Still Orange after all these years - A memoir, by Bro. Michael Phelan 

I was born in Sheffield in 1950. There were no Orange influences in my family to encourage me to join the Order. My grandfather and uncles were active members of ex-servicemen’s organisations and I saw the enjoyment they derived from that. Perhaps I was looking for something similar in the Orange Order.

I came from a family that was, on my mother’s side, not only very Protestant, but also very non-Conformist. Until I joined the Orange Order I had scarcely met an Anglican. My father’s family had connections to the Church of Ireland, but he had little interest in religion and he left home when I was about nine years old anyway.

When I was fourteen I started attending a Baptist Church and became a Christian in the true sense, being baptised by total immersion a few months later. The minister was Rev David Neil, a native of Glasgow.

When the “Troubles” started in Ireland in the late sixties I tried to keep an open mind about them. A decisive event came in January 1969 with a “Civil Rights” march in Newry which ended in violence. It was such a blatant sectarian attack on a Protestant minority that I regarded the Civil Rights and its baggage as being a Republican front. Ulster was under attack, and I should be doing something about it.

In 1972 I read an interview in the local press with the Worshipful Master of the Sheffield Orange Lodge. I didn’t even know there was one, but I made contact with him and expressed a wish to join. I was interviewed and Initiated into membership on 17th March 1973. This was the John E Bingham Loyal Orange Lodge 844, which is still going strong in Sheffield. My Initiation, however, was held in Huddersfield where we held occasional meetings for members who lived in that area. In the English manner I was passed to the Purple Degree in due course and was Raised to the Royal Arch Purple in June 1974. The first Orange Walk I attended was in London in May 1973, and that year I also walked in Coventry and Southport.

At the time I joined the Orange Order it would be fair to say that I was very angry at the atrocities being perpetrated by the Republicans, and I wanted to strike back at them. This made me favourable to the more physical forms of Loyalism, to which I gave support where I felt I could. This probably reached its height during the UWC strike of 1974.

I did, however, feel that a lot of young men were finding themselves breaking the law who would never otherwise have got in trouble. The problem was that the security forces were not being given the freedom to hit back at the terrorists and so, I thought, it would make more sense to help create a climate of opinion where the security forces were allowed to do their job and young men were no longer driven to break the law.

In my early years as an Orangeman I benefited greatly from the guidance and mentoring of Bro Ken Brack, who was in the Chair when I was Initiated, and went on to become a popular Grand Tyler for many years. There was also Bro Alec Marsh, HDGM, who was a great influence and a fascinating man. Alec had been born around 1904 in Liverpool and joined a Juvenile Lodge at a young age. He rose to become Deputy Grand Secretary and served in the Ulster Special Constabulary. Flying as a RAF gunner based in Italy he remembered attending lodge meetings in the ruins of a convent. Throughout his years of service to the Order he was greatly strengthened by the help and support of his Scottish wife Jean, herself a member of the Ladies’ Lodge. Ken and Alec helped me keep my feet on the ground whenever I got a little bit excitable.

Several young men joined LOL 844 soon after I did, the first being Tony Pearson, who was my best friend, my best man when I got married, and the first person I recruited into the Order. Soon after he joined we also gained Bros Neil Cadman and Frank Shaw and then, towards the end of the 1970s, Bro Richard Harvey, who went on to become RW Grand Chaplain.

In addition, the ceremonies and rituals of the Orange Lodge, with the prayers and Bible readings, reminded me of the faith of my youth and caused me to want to return to it. I had helped to revive Defenders of the Faith LLOL 125 in 1974, and was elected WM of LOL 844 in 1981. My wife and I began to hold a series of series of Bible-studies at our home, with members of the men’s and ladies’ lodges attending, and the studies being led by the minister or elders of uncompromisingly-Protestant churches.

Through these meetings we made many friends in the wider Protestant community, and this proved to be of great help when LOL 844 opposed the Papal visit of 1982. During the months leading up to the Papal visit members of the lodge distributed 28,000 leaflets door-to-door in parts of Sheffield presenting the case against the visit. Using our contacts with local Protestant churches and with Protestant societies nationally, we organised numerous meetings at churches throughout Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The largest meetings were held at an Evangelical Church in Barnsley and at an Assemblies of God Church in Sheffield, at both of which Rev Dr Ian Paisley was the speaker.

At the Barnsley meeting myself and other lodge members acted as Stewards. We must have had over 200 people crammed into the church, to the extent that there was then no room for us to fit in, so we had to stay outside. A rabble of about 200 far-left types turned out to demonstrate against the meeting and we faced them off all night.   

