The making of orangeism 1795-1800

This thesis examines the first five years of the Orange Order, exploring not just the preconditions and the circumstances that stimulated its formation, but attempting to go beyond the immediate formation of the Orange movement in 1795, and investigate the consolidation of the institution, exploring the tensions, ambitions and conflicts that were the agents in the'making' process. The key primary source in probing these hitherto uncharted waters has been the , Grand Lodge of Ireland minute book of 1798. This is a relatively 'new' source, that in itself, brings much hard evidence to an area of subject that was plagued by speculation. However, it is when the evidence from the minute book is placed beside other contemporary source material such as the Rebellion Papers, the Castlereagh correspondence ,newspapers and pamphlets, that the picture of Orangeism in the 1790s becomes clearer. The thesis concludes that early Orangeism was never the product of some grand Machiavellian design by government, but was initially a response to a very real Defender threat that exploited the security vacuum left by the Volunteers. In 1798 a group of young Yeomanry and militia officers, impressed by Orangeism's potential as a supplementary military, tried to impose their will and ambitions on the largely plebeian membership. From the tensions, accommodations and deceptions between these diverse. brethren, emerged an enduring institution, the Orange Order.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo