The greatest story never told’: 140 years of Orangeism in Canterbury

The Loyal Orange Institution (LOI) began in Canterbury in 1864 with a small group of Irishmen. The LOI gained a strong public presence in Canterbury, especially through its parades and also its social functions in small communities. Later the Orangewomen also made their presence felt and helped bolster numbers and add another dimension to Orangeism in Canterbury. Who were its members and which denominations contributed to its membership? Drawing on oral interviews with current members of the LOI and other archival research this paper attempt to construct how Ulster’s most colourful and often controversial institution adapted to a New World environment. Included in this discussion is how the LOI’s very public and prominent presence in Canterbury gradually dissolved over the years and drifted into obscurity