Saturday, August 18, 2007
Crossing the divide to learn about ‘themmums’ marches…
THE past few days have seen members of one ‘side’ getting up close and personal with the other ‘side’s’ parading culture. Loyalist victims’ campaigner Willie Frazer attended last weekend’s republican hunger strike commemoration (which he was less than impressed with), while UDA leaders Jackie McDonald and Colin Halliday observed a parade by the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Kilkeel (see pic). Also crossing the divide, a number of ex-IRA prisoners paid a visit to the Apprentice Boys’ museum in Londonderry. The DUP’s Gregory Campbell, perhaps unfairly, hedges his bets on the value of the visit until he sees any outcome. Campbell doesn’t see the point of risk-taking, as it could (in his eyes) backfire. However, the risks taken by the Boys have also reaped dividends in recent years.
Belfast Gonzo @ 11:30 AM
Confused - believe me I was paying attention. the only real attempt at power sharing was broken by Paisley’s loyalists idiots. Please show me that that analysis is wrong - I’d be delighted to learn differently
Posted by on Aug 19, 2007 @ 10:06 PMPaisley did not bring down power sharing.
It was the actions of republicans which caused the collapse of the Trimble led assembly,
The spy-gate affair was responsible.Posted by on Aug 19, 2007 @ 10:16 PMSorry - i meant earlier - 1974.
Posted by on Aug 19, 2007 @ 10:21 PMConfused
You mean that non-event that collapsed into ignominy due to a total lack of evidenceNot a very good reason it would seem, but score one for the securocrats. Though when justice powers are devolved they might find it was an own goal
Posted by on Aug 20, 2007 @ 10:30 AMSean
Devolution of justice won’t have any effect on these matters.
Posted by on Aug 20, 2007 @ 10:51 AMI think with out Whitehalls protection it will be!
Posted by on Aug 20, 2007 @ 12:38 PM“Mixing me tail’s up - first should have read tale”, Dewi.
That’s all right, Dewi, I like a bit of tail meself, as well as a bit of a tale.
Posted by on Aug 20, 2007 @ 03:25 PMHi Rory, I have just come accross your contribution about the AOH on August 18th and the questions you ask.
This gives me the opportunity to spread the word that the AOH is very much alive and going very well at the moment. You mention that you were amazed that the AOH could muster a parade in the North or words to that effect..... You would be pleased then to hear that the AOH has always been strongest in the North and indeed continues to be.
You comment about the Parade in Kilkeel however our main parade (and yes I am a fully paid up member) was actually in Derry this year and was attended by thousands of members from all over Ireland, Scotland, America and even Canada.
In addition to our main parade there were perhaps 30 other parades in the Northern state which were notified to the Parades Commission and many others in the Southern State, particularly in the Border Counties.
The AOH have two main Parading days each year these being St. Patricks Day (March 17th) and the Feast of the Assumption (August 15th). Over and above this there are further local AOH parades for a whole host of reasons (religious celebrations) around the country throughout the year.
AOH parades are generally not contentious and therefore do not get much attention.
The AOH parade on the actual Feast day - such as Wednesday of last week, and those members who can attend then do so. Those that work etc are obviosly unable to attend each time. Other organisations march on the nearest Saturday so as to maximise their attendance - we dont - we march on the day of the Feast in celebration of the Religious significance of the day.
The parade in Derry was a tremendous success this year.
The AOH has been in existence since 1565 in one form or another but always with the motto Friendship Unity and True Christian Charity.
We organise at local level in Divisions, then at county level, provincial level (9 county Ulster)and National Level. We have brother organisations in America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and in other parts of Europe who all have their own organisation and rules but effectively who all originate from the AOH in Ireland.
There are AOH Divisions in every county of the Province of Ulster including County Down.
Membership of the AOH is open to those who are Practising Catholics and Irish by Birth or Descent.
The AOH in Ireland have their headquarters at 23 Foyle Street in Derry. Further information is always availble on request.
Your relatives history in regard to the First World War and being an AOH Member is not uncommon. The AOH were heavily involved in many things down through the years including the Irish Volunteers and Irish National Volunteers. Many of them did go to the First World War as part of the call from Redmond, the Irish Party and the Church to fight for the freedom of small nations etc.
Any how I hope this has been of some use to you and that you and others find the contribution helpful.
In our Motto
Seanf
Órd Ársa Na hÉireannPS in regard to the debate on the Irish Language - quite a few of our members do speak Irish and we use the language regularly in our clubs and divisions.
Posted by on Aug 21, 2007 @ 11:19 AMI am delighted to say, Seanf, that neither my grandfather nor great uncle joined up in response to any call from Redmond (the very thought horrifies me). Both had been obliged to join the reserves prior to any impending war simply for the bounty in order to feed their families when no employment was available. Hence an early call-up and an early death for my grandfather, and Uncle Hammy left maimed.
The capitalist class certainly had value of the Carrs for their shillings so fuck Redmond - he was one of ‘em.
