Global Orangeism, 1795-2020: Growth, influence, and decline

Abstract

The Loyal Orange Institution or Orange Order was founded amidst agrarian conflict in a small town in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1795. Despite these seemingly insignificant beginnings, the Orange Order has managed to spread and adapt to countries far beyond the shores of Ireland. This thesis adopts a comparative and transnational framework to explore this global loyalist organisation. Drawing on a range of archival and Orange sources, this study examines the Orange Order in many key areas: its spread across the world, structure and rituals, activism, parades, material culture, and Junior Orange Movement. These themes reveal clear differences and similarities between the Orange Order in Ireland and the Orange diaspora. In particular, the Masonic-inspired ritual practices and the role of women in the Orange Order stand out as differences, whereas the hierarchical lodge system and Orange ideals remain. Transnational networks are evidenced by Orange members who have supported and promoted Orange ideals for more than two hundred years. It is this close fraternal bond that continues to maintain the global Orange network. The most notable anomaly in the Orange world occurs in the United States, which has innovated in the areas of membership. While the lodges there had flexibility in terms of gender, the racial bar existed well into the late twentieth century. This reveals a branch of Orangeism that was influenced more by societal conditions than its original intent. The perception of the Orange Order as a male-dominated, bigoted and often violent organisation is an enduring image. This study demonstrates that despite the efforts of the Orange Order to transform this perception, it continues to endure.