Guestling Bradshaw CE Primary School

People in Northern Ireland annually celebrate Orangemen's Day to commemorate the Battle of Boyne, which occurred on Ireland’s east coast in 1690. It is a bank holiday on or after July 12th and often features marches or demonstrations. This day is known as "Orangemen's Day", "Orange Day", "the Glorious Twelfth" or just "the Twelfth".

In Northern Ireland, Orangemen's Day is a bank holiday. This bank holiday normally falls on July 12th. However, if the 12th is a Saturday or Sunday, the bank holiday falls on the following Monday. Schools and many businesses and organisations are closed. Some stores may be closed. Public transport services may run on their regular or special holiday timetables.

The Battle of the Boyne took place in July 1690 on the banks of the Boyne River near the town of Dorgheda on the East coast of Ireland. It was a battle between King James VII of Scotland and James II of England and Ireland on one side, and Prince William of Orange on the other. Prince William of Orange won the battle and became King William III.

The Battle of the Boyne has been seen as symbolic of the sectarian struggles between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland. King James was seen as representing the Catholics and Prince William was seen to represent the Protestants. This gave the Battle of the Boyne an important symbolic role in Irish politics and life. However, modern analysis of documents from the time suggests that Catholics and Protestants fought on both sides.

Although the Battle of the Boyne is now commemorated on July 12th, it actually took place on July 1st 1690. The shift in the date is due to the changeover from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. In Ireland, the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752 and September 14th followed September 2nd. Many dates in the calendar were mapped into the new calendar without a correction. However, the Orange orders were suspicious of the Gregorian calendar and its papist connections and continued to march on the corrected date of July 12th.

In many towns in Northern Ireland, marches or walks are held by organisations with a Protestant orientation. The marching season lasts from April until August but the Glorious Twelfth (of July), or Orangemen's Day, is particularly important. Many marches are organized by Lodges of the Orange Order and are accompanied by a marching band.

Participants in the walks, or marches, often wear dark suits, although they may remove their jackets if it is hot. Traditionally, they also wore black bowler hats and white gloves, although these are not as common now. The participants also wear collarettes. This type of collarette is made from a long thin piece of cloth, which is draped around the neck of the wearer and joined to form a “V” shape at the front. Many collarettes are made from orange cloth, although there may be other colours. The collarettes bear the number of the lodge that the wearer belongs to and a range of badges showing the person’s positions in or degrees from the lodge.

Many lodges carry at least one flag during the marches. This is normally the Union Flag, sometimes known as the Union Jack, although some carry Scottish, Ulster or Orange Order flags.  Many lodges also carry one or more banners. These display the name and number of the lodge on one side. The other side often displays images of William of Orange, deceased lodge members, local landmarks or the bible with a crown.

In the past, the marches sometimes resulted in violent clashes between Protestant and Catholic groups. However, in recent years, the events have been much more peaceful.