Today (July 12) is the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. Sort of. The opposing sides also had two opposing calendars, the Irish Catholics the Gregorian and the British Protestants the Julian, so the anniversary could also be said to be July 1st.
William of Orange came out on top of the battle, and Seamus Acaca would flee and end his days in exile. In the years following the battle, Irish Protestants would wear Orange in commemoration of their victory. This habit would lead in the late 1700's to the creation of the Orange Lodge. The Lodge would spread to all corners of the Empire, but took a very special hold in what is now Ontario, and in particular the city of Toronto, where the Lodge would never pass up a change to remind the Catholics just who was in charge here.
1 comment:
Is this why some Irish even in America have boiled dinner (corned beef etc) and say make sure to eat the little protestants (the carrots)!
Ireland today is paying a steep price for giving up the faith as they are being forced to turn over their own homeland to strangers by the people they put in office. And they'd best not utter a complaint about it.
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