Posted by on Aug 21, 2007 @ 08:11 PMI am a nationalist but I hate the nationalist/republican parades as it seems that they are copying the OO and trying to make it part of our culture, which it isnt.
Irish language, tradional music, irish dance and gaelic games are part of the Irish heritage not copy-cat marching. Orange marches are part of the Irish Protestant culture which i respect, but mind you do not enjoy.
The same seems to be happening on the other hand with Unionists tring to make the Ulster-Scots language as complex and rich as the Irish language as well as copy cat Ulster-Scots ceili music and Ulster-Scotch dancing for example visit: http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/culture.aspPosted by on Aug 21, 2007 @ 11:22 PMJimbob -
To say the AOH are copying the OO by parading is to ignore longstanding Catholic tradition not only in Ireland but all over the world.Parades to celebrate St Patricks Day, the Feast of the Assumption, Corpus Christi, have long been a feature of Irish catholicism.
Further afield the Mardi Gras in Rio was originally a catholic procession to mark the start of Lent. Processing to churches at midnight led by bands and banners are an integral part of the Easter celebrations in many mediteranian countries.
Parading does not belong to any one section of the community but it should be pointed out that in the early 70s the Hibs took a decision (wrong in my view) to stop parading because of the potential for further violence. Because of this the organisation seemed to have disappeared and it certainly suffered because of it.Posted by on Aug 22, 2007 @ 10:31 AMHi Rory,
You are quite right of course that many people joined the Army or went to fight in World War 1 for a variety of reasons.
Some reportedly for a pair of boots, others for the money to sustain their families, others for moral reasons and even others still for political reasons.
Many who left never came back. Did you know that between the 10th Irish Division and the 16th Irish Division there were more Irish Nationalist Catholic dead and wounded than Ulster Unionist Protestant Dead and Wounded from the 36th Ulster Division.
For many years the Irish Catholic Nationalist tradition has not learned about this, has forgotten about it, has allowed other events in Ireland to overshadow these facts etc etc. Whatever the reason or reasons the participation of Catholic Nationalist Ireland in WWI have not had the same importance for our community as the sacrifice of the Ulstermen has had for the Protestant Unionist tradition. Our society then allowed this to become yet another devisive issue for our society on this island.
Very few people would realise for example that half the names listed on the War Memorial in Derry are those of local Catholic people. Few would again realise that for years Newry had no WWI memorial with names on it as the majority of WWI casualties from the area were Catholic etc etc.
This is indeed a part of our forgotten history but again this is a common and shared history which should be explored by all sections of our community.
For more information about such issues I would reccommend searching the web for the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Messines Belgium.
For our part the AOH, as previously stated, were heavily involved in the Irish Volunteers and Irish National Volunteers and indeed many of our people did at that time go off to the war - maybe for political or moral reasons, for the defence of Catholic Belgium, for the Freedom of Small Nations or for a pair of boots........
Is Mise
SeanF
Órd Ársa Na hÉireannPosted by on Aug 22, 2007 @ 11:24 AMHi Jimbob & Donegaldub,
You both raise a few interesting points about the AOH and copycat parades. Let me state the following.
The AOH preceeds the Orange Order by almost 230 years and in that time were engaged in Religious Processions as was part of Catholic tradition worldwide and no different here in Ireland.
The tradition of Religious Processions or Parades in modern day terms runs longer within the AOH than in any other Order or organisation in Ireland.
Not long after the establishment of the Orange Order in the 1790s their parades and ours occasionally clashed and on occasions we interrupted each others parades...... See Dollys Brae etc......
So to state that AOH Religious Processions are a recent phenomenon is actually incorrect. Donegaldub is however correct when he states that the AOH stopped religious processions and parades in the early 1970s. They took this courageous decision following the events of Bloody Sunday when innocent Civil Rights Marchers (some of them AOH members) where Murdered and Maimed on the streets of Derry. This was a very violent time in our recent history and there was much civil unrest. The AOH decided that it would be safer to cease their public processions during the height of the troubles. Their main aim in this decision was to safeguard life.
The AOH turned instead to trying to attract young people off the streets and into the Order and away from violence. We had some success in this. However many of the AOH bands fell away or became Republican bands. Some of the smaller Divisions fell away. With hindsight many would say that the absence of the AOH for 20 years from public view has harmed us. It may have in terms of publicity and some recruitment etc but the Order is still strong and ever growing and rebuilding.
We have restarted Religious Processions and Parades since the 1990s and you will notice if you are a keen observer of such things that each year sees more and more AOH parades in the North.
I hope this helps Jimbob out - I assume that he is off an age where he would not remember pre-1970s AOH parades. I hope he is reassured that our activity is not copycat activity - if anything you could probably ask that question of the Orange Order.
AOH Parades are Religious events. They are also expressions of not just Irish Catholicism but Irish Nationalism and have been part of our traditions for centuries.
Is Mise
SeanF
Órd Ársa Na hÉireannPosted by on Aug 22, 2007 @ 11:42 AMSeanf - are you sure that “more and more AOH parades in the North” is a good idea. The corgeous decision to stop in the seventies was correct in IMHO. Why not just have a few a year ?
