Our morning correspondent is Justin Hamlin:
According to Martin Luther King, Jr., “Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict.” I chose this quote because it speaks to what is occurring here in Northern Ireland. To overcome oppression the people are pursuing nonviolence. Together they are bringing the violence to an end in a peaceful manner.
After breakfast this morning we headed into town for a lecture on the history of the Orange Order and their parades. We received a very informative and educational lecture from Dr. Bryan, the Director of Irish Studies Program, here at Queens University. Dr. Bryan is a very charismatic guy who brings passion and expertise to his teaching. He brought his young daughter with him to class today because she had the day off of school (yes she has school and it is July!!) His daughter came in to see what exactly it is her daddy does. She even drew us a picture of the parades because the DVD was not working.
The parades today consist of several different lodges, or groups who all have their own sashes and numbers. The Orange Order commemorates the Battle of the Boyne, which took place about sixty miles north of Dublin. In the battle King William of Orange, a Protestant defeated King James, a Catholic. The battle is portrayed as one of the most important battles in Ireland’s history, but in reality it had nothing to do with Ireland. It was a European war over who would control of the English throne. Protestant English aristocracy overthrew Catholic English aristocracy as a result of the battle. Oddly enough the Pope supported King William of Orange because he was at odds with King Louis of France. The result was disastrous for Catholic Ireland. Protestants set up a parliament in Dublin and enacted the harsh penal laws. These laws restricted Catholics rights for an equal education, rights for certain job holdings, and the right to go to mass. The Catholics were now under the yoke of Protestant rule.
The Orange Order, established in 1795, is comprised of lodges that have been a focal point in Irish history. The master of each lodge goes to an upper lodge and meets with other leaders. There are four levels to the lodge system. The lodges were initiated to celebrate the great victory at the Boyne. Initially mostly lower class and rural people took part in them. Over time lodges were introduced into the job marketplace for economic and political reasons. Protestants in particular joined these lodges because they provided a sense of job security. The “Twelfth of July” is when they hold parades throughout Ireland. In 1850 parades were banned because of violence. In 1872 parades were deemed legal again, and received a big boost in attendance with the introduction of public transportation. In 1912 the Orange Order became active in opposition to the Home Rule movement in Ireland. In 1921 the six of the nine counties of Ulster were partitioned by Britain from the thirty counties of Ireland, and a Home Rule parliament was established in Belfast. The Northern Ireland parliament was run by Protestants and came to be known as the “Orange State.”
Membership in the Orange lodge has changed over the years. Traditionally Orangemen took a vow of temperance to refrain from drugs and alcohol. Silver Bands and Flute, ‘Blood and Thunder’, bands were hired to play in the marches. The bands changed traditions with their drugs and alcohol. The lodges and parades served as a platform for businessmen. Lawyers met clients through parades, and farmers used them to sell their goods. In the 1960s the shipyard in Belfast and many other jobs simply went away; which brought chaos to the whole Orange Order. The economic decline of Northern Ireland led to a radical decline in membership in the order. This decline is often seen as the result of the Orange Order’s loss of its political and economic power because many working class Protestants saw no benefit of being in the order.
After our wonderful lecture we headed back to Queens for a nice lunch. The lecture today astonished me. I continue to be amazed by the complexity and hatred that is in Irish history. I can apply the knowledge of what we learned today to more greatly appreciate the Orange parades that we will see on the Twelfth of July. The Protestants parade to celebrate their victory at the Boyne over the Catholics and their control of the Catholics in earlier times. The Protestants and Catholics have differences with each other. By what D. Bryan told us today, the hatred and violence has greatly reduced and the two sides are more equal today, but things are still tense. Someday the Peace Walls may be torn down, but the most important walls are those that people hold within them.
Miss you Mom, Dad, and Irene!
Our afternoon correspondent is Bill Malley:
“The key to change.....is to let go of fear.”
-Rosanne Cash
After a few hours of free time everyone walked back to the Irish Studies classrooms at Queen’s. During the afternoon we had the chance to hear Baroness May Blood speak, as well as Rory O’Neal. Ms. Blood lived through the Troubles and became a powerful figure for women around the world and a strong voice for peace in Ireland. Rory is an alumni of John Carroll University and went on a similar trip to Northern Ireland when he was a student. Now Rory works for Peaceplayers International and has been living in Belfast for two years. Both of these people are working towards a peaceful and non-violent way to help bring the communities in Northern Ireland end the discrimination and violence aimed at one another.
Baroness May Blood, formally known as Baroness May Blood of Blackwatertown, grew up in Belfast with nine siblings in a two up, two down (apartment with two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room). At the age of fourteen she left school and began to work in the linen mill, in a “mixed” area, where she became an active member in the trade union fighting for the rights of workers; especially those of women in the mill. When the Troubles broke out, she said everything changed overnight. Baroness Blood is Presbyterian and was told that the Catholics that she has been working with for years and living among were now the enemy. Barriers were put up on the street and curfews were enforced. However, Baroness and many other women in her neighborhood began to help out their Catholic co-workers. The barrier was set up right between the two communities of Protestants and Catholics, but all of the shops and stores were on the Protestant side of the divide. Baroness and many other women in her neighborhood would go up to the barrier, collect money from the Catholic women, and then buy them the groceries that they needed. This small form of a protest showed that not every Catholic and every Protestant were against each other. It was inspirational to see Baroness become so successful.
Baroness shared with us the story of her life. After climbing the ladder in her trade union, working to involve women in the political process in Northern Ireland, she was offered a seat in the House of Lords. She accepted and is still holding her position as a representative for the Labour party. She is a strong feminist. She shared with us that she was once the only woman who had worked with twenty-four other men on a political committee. She said twenty-four men and her, “that’s about fair.”
Baroness Blood is currently trying to integrate the community through the schools. She believes that people must meet and come to know each other if there is to be peace. So far she has integrated about seven percent of all the schools in Northern Ireland, which accounts for about 22,000 children of both Catholic and Protestant background. If ignorance of your neighbor is erased at an early age, the day for peace throughout all of Northern Ireland will be here soon.
Right after Ms. Baroness May Blood left, Rory O’Neal came in to talk to us about the organization that he works for called Peaceplayers. Peaceplayers brings children from the two communities together and teach them to play basketball. They are set up in a few different spots around the world where conflict has been thriving. Here in Northern Ireland they take children from two different schools, one Catholic and the other Protestant, and put the kids through an eight week basketball camp. Through the camp they not only learn about the game, but they learn about each other and find out that there is very little difference between them. Rory told us a story about one girl whose father would not let her play, and he said that she went home and said to her dad, “Why? They are just like us!” It seems so complicated, but it is so simple, the little girl said it perfectly. Every day that the people in the Catholic and Protestant communities learn about each other, the internal walls that separate them are broken down. After the talk we walked home and had some time to catch up on our journals. We also had a delicious taco dinner at the dorm and would later reflect as a group on the day.
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