During this time the Orange Institution was experiencing some growth in our area. When I joined, LOL 844 was in Manchester 13 District as part of Manchester Province. We revived Yorkshire District 35 to include Sheffield LOL 844, Sheffield LLOL 125, Leeds LOL 81, and Doncaster LOL 33. I was the first WDM of the new District, and I also served as Prov Grand Secretary of Manchester Province. This was a busy time, as Orange Parades were being revived in Manchester. We always used to parade to Belle View.

My wife and I married in 1974, and in 1975 took our first holiday together. We went to Scotland for the Orange Walks, and we walked in Grangemouth and Blantyre that year. We were based in Edinburgh, where we made many Orange friends such as Bro Tam Greig and Bro J G McLean. These friendships are still important to me. In 1976 LOL 844 walked in Edinburgh with John Knox Memorial LOL 112. Later, 112 paid us a rerun visit to Sheffield where, at a lodge meeting, they demonstrated the Scottish First Degree.

At that time Tyneside District 46 was unattached to any Province, but was showing good growth under the leadership of the WDM, Bro Don Middleton. At the Grand Lodge sessions in 1981 I had discussions with Don about combining Yorkshire and Tyneside into a revived Northern Province no 4. This was duly done and the inaugural meeting took place in a hotel in Scarborough, with Don as RWPGM and myself as Deputy PGM in 1982. There followed some of my happiest times I have had in the Orange Order. The brethren of the two Districts got on very well, and Don provided excellent leadership through a calm and mature approach to the job in hand. Under Don’s leadership the Northern Province continued to thrive, opening new lodges and holding parades in areas where Orange had not been seen for some time.

I spent much of 1981 trying to persuade anyone who would listen that we must reinforce the Falkland Islands against Argentine threats, and I had a motion in the Conservative Party Conference handbook that year. I had also forwarded a motion for consideration at Grand Lodge sessions, though this had been ruled out as being “political”. I raised this matter on the floor of Grand Lodge and my motion was re-instated and passed. I never heard if any action was taken subsequently, but it wouldn’t have done the Grand Lodge of England any harm to be seen to be more alert to danger than those whose neglect allowed the seizure of the Islands the following year.

During the 1980’s my Lodge, John E Bingham LOL 844, “twinned” with Portrush Purple Heroes LOL 742, and most years I walked on 12th July with Districts like Coleraine, Macosquin and the City of Londonderry. The Portrush Lodge could rely on several families with long connections to the Lodge, and I remember the Johnsons, the Chalmers and the Peacocks.

In 1975 I joined “Burning Bush” Royal Black Preceptory 1043, which met in Birmingham. I used to travel down by rail every month until alterations to the timetable made this impossible. Around 1980 Sir Knight George Disley opened a new Preceptory in Yorkshire, “Cromwell’s Ironsides” RBP 1143, so I transferred my membership to this Preceptory and resumed active membership, becoming Deputy Master. The last service I provided to Northern Province was to attend as a representative at the Grand Lodge Sessions in Durham in 1984, which was very successfully hosted by Northern Province.

In 1980 our first child was born and it became obvious to me that I needed to boost my income to take care of a growing family. Work in the North was very scarce, so I headed off to London. Eventually I bought a house in a quiet commuter town just beyond the M25 and moved my family there. A second child was born in 1985.    

I attended London lodge meetings as a visitor, but I was so attached to my old Lodge and Preceptory that I couldn’t bring myself to transfer my membership. What changed all that was the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985.The Agreement angered many Unionists in and around London, and also young Ulster professional people who had moved to London for work. I thought the Orange Order could not lose the opportunity to show some leadership in this situation, but for me to do anything about it I would need to transfer my membership to a local lodge, which was William Alexander Memorial LOL 1689. Once again, the Lodge was blessed with good leadership from its WM, Bro Stan Ferguson, who was a cool, steady, common-sense guy. I was elected DM.

For some time LOL 1689 had struggled for members and for suitable meeting venues. An influx of highly-motivated Unionists increased the numbers and gave us a firm base. Some members came from groups such as the Greater London Young Conservatives and the Federation of Conservative Students. Others were young Ulstermen working or studying in London. Of the latter I remember Bro Michael Thomson, who died tragically in the Kegworth Air Crash on 8th January 1989.    

The Lodge began to organise open meetings in Committee Rooms of the Commons, the first one being addressed by Ian Gow and James Molyneaux. A follow-up was addressed by Rev Martin Smyth and Lord Cranbourne, but this was held in Chelsea in an attempt to embarrass the MP for Chelsea, Nichols Scott, whose constituency that was. Later we were back in the Commons to be addressed by Sir Eldon Griffiths and Ken Maginnis. We also extended what help we could to pro-Union groups such as Friends of the Union, which raised our profile and extended our networks.

