants were brutally murdered
by their Catholic neighbours, who were in many cases encouraged by their
priests. It was partly the fear of acts like this recurring, which led the
Protestants in the 1680's to look to the Prince of Orange, later King
William III, for protection. William's victory in 1690 secured civil and
religious liberty for all and was the beginning of western democracy. One
hundred years later however there was still tension.

In the 1790's around the time of the French Revolution, Protestants living
in rural areas of Ireland were suffering attack. There was a general air of
fear and a heightening of tension with the foundation of the United Irishmen
in 1791. After a disturbance in Benburb on 24th June 1794, in which
Protestant homes were attacked, the Freemasons' organisation was appealed to
by one of its members, James Wilson, to organise themselves to defend the
Protestant population. The Masons refused, whereupon Wilson, indignant at
their lack of help, left them and prophesied that he "would light a star. .
. . which would eclipse them forever". (8)He had already organised the
Orange Boys at the Dian (County Tyrone) in 1792, as is evidenced by the
notice in the Belfast News Letter on 1st February 1793, which referred to a
meeting of the 138 members of the Orange Boys held on 22ndJanuary 1793.
After the Battle of the Diamond (near Loughgall, County Armagh), on 21st
September 1795, the Protestants vowed to adopt means to defend themselves.
Thus a new organisation was formed - the Loyal Orange Institution of
Ireland, into which James Wilson brought his Orange Boys, for which he was
awarded the first Orange Warrant - LOL 1.

While James Wilson was at the Battle of the Diamond and involved in the
origins of the Orange Institution, a more prominent figure was James Sloan
of Loughgall who issued Warrants for the formation of the first Lodges.
Because of the hostile environment, the new society had to maintain some
structure of secrecy for the preservation of life, yet it is worthy of note
that the first public demonstration took place with the full approval of the
authorities in 1796, the year after the Order was founded. This new
Institution found a wide acceptance among the beleaguered Protestants of
Ireland, and grew rapidly in the early years. Because some of the founders
had been Masons they used the Masonic system, which they knew worked.
However, this new society was not Protestant Freemasonry but an organisation
with a totally different philosophy and motivation.