Rediscovering Our Roots
A heritage project based on locating, and liaising with former members of the Independent Orange Institution (ILOI) and their families and followers in Belfast to collect and collate an oral history and archive of material to tell the story of this unique working class urban o rg a n i s a t i o n t h ro u g h innovative modern means. The I.L.O.I. has recognised the need and the urgency of reaching out to former members, their families and followers in Belfast where it was once a formidable force in working class areas. The aim is to reconnect with former members and recognise their service and provide an opportunity for them to become involved in
the project and the wider life of the Institution. In particular given the age of those former members there are welfare concerns and the project would also offer advice, and practical welfare support such as signposting to services.
At the personal level of valuing these former members the Institution recognises that they also hold a valuable oral history of the Institution in Belfast where it has in its original form become extinct. The ILOI was a unique cultural, political and social movement in Belfast and understanding it from a grassroots perspective will help us understand working class Belfast, its mind, motivations and means of expressing itself.
A heritage project rediscovering the rich roots, the historic role and the lasting relevance of Independent Orangeism in Belfast by reconnecting with former members and families.
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Founding Fathers
- A Living Legacy ?
The movement split the Orange Order and broke the hold the then Conservative and later Unionist party had on working class areas.
I t r e p r e s e n t e d t h e fi r s t democratic expression of the recently received vote for working men. It saw the first working class independent MP in Ireland, the shipyard leader Thomas H. Sloan. It sought to develop a radical non-sectarian manifesto under the leadership of Robert Lindsay Crawford a liberal journalist whose personal journey led to him becoming a nationalist.
The founding fathers saw it as the ‘Reformation Refought’ and set themselves to revolutionise Orangeism, a project which they succeeded in over the next Century. However the Institution lost its connection with Belfast.
While this journey was not shared by the overwhelming majority of Independent Orangemen they did show a refreshing working class solidarity with their nationalist counterparts on bread and butter issues, and suffered d i s c r i m i n at i o n a n d i n d e e d expulsion from jobs just as Roman Catholic workers did. The independence of these men from the mainstream unionist of Carson and Craig saw many members struggle personally and practically as unionism united against Home Rule. While many were dubbed Home Rulers for this opposition to the unionist leadership they rallied to the flag during the First World War, but
rejected the Partition of Ireland after. The Institution remained outside mainstream Orangeism and Unionism and many members suffered as a result with employment and housing discrimination. The paranoia of the early Unionist Governments at Stormont saw ‘unionist dissidents’ curtailed in the same manner as Republican opponents were - both seen as enemies of the state. The experiences of this movement through the Twenties and Thirties may still exist in living memory and is worthy of capture and study, as an insight into the complexity of Unionist politics and community life. To lose this narrative is for ever to have a thinner and less accurate history of Belfast and its people. Real and remarkable events which challenge our assumptions about history and politics lie in this narrative. Why did the most fierce of Orangemen call unionism a ‘discredited creed’? How did they manage to return a working class man to Westminster and support him at a time when MPs were unsalaried? What common ground developed to allow these Orangemen to take to the streets with nationalists to oppose the Stormont Government on social and welfare issues?
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Finding Families - An Ongoing Work The people, or their children, who can answer these questions are still alive but unless they are re a c h e d o u t t o n o w m a n y questions and will remain unanswered.
The entire history of the movement will only be recorded in dry accounts and records, newspaper cuttings and top down history. Instead the project aims to capture a grass roots narrative that gives a living history and takes that on to become a relevant heritage product.
As an Institution we would like to find and renew fellowship with former members, families and followers of the Order in Belfast, and record the story of the Institution in the city .
aspect of the shipbuilding and industrial heritage of Belfast. We believe the project will Inspire and Include a group composed of older people who have become isolated and harder to reach than most PUL groups. It will reconnect them with the wider Institution and with their own heritage and culture which will improve their lives.
The material collected will be digitalised and then presented in a manner that we feel fits the mindset and methods of the men and women who made that history.
It will increase confidence, capacity and skills within the ILOI in particular a group of volunteers who will undertake Applied Heritage Training and who will under supervision and mentorship engage with other Loyal orders, and the wider heritage and cultural sectors.
It will be of use for schools and students as we encourage the study, it will be used to give a voice to the ordinary men and women of working class areas in Belfast, which will provide an authentic and often overlooked
As a result of this the wider public of Belfast from both communities and those visiting the city will be better able to understand and connect with this unique and distinctly Belfast organisation unban Independent Orangeism.
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Listening To the Past
Vision
To Capture, Collate and Conserve the history and heritage of Independent Orangeism in Belfast through an oral history and artefacts collection
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Bringing History to Life and our faith and culture back to the heart of the community
Mission To capture a collective memory of Independent Orangeism in Belfast, as told through the words memories and artefacts of former members.
To reconnect with the last generation of Independent Orangemen and provide support and give value to their experience.
To collate the stories and conserve them in a digitalised accessible archive to allow for study, interpretation and education.
To produce educational and exhibition material to highlight this unique urban movement and its impact on the community around it.
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• give our members increased awareness of Good Relations issues, language, ethos and principles and allow them engage more fully and productively.
Project Outcomes The project will produce
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A History of the ILOI
New insights into the ILOI in Belfast its roots, role and relevance will be researched using the oral history and records of the Order as well as artifacts and other information. •
Bespoke Training
All the volunteers will benefit from an Applied Heritage Course to raise confidence and capacity enabling them and the wider ILOI to properly engage in a sustainable way with cultural heritage work. •
The Archive
All the project’s recorded interviews will be archived in perpetuity as part of the ILOI collection. Digital playback copies of each of the in-depth interviews will be made available to researchers and (subject to copyright clearance) to remote users via an online
catalogue and other digital service delivery points. • Booklet The interviews will form the basis for an interpretive booklet or resources pack for use in the study of the material, and to contextualise it in the wider history of the ILOI in Belfast and generally. •
Exhibitions
Interview material, subject to interviewee consent, will have the potential to feature in the future exhibitions (onsite and virtual), in audio and printed publications, and as a resource for broadcasters, writers and users of all kinds. •
C u l t u r a l To u r i s m Product
Interview material, subject to interviewee consent, will also have the potential to feature
in the the next generation of App based cultural tourism products. We anticipate that the social history and memories of these part of Belfast will link the Orange aspect with working life or social life and provide a much needed ‘face’ or personal perspective to a range of wider heritage and tourism products. For example much is made of the Titantic, however a less used aspect of this story is the lives and interests of the men who built it. It will further bring our Institution together becoming more engaged in community heritage work in the Belfast area. It promises to rediscover an exciting history and reconnect with a lost generation of I n d e p e n d e n t Orangeman.
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Project Timeline
JUNE 2019
RESEARCH PHASE Desk research and development of Community outreach
JULY 2019 COMMUNITY OUTREACH PHASE SEPTEMBER 2019 COLLECTION & COLLATION PHASE NOVEMBER 2019 EXHIBITION AND LAUNCH
PROJECT PLANNING
JUNE - JULY 2019 PROMOTIONAL PHASE PROJECT LAUNCH AUGUST 2019 TRAINING PHASE JULY - OCTOBER 2019 EXHIBITION, ARCHIVE & MATERIALS PRODUCTION DECEMBER 2019
“ THIS PROJECT HAS RECEIVED FINANCIAL SUPPORT THROUGH THE BELFAST CITY COUNCIL ARTS AND
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HERITAGE SMALL GRANTS FUND