When that great patriot Ian Gow was murdered by the IRA the Friends of the Union began a series of annual Ian Gow Memorial Lectures, at every one of which the Orange Order was well represented and which led, in 2006, to the raising of the Houses of Parliament Loyal Orange Lodge, of which the MWGM appointed me Secretary.

In 1990 David (now Lord) Trimble was elected MP for Upper Bann, and his arrival at Westminster saw an immediate increase in the tempo of Unionist activity. More than any other Unionist politician to that point, David Trimble sought to garner support from Unionists in Great Britain. At a very early stage LOL 1689 held a meeting in a committee room on “The Union in Danger”, at which the speakers were Trimble, for the Ulster angle, and the late Phil Gallie MP for Ayr at that time. It was a very difficult meeting to chair, as everybody wanted to ask questions of David Trimble, even though Phil Gallie had worked hard to get the Conservative Party to organise in Northern Ireland. Given the subsequent rise of the SNP, would any such gathering today be equally complacent about Scotland’s place in the Union ?    

Another early meeting with David Trimble was when he was guest at the annual dinner of LOL 1689 in a private room at the old Kettners restaurant. He was received so warmly that the Lodge members present gave him three rounds of “Kentish Fire”, which we then heard repeated by the staff in the kitchen, no doubt in high spirits themselves by then.  

David Trimble did not deal with threats to the Union that were merely political, but he also sought to confront those that had a broader, more subtle, cultural aspect. While not confining himself to a single initiative, probably his most important act in this record was his launching of The Ulster Society, which described its mission thus, -

“… the Society’s aims and objectives remain the promotion and preservation of Ulster-British heritage. The Society seeks to celebrate and raise awareness and understanding of our heritage and culture both within and without the Ulster-British community, not least among those from other traditions and the ethnic minorities.”

The Society produced a magazine three times a year, together with a steady stream of books and booklets. Some of the books were given a formal launch at venues such as the Carlton Club. Dedicated field workers worked hard to make such events a success. I made sure that every Orange Lodge, Black Preceptory and Apprentice Boys Club of which I was a member enrolled as a corporate member. All those who took advantage of the Society’s services were richly rewarded and made fitter for the struggle.

The Orange Institution in the south of England was well-placed to assist these groups, as we had been growing for a few years. My own lodge, LOL 1689, developed a close relationship with the Mourne District, and with Orangefield LOL 564, Ballinran in particular. In 1990, at the huge parade in Belfast that year to mark the 300th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, about a dozen of LOL 1689 members went over to parade with Mourne District. I returned for several Twelfths in subsequent years, attending the Sham Fight in Scarva the day after. This led me to have a lasting friendship with the Donaldson family.

All lodges in London were doing well, including a Ladies’ Lodge and a Juvenile Lodge. The latter was well-looked after by Bro Bert Davies, who made huge efforts on behalf the children. Both my sons joined and, on a monthly basis, we would go into London to the Junior meeting, then take the lodge members to somewhere of interest. The London Planetarium was a favourite. We also had days out to attractions such as Birdworld. In the late eighties a new lodge was founded, Rayleigh Martyrs LOL 780, in south Essex, which was a tribute to the amount of work put into this project by the late Bro Archie Richardson. A new District Master, Bro Tom Jackson, a Glaswegian who had moved to London, was also a very dedicated and hard-working Orangeman. He revived the District Parades in London which had lapsed. The first one was a very small affair, just a few dozen taking part, with one band. Tommy wasn’t put off, and could see the potential. Today there are two Orange parades per year in London alone, with several hundred taking part in each.

Further afield in the south of England, the brethren in Sussex had been revived with the influx of some new members. One in particular, Bro Jim North, ran a publishing venture, Focus Christian Ministries, through which Christian classics were produced as facsimile reprints.

On the south coast, Portsmouth and Southampton both had good lodges, backed by the Portsmouth Accordion Band, who played to such a high standard that they were frequently engaged for public events. For a while, the lodges in Plymouth were geographically isolated, but a new lodge was opened in Bristol, The Heroes of the Somme LOL 842. I had a hand in the opening of this lodge, as I was serving as Provincial Grand Secretary of the Metropolitan Province at this time. The brethren aiming to start the new lodge had worked long and hard for it, but were becoming frustrated at delays in getting transfers from other jurisdictions. When I found this out, I identified the “choke points” and focussed on getting them removed.

