Orange Order districts across Ontario assembled in Carleton Place last Monday July 12 to celebrate the 320th Anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne William IIIs King Billy victory over James II in 1690.
For the second time in three years, Loyal Orange Lodge No. 48 Carleton Place hosted the special occasion, which included a number of festivities at the Neelin Street Community Centre Carleton Place arena.
Allan Currie, treasurer for Lodge No. 48 said more than 500 people attended the celebration.
�Everyone had a good time,� he said. �Following the parade, they came back to the arena to listen to music. A number of people got up and danced.�
The Orange Institution is a protestant organization based predominantly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout Canada and the United States.
Currie is one of four generations of Orange men. In 1949, at the age of 16, he joined the Orange lodge in Franktown. When No. 381 became dormant, he joined the Carleton Place lodge.
The mission statement of the Loyal Orange Association is: �Working together of the betterment of family, community and country.� The association stands for:
- Democratic government for the people and by the people.
- Promotion and maintaining the protestant faith.
- Preserving the English language.
- The public school concept.
- Maintaining the monarchy.
- Supremacy of Law.
- A United Canada.
�There is so much history behind the Loyal Orange Association,� Currie said.
Through the years, the Orange Institution, which was once a fraternal organization, has inspired the formation of the Ladies Orange Benevolent Association, Orange Young Britons and Junior Orange Lodge.
Today, the Carleton Place lodge has 11 members, and the grand master is Kevin Bradley.
�Membership has declined over the years,� Currie said, adding, �Its the same for a number of lodges. For this reason, we can be dual members, however, we can only have one home lodge.�
Currie, his son, Randy Currie, and Bradley are members of Lodge No. 917 in Munster.
In past years, Currie recounted the local lodge boasting more than 50 members, and on the �glorious 12th� Orange men, Orange women, Orange boys and Orange girls from all parts of the country met in town and had a general parade.
�At least 2,000 people participated and another 2,000 lined the streets to watch,� he said. �The parade was about two miles in length.�
Currie noted some observers might see the Orange Institution as �a bigoted society against Catholics, but nothing could be further from the truth.�
HISTORY
The first Orange society began in 1688, when William, Prince of Orange a Dutch-speaking Protestant arrived in England to �free the people from King James II a Roman Catholic.�
Reading from a document, Currie stated: �When James II ascended the English throne, he made a concerned effort to reestablish Roman Catholicism as supreme in church and state. History records that an English Admiral left London with a message inviting William to come to England and defend the cause of Protestantism and liberty, as well as the democratic concepts established by the Act of Settlement. The term of that Act placed William and Mary on the Throne of England. Mary was James daughter. When James attempted to regain the throne with an army 25,000 men he brought together in Spain and France, William and his army 36,000 men at the Boyne River in Ireland defeated him. Approximately 1,500 soldiers were killed at the Boyne.�
In the north of Ireland in 1795, the first Orange lodge was established, and the date of the first general meeting of the society is recorded as July 12, 1796.
The Orange movement spread over Ireland and subsequently later into other jurisdictions around the world.
For more information about Lodge No. 48 or to become a member, contact Kevin Bradley at 613-253-5547 or Allan Currie at 613-253-4211. For information about the Ladies Orange Benevolent Association, contact Debbie Bradley at 613-253-5547, and to learn more about becoming a Junior Orange Lodge member, contact Edith White at 613-257-3198.
