The Twelfth - Controversies and Violence

Controversies and Violence

In Northern Ireland, where almost half the population is from an Irish Catholic background, The Twelfth is a tense time. Many Irish Catholics and Irish nationalists see the Orange Order and its marches as sectarian, triumphalist, supremacist, and an assertion of Protestant dominance in Northern Ireland. The Order's political links to unionism has also caused tension around Twelfth celebrations. Marchers insist that they have the right to celebrate their culture and walk on public streets, particularly along their 'traditional routes', even if these routes take them through or past what are predominantly nationalist areas. Nationalists see this as a deliberate territorial affront. In a 2011 survey of Orangemen throughout Northern Ireland, 58% of Orangemen said they should be allowed to march through nationalist areas with no restrictions; 20% said they should negotiate with residents first. Some have argued that members of both communities once participated in the event; although it has always been a Protestant affair and many Catholics opposed the marches.

Violence has accompanied Twelfth marches since their beginning.

• On 12 July 1797, eight Catholic members of the County Kerry Militia died in a clash with Orangemen and local yeomanry in Stewartstown.
• Clashes broke out between Orange marchers and nationalists in Belfast on 12 July 1813. Several Orangemen opened-fire on the crowd in Hercules Street, killing two Protestants and wounding four other people.
• On 12 July 1829, eight people were killed during Orange marches in Enniskillen, seven were killed in Clones and one was killed in Stewartstown. In Maghera, several Catholic homes were burnt down, prompting the intervention of the military. There was also trouble at marches in Armagh, Portadown, Bellaghy, Comber, Greyabbey, Glenoe and Strabane.
• Five Catholics were reportedly shot dead in Rathfriland and three or four were drowned in the river near Katesbridge after Twelfth marches in 1831. The following August, the Party Processions Act came into force. This Act was to be enforced for 5 years, until August 1837. It banned all Twelfth parades.
• The military used six pieces of artillery to help quell trouble at a Twelfth gathering at Scarva in 1836.
• A gun battle broke out on the Twelfth in 1849, when Orangemen marched through the rural Catholic community of Dolly's Brae near Castlewellan. Orangemen clashed with Catholic Ribbonmen, leaving a number of Catholics and Ribbonmen dead. This became known as the "Battle of Dolly's Brae". As a result of the clashes, the Party Processions Act was renewed the following year.
• Following the 1857 Twelfth marches in Belfast, sectarian rioting erupted in the city and lasted for ten days.
• The Portadown News reported that 16 Catholics were shot by Orangemen in Derrymacash on 12 July 1860. One died of his wounds. Stone-throwing had broken out when the Orangemen tried to march past the Catholic chapel. Outnumbered, some of the Orangemen opened-fire on the Catholics and retreated. This led to the passing of the Party Emblems Act in August that year, which forbade the carrying of weapons and the wearing of party colours in procession.
• There were clashes two years in a row during Twelfth marches in New York City. In 1870, eight people died in the clashes. In 1871, over 60 civilians (mostly Irish Catholics) and three Guardsmen lost their lives and over 150 were wounded.
• Throughout the summer of 1886, there were a string of riots in Belfast. Violence was particularly fierce during and after the Twelfth. By September, an estimated 31 people had been killed.
• In 1935 the Twelfth led to the worst violence in Belfast since the foundation of Northern Ireland in 1922. The violence allegedly began when Orangemen tried to enter the Catholic enclave of Lancaster Street. Nine people were killed. 514 Catholic families, comprising 2,241 people, were forced to flee their homes.

During the Troubles (late 1960s to late 1990s), the Twelfth was often accompanied by riots and paramilitary violence. In 1972, three people were shot dead on the Twelfth in Portadown. On the Twelfth in 1998, during the Drumcree standoff, three young boys were killed when loyalists firebombed their house in Ballymoney. The boys' mother was a Catholic, and their home was in a mainly-Protestant housing estate. The killings provoked widespread anger from both sides of the community.

Since the Troubles began, some bands hired to appear at Twelfth marches have openly shown support for loyalist paramilitary groups, either by carrying paramilitary flags and banners or sporting paramilitary names and emblems. During the Troubles, a number of prominent loyalist militants were Orangemen and took part in their marches. In February 1992, the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) shot dead five Catholic civilians in a betting shop in Belfast. When Orangemen marched past the shop that 12 July, some marchers held up five fingers in mockery of the five dead. The Secretary of State, Patrick Mayhew, said that they "would have disgraced a tribe of cannibals".

Every Twelfth between 1970 and 2005, British Army soldiers were deployed in Belfast to help police the parades. Due to improved policing, dialog between marchers and residents, and the Northern Ireland peace process, recent parades have been more peaceful. The Parades Commission was set up in 1998 to deal with contentious parades.

During the Troubles some Irish Catholic and nationalist areas organised festivals to keep their children away from the parades, where they might come into conflict with Protestant children, and to make the Twelfth more enjoyable for their communities.