My time as a Provincial Grand Secretary of the Metropolitan Province was a happy and fruitful one. I worked very closely with Bro Ian Mackey, who was PG Treasurer, and we achieved a high degree of co-operation. This was the first time I had worked with Ian, and it was not the last. On every occasion we have worked together he has been a delight to work with, and we have always managed to get results. Ian served as PG Treasurer for several years, and he and I attended Grand Lodge sessions together. After a while, Ian decided to concentrate his efforts at more of a “grass roots” level, which was a loss to Province and Grand Lodge, but it meant his own area of Oxford had a thriving Orange Lodge, Black Preceptory and Apprentice Boys Club.

About this time I shifted the emphasis of my Loyalist activities. As Metropolitan Province was on a sound basis I stood down as PG Secretary. In 1992 I was elected Grand Lodge Historian, and determined to make that my main Orange activity. I was in a position to acquire books and publications about the Orange Order, and I determined to gather the information and disseminate it around the membership. The late Frank Neal set a new standard in Orange historiography by producing balanced and impartial works about the Order, in place of the ranting left-wing antagonism that had gone before. This opened the way for me to assist academics who were taking an interest in us.

The Grand Lodge Historian’s role was expanded when a special warrant was issued for a Lodge of Research, with the Grand Lodge Historian to be the WM of the Lodge. The Lodge was to meet four times per year. There would be a business meeting each year in Liverpool before Grand Lodge; a meeting at the end of the year and another at the beginning of each year which would be in different parts of the country, with a guest speaker; and a meeting in the summer which would be a visit to places of Protestant interest, such as St Albans, Cambridge and Lutterworth.

Besides this, in 1994 I became the first Worshipful Master of a revived lodge meeting in Essex, the North Essex Martyrs Memorial LOL 45. I was assisted in this venture by Bros Owen Wilson, Michael Prior, Michael Borrott and David Hoey. Originally, LOL 45 used to visit Ballymena for the Twelfth, though now members walk as individuals in various locations.

A feature of LOL 45 in the early days was our annual dinner, which we always took care to make a showcase. We had guest speakers from the Commons, the Lords, journalism, academia, and we also had the MWGMs of England (twice), Scotland and Ireland. Bro Owen Wilson had excellent contacts in the area, so we also used to get the Mayor and local councillors attending. Sadly, after Bro Wilson moved to Northern Ireland the dinners ceased. 

 Having enjoyed working with Ian Mackey so much in the Metropolitan Orange Province, Ian and I began to look at new possibilities. Ian is an Ulsterman and his family have farmed land outside Londonderry for about 350 years. He cares very much for the place, and is a member of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, and through knowing Ian I acquired his interest. We were both members of the City of London branch of the Campsie Club and, in 1991, we opened a new branch of the Campsie Club, known as the City of Westminster branch. A new branch needed 13 members, and we had only seven. Bros Tony Pearson and Neil Cadman joined us from Sheffield, and the parent club loaned us the four we needed.    

We thought that there was much scope to use the new branch in the areas of culture, faith and heritage, and this proved very fruitful. We were very selective about recruitment, but even so the numbers grew. At various times we had three Great Britain MPs as members – Barry Porter, Nick Budgen and Andrew Hunter. Attendance at meetings was very good, and we always ensured that attendees would be able to obtain the latest Loyalist literature and memorabilia. We frequently had guest speakers. We turned out in support of events organised by groups like Friends of the Union and the Ulster Society, and held an annual dinner, usually at the Royal Overseas League Club. Less formal social events were held at west end venues.

The Branch held an annual church service, usually at churches that had not been approached before. We paraded every year in Londonderry in August or December, and had our bannerette dedicated at the roadside by Rev William McCrea MP. On these visits we would make a block booking at a guest house in the Waterside. Perhaps the most ambitious project was holding, two or three times per year, a one-day conference in London, with Unionist speakers. The first of these was probably the last public speaking engagement of the late Enoch Powell MP.

It may be thought that recruiting for the Apprentice Boys would be more difficult than for the Orange Order, as it is more specific to a particular place and event. We did not accept that this need be the case. We made the case that the survival and development of western civilisation, with constitutional government answerable to an electorate, freedom of speech, assembly, etc., had been dependant on the Glorious Revolution, which in turn had been dependant on a successful defence of Londonderry in 1688-9, and that the continued success of that model required an appreciation of how it had come into being and survived. I must give all credit to the members of the Parent Club, whose support was unwavering.

I served as President of the Westminster Branch from its inception in 1991 until 1996. It was an exhilarating time, but in the latter year I stood down in order to take on a fresh challenge in the Orange Order.

