THE Orange Order of Ireland is a hierarchical body of around 80,000 men bound by oaths to protect Protestant unity, the Protestant religion, people and property.
It was founded in Co Armagh on September 21st, 1795, following the Battle of the Diamond between the Defenders (or Catholics) and the Protestants, but it has its roots in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when King William of Orange, regarded as the Protector of the Protestant faith, defeated the Catholic King James.
Capt John Gifford of the Royal Dublin Militia, stationed at Portadown, is regarded as the founder of the Orange Order, having adopted the title of Orangemen and drafted the original oaths and the first regulations soon after the Battle of the Diamond.
Gifford wrote to his friend Capt Beresford in Dublin telling him he had founded at Loughgall a society that for generations would curb both Pope and Popery in Ireland.
At that time the governor of Co Armagh, Lord Gosford described them as "lawless banditti" after a purge of Catholics from the county. Lord Altamont in 1796 estimated that 4,000 refugees from Armagh were living in Co Mayo. The order then had no more than 290 members.
Today the Orange Order estimates its membership at 80,000 but admits there are no records at its headquarters in Belfast's Dublin Road. There are 1,374 lodges in Ireland including one in Dublin/Wicklow, 12 in Co Donegal, two in Co Leitrim, 18 in Co Cavan and 22 in Co Monaghan. Lodges are now flourishing across the world, in England, Canada, the US, New Zealand, Australia and West Africa.
The order's leader is the Grand Master of the Orange Order of Ireland. Mr Robert Saulters took over from the Rev Martin Smyth late last year as its leader. All officers of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland are elected by the Grand Lodge except the two assistant Grand Masters who are the personal nominees of the Grand Master.
In a recent publication celebrating 200 years of Orangeism, the order's executive officer, Mr George Patton, said: "Too many people are brainwashed into thinking that the position of Orangeism is negative. Within lodges, families, groups or individual contact within our churches and throughout society Orangemen and women must lift up the standard of peace."
With its formal link to the Ulster Unionist Party under review, it still maintains a strong unionist ethos and members are urged to take a strong interest in maintaining the union with Britain.
Mr Patton said: "Orangeism is not about the Twelfth of July or numbers on the books, it is about living out the faith and principles every day of every year."
The Royal Black Institution came into existence two years after the Orange Order but records of this organisation do not exist until 1858.
Instead of lodges, the Black Institution is divided into 970 preceptories in Ireland (536 preceptories), England (27); Scotland (62) and it has others in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and West Africa.
The Apprentice Boys of Derry yet another of the "loyal orders", is based on the "no surrender" - action of the 13 apprentice boys in slamming the gates of Derry on, King James's army at the start of the siege in 1689.
Its main parade in the city is held on August 12th to celebrate the relief of Derry and the end of the siege - up to 10,000 members take part.
