Defending the ‘gap of the North’…… Newry Ulster Volunteers
Believed to be the home of the first Protestant Church on the island of Ireland, St Patrick’s built in 1578, Newry’s position as a thriving market …….
Unionism
A ‘South Down Militia’- the 1st Battalion South Down U.V.F.
The County Down tourist town of Newcastle nestles in one of the most picturesque parts of Ireland. Sitting at the foot of Slieve Donard on the …….
Ulster Icon………. Abercorn
‘From the time when the Home Rule dangers first appeared, my principle object in life had been to do everything in my power to unite in …….
Protestantism and St Patrick… A green and Orange Union?
The following piece was written back in 2010, appearing in the Belfast Newsletter. Six years later and the same issues are still being discussed… It was …….
County Mayo’s Orange heritage
In its 3rd August 1968 edition, Connacht newspaper The Western People included an inch and a half column that many readers probably never even noticed. It reported …….
Tandragee Ulster Volunteers
Tandragee town and the surrounding areas in the 16th and 17th centuries were the stronghold of the O’Hanlon clan. Its ancient history is largely lost to …….
Bann Valley Volunteers
Upon the advent of the first Home Rule Bill in 1886, Irish Unionism in partnership with the Orange Order canvassed Orange Lodges across the entirety of …….
The Ulster Defence Union
One of the lesser known Loyalist organisations of Ireland, following the announcement of the new Government of Ireland Bill in August 1892 (the 2nd Home Rule …….
The Review of the 36th Ulster Division
‘See the bayonets gleam, hark the roll of the drum; As the khaki-clad columns in close order come; Ah, the North may be proud of her …….
The last Connacht 12th…
Seldom realised today, is that outside Ulster the Orange parading tradition at one stage was manifest in almost every county in Ireland to some degree. In …….