During the summer of 1996 I was contacted by a well-known brother to sound me out about taking on the job of Grand Secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of England. I demurred, as I didn’t think I could do the job. Shortly afterwards I received a call from MW Bro Richard Roberts, the Grand Master himself, about taking on the job. This time I did not hesitate. My respect for Bro Roberts was such that I would have done any job he asked of me. So it was that, at the Grand Lodge sessions in Chester in 1996, I was elected Grand Secretary.

My election to the office of Grand Secretary was accompanied by a re-organisation of that function. The Deputy Grand Secretary, Bro David Taggart, has a capacity for hard work and knowledge of the structures and workings of the Orange Institution. Dave was, therefore, in a position to relieve me of much of that part of the work, which freed me up to take new initiatives. Using the contacts I had made within Unionism I was able to take our case into a wider arena. I had numerous interviews with the press, TV and radio, frequently taking on our opponents in debate. I was also able to speak to journalists in convenient London clubs, which didn’t help my waistline.

On one occasion I had a radio debate with the well-known activist Eamonn McCann of Londonderry. Whilst I can imagine little about which he and I would agree, I did have respect for his debating skills. I think, however, that I could claim at least a score draw. On another occasion I was involved in a studio discussion for a local Merseyside station, though I was in London. The Orangemen were berated for being anti-Irish by a man with a Welsh name. I asked him how he could accuse me, Michael Phelan, or Miceal O’Faolain should he wish, of being anti-Irish and concluded “Chuck it Taff”.

Holding the office of Grand Secretary meant that I attended the tri-annual meetings of the Imperial Orange Council, where representatives of the various jurisdictions get together. The first such meeting I attended was in Ireland in 1997. This should have been held at the Killyhevlin Hotel in Fermanagh, but this was blown up by the IRA and the venue was moved to the Stormont Hotel just outside Belfast, which proved to be an excellent venue. I worked closely with my opposite numbers from Ireland and Scotland, Bros George Patton and Jack Ramsey. I was keen for the Institution to be seen to be doing things with which we would not normally be associated. I drafted letters to go from the Imperial Council to the government of Spain, sympathising over the murder of a Basque politician by the ETA terrorists, and also to the head of the French Reformed Church, who expressed reservations about Orange celebrations. I reminded him that the victories we were celebrating had enabled Ulster to take in many Huguenot refugees. We were shown around the Province, and I got to see places I had not seen before.

The Imperial Council of 2000 was held in Liverpool, and again was full of interest. I was eager for the Institution to be seen take up the cause of persecuted Christians, and we had some interesting discussions. When interviewed on local radio I was able to give an account of these and demonstrate that the Orange Order is much less narrowly-defined than was thought. In 2003 we were in Glasgow. I had seen little of Glasgow since the 1970s, when it was not at its best, but I was amazed at the way the city had developed. I was very impressed by the City Chambers, a beautiful building, where we welcomed to a civic reception.

The 2006 sessions were held in Toronto, which is the only time I have been outside Europe. I acquired so much memorabilia, of a specifically Canadian type, that I had quite an excess baggage charge to pay on the way home. We were taken into the areas around Toronto to see something of the country, and this included Niagara Falls and the Mohawk reservation at Tyendinaga. The Mohawks have their own Orange Lodge, LOL 99, and an Orange hall which we visited. We attended a religious service at Christ Church, which is a Chapel Royal of Her Majesty. One evening we were entertained to dinner and a concert in Hamilton at the highly-impressive former railway station, by the Ladies Orange Benevolent Association.   

For the 2009 meetings we were back at the Stormont Hotel in Belfast. This was the only occasion on which I was accompanied by my wife. One of the most striking impressions I had was of the way in which Belfast had “come up” since I first went there in the 1960s. It felt like a place that believed it had a future and was embracing it. We were able to see quite a bit of the Province, and further beyond. A highlight was the Rossnowlagh parade, which I had heard about but never seen. Another trip over the border was to the Boyne site to see how it was being developed as a visitor site, and also to Newgrange. On the way back to Belfast we took a detour to visit an Orange Hall in Country Cavan. I had been reluctant to do this because I felt tired out, but when we got there and experienced the hospitality of my brothers and sisters who keep the colours flying in that part of Ireland, and how much our visit meant to them, I felt ashamed of myself for being so selfish. On the 12th itself I had the honour to walk at Dromore in County Down. 

