DAVE MANSELL and when the Protestant peasants had, in fact, enjoyed so me slight privileges over the Catholics, were deeply disturbed by the presence of armed Catholics in bands of any kind. Denominational groups were soon formed - with the Catholic ga ngs taking the name « Defenders ». Pitted against a much stronger opposition, the Defenders grew into a federated society which had branches in the so uth where attacks were directed against landlords. The Cathol ics' position was enhanced by the Catholic Relief Act of 1793wh ich was followed by the organization of a predominantly Cath olic militia. (The Catholic Relief Act had been conceived of by the English governmnet as a way of quietening Catholic agitat ion and securing their loyalty in the troubled Napoleonic period). As the Defenders were setting up cells in the militia, disa rming Protestant peasants, and preventing rent collection in the south without any effective measures being taken against th em by the Dublin administration, a section of the gentry star ted to think in terms of independent action, whilst scattered ba nds of Ulster peasants called Peep O'Day boys continued t heir early morning raids and contemplated organizing a protest ant federation along the same lines as the Defenders. But before any of these organizations could get off the ground there was a very serious clash between the Defenders and the Protesta nts in September 1795. After this incident the Protestants, made very uneasy by the Defenders' mobilization of thousands of peasants (even though only a few hundred took part in the clash which the Protestants won), decided on the formal org anization of a Protestant society modelled after the Defend ers. This is the origin of the Orange Order, which has survi ved many attempts at suppression by a succession of Eng lish governments and still plays a major role in the politics of Ulster today. The founding of the Order marked the rev ival of a tradition that had almost died in the « enlightened » 18th century. Orange had been adopted as a symbol of Irish P rotestant patriotism after William of Orange had defeated James 2 in 1690. The anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne was celebrated each year, and a number of clubs were foun ded to keep the spirit of militant Protestantism alive. The e arly Orange clubs usually bore a name suggesting an incident in the 1690 campaign - the Apprentice Boys, The Boyne Men, etc. The Orange tradition was closely associated with the ma intenance of the « Protestant Ascendancy ». Gradually the upper and middle classes lost their fervour for these traditions, but latent fears of Catholic domination were kept alive among the 68
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