The Orange Citadel
Subtitle: a history of Orangeism in Portadown district
By: researched, compiled and written by R.David Jones...[et al.].
Contributors: Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland. Portadown L.O.L District No. 1.
Publisher: Portadown Cultural Heritage Committee
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Portadown
Language: eng
Number of pages: 109
First sentence: The actual history of the so-called Orange Citadel is one of corruption and sectarian violence in the pursuit of land and power. Ever since the first recorded gathering of 'Orange Boys' at Drumcree, the Orange Order has kept up a tradition of sectarian domination and abuse of the minority community in Portadown and throughout Northern Ireland.
At a Sunday service in Portadown in June 1795 Rev. George Maunsell called on his congregation: " to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in the true spirit of the institution" by attending a sermon to be given by a Rev. Devine of the Established Church at Drumcree on Sunday the 1st of July.  This 'religious service' gave birth to the 200-year-old tradition of violent demonstrations of Orange supremacy in the parish of Drumcree. And that 1st first Sunday, like so many since, was celebrated with 'wrecking' and bloodletting in the parish of Drumcree.  On page 17 of his "History of Ireland" (Vol. I), published in 1809, the historian Francis Plowden described the events that followed the Rev Devine's sermon:
 This evangelical laborer in the vineyard of the Lord of peace so worked up the minds of his audience, that upon retiring from service, on the different roads leading to their respective homes, they gave full scope to the antipapistical zeal, with which he had inspired them, falling upon every Catholic they met, beating and bruising them without provocation or distinction, breaking the doors and windows of their houses, and actually murdering two unoffending Catholics in a bog.  This unprovoked atrocity of the Protestants revived and redoubled religious rancour.  The flame spread and threatened a contest of extermination...
That 'contest of extermination' eventually produced the so-called 'Drumcree Seige' (sic) of 1995. To see who really was under siege one might better spend one's time and money on the book produced by residents of the Drumcree area. It is called Garvaghy: A Community Under Siege. And it can be bought from the Conway Mill, 5-7 Conway St. Belfast, BT13 2DE
Description: David Jones's little book is a glorification of sectarianism. For a much more accurate and relevant picture of the history of the Orange Citadel go to http://orangecitadel.blogspot.com/