There were some excellent events held in the hotel, with very interesting talks being given, and there was a demonstration by, I think, the Braid District of a very old ritual for the Opening and Closing a lodge. The African brethren, most of whom belong to the Ewe tribe, also gave a demonstration of a tribal dance which forms a very important part of their culture.

I missed the 2012 sessions, but was able to attend those held in Liverpool in 2015. By this time I had been steeped in the history of the Orange Order in World War I and gave a talk on that subject. It was a bit “low tech”, with a flipchart and coloured pens rather than an overhead projector.

The Imperial Councils are extremely enjoyable events, but they are consultative only and not executive. Some neighbouring jurisdictions keep in formal touch between Council meetings, and Australia and New Zealand have “Trans-Tasman” conferences. This gave me the idea that we should have regular tri-jurisdictional meetings between England, Ireland and Scotland, and these commenced not long after I became Grand Secretary.  I envisaged these meetings as being to identify areas where all three British jurisdictions could work together, but mostly they seemed to be for the exchange of information. One occasion where we did work together was in urging the British Government to make a military intervention in Sierra Leone.

There are Orange lodges in Ghana and Togo, and West Arica was suffering from the “diamond wars”, where the smuggling of diamonds by criminal gangs was reaching such a level that states were failing. It started in Liberia and spread to Sierra Leone, the latter being a Commonwealth country. Gradually, the rot spread from country to country and it seemed only a matter of time before Ghana and Togo, and the Orangemen therein, were threatened. I was tasked with writing a letter to the British Government, on behalf of the three jurisdictions, to urge military intervention to stop this “domino” effect. I have no idea if this had any effect at all, but it is a fact that, not long after my letter, an intervention, and a very successful one, took place. Nobody now, even within the Institution, seems to remember this, and a copy of the letter I sent is probably deep in an archive somewhere, and I can’t imagine why we don’t take more pride in actions such as this. If I can believe that we were successful, even in a small way, in bringing a stop to these hideous wars, I will go to my grave rejoicing.

I first attended the Imperial Council meetings in 1997 and it was there that that I first met the Irish journalist Ruth Dudley Edwards. Ruth and I soon became friends and we have remained so ever since. Ruth was doing research for what became her book “The Faithful Tribe”, which had the subtitle “an intimate portrait of the loyal institutions”. I saw it as my job as Grand Lodge Historian to afford Ruth as much co-operation as I could from the material I have collected over the years. The book was published in 1999 and was promoted in several places. There was a book promotion in London, at UCD in Dublin (where I was delighted to see a picture of William crossing the Boyne on the wall), and lastly in Liverpool, all of which I was able to attend. There was a promotion in Edinburgh, but I was not able to attend that one.

Also around this time the disturbances attending the Drumcree Church Parade were taking place. In 1995 Portadown District was attempting to march back from a church service along an agreed route when they were obstructed by an illegal demonstration by Republicans. As events seemed to be at an impasse feelings ran high and the threat of violence increased. Many of the interviews I had to give at this time were related to events at Drumcree. Eventually two Unionist leaders, David Trimble and Rev Ian Paisley, combined their efforts and achieved a solution that saw a peaceful resolution of the 1995 parade.

The Unionists of Ulster had been longing for their politicians to work together, and it was thought that Paisley and Trimble had found such a way to achieve this in 1995. It certainly played a large part in David Trimble being elected as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party later in the year. This brought about changes in the London end of the Unionist organisation. A Unionist Information Office was opened in London, and this began to assume some of the functions that had previously been performed by Friends of the Union and the Ulster Society.

The landslide victory of the Blairite Labour Party in 1997 meant that the Unionists would have to adapt to changed political circumstances.  

Unionist leaders before David Trimble were usually very cautious, but from an early stage it seemed that Trimble was prepared to take risks in pursuit of his objectives. I was happy that he was smarter than me (most people are) so I went along with things that I wasn’t always easy with. I was present at the Hatfield Conference of 1997, and I felt that it should be possible for all Unionists to work together.

Eventually, however, it seemed that we got caught in a pattern where one party would be called on to modify its position to break a deadlock. The deadlocks were always caused by the Republicans and the concessions always came from the Unionists. I hoped that this was the work of people who could see more clearly than I could that we weren’t always on the back foot, but I slipped quietly off the scene. I felt that Faulkner had been betrayed by Heath in 1973, that Molyneaux had been let down by Thatcher in 1985, and that Blair was about to repeat the treachery on David Trimble. Certainly, Trimble was aware that Blair had Orange in his family background and I felt that he was receiving false assurances from Blair that this meant he would not betray the Unionists.