Posted by on Aug 22, 2007 @ 11:48 AMSeanf -
The President of the AOH was on TV after the parade in Derry and suggested that the AOH and the Apprentice Boys might come together to parade on St Patricks Day next year. This would be a very significant event if it were to happen, has there been any developments on this?Posted by on Aug 22, 2007 @ 12:00 PMHi Dewi & Donegaldub,
Parades are always an emotive issue for people. There are many who have not been part of a parade or procession and still some more that have never actually watched a parade at close hand.
There are also parades which cause difficulty for people and communities and others which have an opposite effect.
So, whay do the AOH parade?
Well, I could talk about all sorts of historical and cultural reasons etc and keep you here all day. So to paraphrase:
ALL AOH Parades are Religious events. We have 2 main parades each year - St. Patricks Day and the Feast of the Assumption.
We then have a large number of local Church Parades.
The importance of the parade for the AOH is that it is a Religious Procession. Each parade that has bands will have them play, for the most part, Religous music - Hymns.
Almost all local parades are held on a Sunday and involve either a Mass or Religious Service before or after the parade.
The main National Parades are always held on the Feast Day itself no matter what day of the week it falls on - again because of the Religious importance of the Day.
Parades are an outward expression of Faith for the AOH. This is not however the way we practise our Faith it is one way we use to Celebrate our Faith.
The AOH is also about Celebrating our Culture and we have already explored the religious and cultural significance of parades but the outward expression of culture through Banners, Flags, Music, Parade, Collarettes, etc etc is also part and parcel of our celebration.
The AOH have the Motto Friendship, Unity and True Christian Charity. We also stand for Faith and Fatherland.
As regards comments by Jimbo Crossan our Natioanl President on August 15th you can be sure that any comment made is not an off the cuff remark. Further, any such remark is genuine and would be received as such.
Contact is ongoing at this time and relationships are being established and built upon with a wide variety of people and groups and who knows what the future will hold.
Did you know, Donegaldub, that the AOH, Sinn Fein and the Orange Order paraded together during anti conscription meetings during WWI and played alternate tunes during the parades and shared platforms against conscription?
Is Mise
SeanF
Órd Ársa Na hÉireann
Posted by on Aug 22, 2007 @ 01:19 PMDonegaldub,
I take back what I stated about the AOH and copycat marching, I had no idea that the AOH predated the OO.
But in my opinion I still think it is a bad idea to parade to hammer your beliefs into the other side of the community (which it seems both the OO and the AOH do). I like the idea that you raised about the Apprentice Boys and the AOH marching together in Derry. It seems like a good idea which would be made possible in these recent peacefull times and Im sure it would help build relations.Posted by on Aug 22, 2007 @ 03:53 PMThank you for your gracious response, Seanf. The emotional reason for nationalists’ failure to carry a sense of veneration for those who died in the service of an imperial king has been perhaps best expressed in the verses of the song The Foggy, foggy dew:
“O, had they died by Pearse’s side
or fought with Cathal Brugha
their names we would keep
where the Fenians sleep
in the shade of the foggy dew”But instead they died simply as those who died in the shafts of mines, or on construction sites or scalded by carelessly ladled molten steel in foundries (as I have witnessed),simply another disposable commodity in the relentless pursuit of profit, broken, useless and dispensable as bent and rusty nails.
Posted by on Aug 23, 2007 @ 12:12 AMA wonderfully eloquent post Rory. You are right, you were wasted as a accountant.
Posted by on Aug 23, 2007 @ 12:15 AMI know, Dewi. I could have been a priest if it hadn’t been for the girls. Though Herself does believe that Father Jack was modelled on me anyway. So I suppose I enjoy it in some queer vicarious sort of way.
Posted by on Aug 23, 2007 @ 12:22 AMRory -
You should have referenced the proceeding line in the song:‘Twas England bade our sons to go,
that small nations might be free.
But their souls now lie by Suvlas side,
and the fringes of the grey north sea.’The writer specificially acknowledges the political motivation of many of those who joined up ‘that small nations might be free’, so in this way they are very different from those who died due to disgraceful working conditions and inadequate healthcare for the working classes.
However, it was not just England that bade them do anything, it was their own political and church leaders at the time. Don’t forget that when the Irish Volunteers split, only 12,000 or so went with McNeill, over 150,000 sided with Redmond and his call to fight for small nations.
The memorial stones to these men at Guillemont in France, Whytschaete in Flanders, and in Salonika are engraved with the quote ‘Do chum Gloire Dé agus Ónora na hEireann’ another acknowlegement that these men died for Ireland.
They were written out of Irish history, and continue to be written out, because they died as members of the British army and therefore dont fit easily into simplistic or comic book explainations of the period. Far from being as you describe ‘servants of an Imperial King’ these were patriotic Irish nationalists who believed, (as did most of the country at the time) that they were doing the right thing by Ireland.
Posted by on Aug 23, 2007 @ 10:27 AM
