The Orange Order

1. The Orange Order in the Twentieth Century: A Comparative Perspective from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Newfoundland and Ontario

3. The Orange Order • Formed 1795 in Northern Ireland • Stands for loyalty to British Crown & Protestantism • Associative cornerstone of British dominant ethnicity in Canada, N.I., west-central Scotland • Rapidly spread internationally

4. Social & Political Influence- Canada • Politically influential by 1867 • Many Tory MPs were members • Involved in most national issues • 1/3 of Ontario legislature was Orange in 1915 • 1/3 of Ontario males were members during 1870-1920 • Hundreds of thousands in the wider Orange fraternity as late as the 1950's

5. Political Influence in N. Ireland • Helped found Ulster Unionist Party • Guaranteed 15% of seats on Ulster Unionist Council • Virtually all Official Unionist MPs are, and have been, Orange members • Orange Order an influential lobby

6. Quantitative Research • Based on Previously Restricted Membership Data • Previous research has only tracked the number of lodges • Membership data highlights different patterns, contrasts with census and other data • I will look at patterns of membership over time and place

9. Concentrated in Ontario, NB & Nfld, but strength Nationwide

10. International Orange Strength • Newfoundland the strongest Orange jurisdiction, similar to Ulster border counties • Belfast area and Ontario similar • WC Scotland and NW England much weaker

15. 20th c. International Orange Membership Trends • Ontario declines first, 1920 • Newfoundland and Northern Ireland decline after 1960, though faster in NF • Scotland declines from 1982, but from smaller base

16. Lodges Cluster in Protestant Areas? • Protestant areas, but: • Scotland and Ontario see heavier Orange presence in areas of Irish-Protestant settlement • Northern Ireland counties with higher Church of Ireland proportions have more Orange Protestants • Towns and cities have fewer Orangemen in Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland and less so in Canada

17. Newfoundland Male Orange Lodges, 1961

18. Orange Order Lodges, Northern Ireland, 1991

19. Roman Catholic Percentage, Scottish Counties, 1961

21. Male Orange Lodges, Southern Ontario, c. 1975

25. Male Orange Density, N.I., 1971

26. N.I. Counties, by Protestant Percentage, 1971

27. Church of Ireland Protestants, N.I. Counties, 1971

30. Orange Order Density 1991

31. Causes of Orange Membership Change • Ethnic and Religious changes key (%Irish Protestants, %Catholics, %Established Church) • Economic change less important, though urbanization has a role in Northern Ireland and Ontario • Events lie in between cultural shifts and economic changes in importance

32. Order 'goes native' in Canada but less so in Scotland • In 1881, 3/4 of 256 lodge masters in Scotland are Irish-born; Thought of as an Irish organisation into the 1930s • In 1901, just 7% of Ontario sample of 340 masters and few Newfoundland members are Irish-born • Numerical success and class profile higher in Canada • Irish Methodists vastly overrepresented in Ontario: a new world adaptation

35. Political Influence • Order influence tied to membership • Order most 'liberal' in Newfoundland • Class 'slippage' in all areas (N.I. And Canada), 1920s-1960s

36. Conclusion: An Adaptive Organization • Transition between Irish diaspora ethnicity and Protestant dominant-group ethnicity • Convivial, dominant-ethnic and political roles • Adapts most successfully in Newfoundland, followed by Ontario, Liverpool and then Scotland • Political power follows membership strength