After years of supporting Unionist events I found that the nature of the debate had changed. Instead of rallying Unionists to oppose Republicanism, meetings now became dominated by arguments between Unionists. Not only was this a row between those who were pro or anti the Belfast Agreement, but also between those who had always between against it and those who had voted for it at the time but had turned against it. Some meetings were so unruly that I had to warn some that they wold be put out. My view was that the Unionists had to reach an agreement about what they wanted and then I would help them get it. I should not be telling them what to do from a comfortable distance.

As the “Peace Process” unfolded it became clear that the abolition of the Royal Ulster Constabulary was a key demand of Sinn Fein, and the likelihood was that this would go through. I became re-engaged in the process for a while as part of a campaign to save the RUC. A group of widows/veterans of the RUC came to England and I spent a lot of time with them, driving them to meetings which we had organised and which were very well attended by local councillors, etc. I manned phones to receive calls of support, and it was clear that this measure did not have the cross-community support which the Agreement said was required. It made no difference.

I stayed good friends with Ruth, and I detected her hand in an invite I received in 2006 to attend a reception at the Irish embassy in London to mark the 90th anniversary of the Dublin Rebellion. I received permission to attend from the MWGM and off I went. Mostly it was a smug-fest for arm’s-length Republicans, but there were some dissenting voices, of whom I was one. I told the Ambassador that, being of Irish descent, I loved the country, its people, the food and drink, the music and literature, the sports. There were only two things I couldn’t abide. He asked me what they were and I replied “The Roman Catholic Church and Sinn Fein Republicanism”. “Do you know”, he said, “I agree with you”. 

I still got involved in political events wherever my skills and contacts were still relevant. In 2008 the three Grand Orange Lodges of England, Scotland and Ireland held a lobby of Parliament, in which I took part. I believe this was largely the initiative of the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland, who had foreseen problems ahead due to the rise of the Scottish Nationalist Party. We met quite a few Parliamentarians from both Labour and Conservative Parties. The Conservatives were mostly focused on the Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, whilst the Labour MPs were concerned with the more direct threat posed to them by the SNP. Events were to prove them right. I noticed, also, that Labour MPs were mostly Roman Catholic, and I felt this must have been deliberate so that the SNP would not be able to accuse the Labour Party of playing the Orange Card.

At the Grand Lodge Sessions held in 2002 I stood down as Grand Secretary. I enjoyed my six years, but my Deputy, Bro Dave Taggart, was quite competent enough to do the job as least as well as myself, and this would free me up to concentrate on my job as Grand Lodge Historian. I had opportunity to assist several academics with books and papers they were writing about the Orange Order, and wider understanding of our views and opinions was obtained as a result. Donald MacRaild, of the University of Roehampton, Dr Jim MacPherson, of the University of the Highlands and Islands, Patrick Coleman, of Lincoln University, New Zealand, and Peter Day were all a pleasure to work with.

There are several Protestant societies in England and, for many years, they co-operated under an umbrella organisation called the United Protestant Council. The Orange Order was a member of the UPC for many years, and sometimes I acted as one of the Orange Order’s representatives on that body. This was particularly the case in 1988, when we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Armada and the 300th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution. In 2005, I was once again a representative of the Institution, together with my old friend Bro Richard Harvey. A difficulty had arisen because the Royal Black Institution had applied to join the UPC and was facing some resistance. I didn’t personally see why the Black needed to be represented on the UPC, as all Blackmen are also members of the Orange Order and would therefore already have the means to make their views known. Of greater concern to me were the reasons being given for keeping them out. Richard and I attended the meetings in order to learn more about this and clear up any misunderstanding.

It seemed that an alienated ex-member had set up a group called “Evangelical Truth”, and had made allegations that the Royal Black Institution, through its degree system, was indulging in practices inconsistent with a profession faith. This didn’t hold water. The “allegations” seemed to boil down to two – (1) That the Black bore similarities to Freemasonry, and as Masonry was deemed unchristian, so would be the Black; and (2) that all such brotherhoods are descended from the Knights Templars of the Middle Ages, who were so unchristian that they were suppressed by the Pope.

The critics found fault with all sorts of organisations, such as the Masons, the “Protestant Knights of Malta” (sic) and the Jesuits, and that, because they allege similarities between these bodies and the Black Institution, the Black must be just as bad. This is a crude attempt at establishing guilt by association, repeated ad nausiem.

Given the amount of work that has gone into this, it is remarkable that no mention is made of the discoveries in the Vatican Archives by Barbara Fraile. These show that the Pope declared the Templars to be innocent of all but the most trivial charges, but that he colluded at their dissolution on the grounds that the Order had been damaged irreparably. Therefore, the argument that the Templars were so bad even the Pope condemned them is found to be totally bogus.

At the meetings I attended, much was made of an “investigation” into the Royal Black by members of the UPC. All that this amounted to was an expensive trip to Northern Ireland where the “investigators” interviewed some disaffected ex-members. I asked why they had not interviewed any representatives from the Institution and was told there had not been time.    

A VHS was produced showing interviews with some of the ex-members, most of whom said they had resigned because they hadn’t had time to play an active part. We had nothing prepared, but I did have with me a VHS produced by the IGBC in 1997 to commemorate an anniversary. Again, I was told that there would not be time to view it.

In due course the application from the Royal Black was refused and the Orange Institution withdrew from the UPC. The Evangelical Protestant Society questioned the proceedings and had their membership terminated. I was saddened to see how unchecked egotism had caused such dissension in Protestant ranks, and felt it could only weaken the cause overall. The Papal visit of 2010 revealed a marked falling-away of interest in Roman Catholicism, but the Protestant protest was also much weaker. I felt sure this was partly a result of the schism in Protestant ranks. The only party that showed an increase in support was that I would describe by borrowing from Calvin the term “Libertine”.     

It was ironic that, after defending the Royal Black in the UPC, my next major involvement would be in that Order. In 2006, following the death of my dear friend Tom Jackson, I was elected WM of Knights of Enniskillen Royal Black Preceptory 477. The Black had been struggling in the south of England for several years, but I was convinced there were positive measures we could take to revive it. I urged every member to keep watch in their Orange Lodges for any brother who looked as though they would appreciate the unique ethos of the Black but, at the same time, not regard it as merely the same as the Orange. The essence of the Black is in its degrees, which must be performed to a high standard to be properly appreciated. Every meeting we would pay travel expenses of qualified Lecturers to come and confer the degrees in a memorable way. We had great support in this from the late Sir Knight David Ward from Liverpool, later assisted by Sir Knight Billy Campbell from Doncaster. The membership increased, meetings were well attended, and we were soon able to assist in the revival of a long-dormant Preceptory in Kent.

I was next elected WDM of South of England Royal Black District Chapter 11. I was fortunate to have as my Deputy my old friend Sir Knight Ian Mackey. We revived a Preceptory in the Plymouth area and took a big step forward when we started to learn the Lectures ourselves. Three of us began to learn the Lectures and, after about two years, we qualified as Lecturers. This made it much easier to process candidates through the various degrees. A second District Chapter has now been opened in the south-west of England.  

The year 2012 was the centenary of the signing of the Ulster Covenant, and there were many large commemorative events held in Northern Ireland. Both myself and the MWGM felt that the contribution of Loyalists in Great Britain was being underestimated. The MWGM asked me to write something about this, and he result was a small booklet called “England’s Stand for Union”. Copies of this booklet were sent to Members of the Commons and the Lords, and to also to interested journalists. It was well received. Another paper I wrote at this time was a history of the Royal Black Institution, but this has never been circulated in the absence of permission from IGBC.         

2014 saw the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, and as Historian I set myself to produce papers which would pay due attention to the great effort made by the Institution worldwide in that conflict. Through a study of the records available to me I made a discovery, which surprised me, that a large proportion of Orangemen who served were in the Royal Navy. This led me to produce a series on the “Orange Navy”, which culminated in a paper on the Battle of Jutland, which should be remembered as an Orange battle every bit as much as the Somme. An entire lodge, Carnarvon LOL 827, was lost with the 1st Cruiser Squadron, and another lodge, King William’s Own LOL 872, which was on HMS Warspite, did great work guarding the British ships during the “run to the north”, yet these events are not, to my knowledge, depicted on any Orange banner anywhere in the world.  

From 1914 to 1929 the Grand Orange Lodge of England produced a monthly magazine, The Orange Standard, of which the British Library has a full set. Due to generous donations from the membership, Grand Lodge was able to acquire a digitised full set of these magazines, which increased the scope of the Great War project enormously. From 2014 to 2018 I was able to produce a paper on each year of the Great War, and to go to quite specific levels of detail. I hope that this will enable families or lodges to follow this up whenever they come across the name of a brother or sister who was a member.

In January 2018 I was informed that I had a cancer which proved to be both inoperable and terminal so that, instead of writing history, I will shortly become part of it. I have had to curtail my activities drastically, and I had to miss the Imperial Council and Grand Lodge in 2018. I hope I have given encouragement to those coming after me who will take up where I leave off in promoting our cause. It has certainly enriched my life, as I’m sure it would theirs.