Ancient Order of Hibernians

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The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) is an Irish-Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York in 1836. Its name was adopted by groups of Irish immigrants in the United States [1], its purpose to act as guards to protect Catholic Churches from anti-Catholic forces in the mid 19th century, and to assist Irish Catholic immigrants, especially those who faced discrimination or harsh coal mining working conditions. Many members had a Molly Maguire background. It became an important focus of Irish-American political activity [1]

Its mixture of religion and politics (similar to that of the Protestant Orange Order) has led its critics to accuse it of sectarianism and anti-Protestantism.

Contents

[edit] Background in Ireland

The use of the name in Ireland goes back as far as 1565, when it was founded by an Irish chieftain, Rory O'Moore, to protect Roman Catholics against the religious persecution by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Thomas Radclyffe, founded "The Defenders".[2] His part of Ireland was called Laois, and had been settled by the Catholic Queen Mary in the 1550s. Accordingly O'Moore's revolt against this settlement in the next decade took on a religious aspect. These goals prevailed in its ranks into the 20th century, by which time it had developed into a militant lay-Catholic mass movement of Ribbon tradition.

At the end of the 19th century the AOH was reorganised in Ulster under its Grandmaster Joseph Devlin (later Member of Parliament) of Belfast. The AOH was closely associated with the Irish Parliamentary Party, its members mainly members off the party[3]. The AOH was strongly opposed to secular idologies such as those of the Irish Republican Brotherhood who were most unhappy at the re-emergence of this old rival 'right-wing' nationalist society.[4].

As a vehicle for Irish nationalism, the AOH greatly influenced the sectarian aspect of Irish politics in the early twentieth century. By 1914 had saturated the entire island, fuelled not so much by sectarianism as by its utility as a patronage, brokerage and recreational association[5]. In Ulster and elsewhere it acted as an unruly but vigorous militant support organisation for Devlin, Dillon and Redmond against radicals and against William O'Brien: O'Brien regarded himself as having been driven from the party by Hibernian hooligans[6].

After the 1916 Easter Rising the AOH melted away outside Ulster, its members absorbed into Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army.[7] In many areas the organisation provided by the AOH was the nearest thing to a paramilitary force. Many republican leaders in the 1916-1923 period, among them Sean MacDermott and Rory O'Connor, had been "Hibs" before the formation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913[8].

The AOH is also significant as a link between the new nationalist organisations and the century-old tradition of popular militant societies. More directly, it lingered on as a pro-Treaty support organisation. Some Hibernians fought in the Francoist side of the Spanish Civil War. The quasi-Blueshirts movement of the 1930s may, in fact, have owed as much to the Ribbon tradition which it so much resembled as it did to continental analogies[9].

Within Northern Ireland, the AOH remains a visible but somewhat marginal part of the Catholic community. It is often considered to be the conservative face of Irish nationalism, and parades at Easter, Lady Day and a few other times a year.

[edit] United States

When it was first founded in the United States, its existence and activities were concealed for some years. Its motto is, "Friendship, Unity, and Christian Charity."

[edit] Reading

  • Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics Gill & Macmillan (2005) ISBN 0-7171-3967-0 : Pages 105-110: The Rise of the Hibernians.
  • Prof. R.V. Comerford: Ireland Inventing the Nation (Hodder 2003).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b David W. Miller Church, State and Nation in Ireland 1898-1921 pp.209-15, Gill & Macmillan (1973) ISBN 0 7171 0645 4
  2. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia website.
  3. ^ Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics (2005) pp. 107-110: The Rise of the Hibernians ISBN 0-7171-3967-0
  4. ^ Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics (2005) pp. 106 lines 25-26, pp. 107 lines 2-4: The Rise of the Hibernians
  5. ^ Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics (2005) pp. 108, lines 12-14: The Rise of the Hibernians
  6. ^ Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics (2005) pp. 108, lines 28-32: The Rise of the Hibernians
  7. ^ Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics (2005) pp. 109, lines 24-25: The Rise of the Hibernians
  8. ^ Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics (2005) pp. 109, lines 33-35: The Rise of the Hibernians
  9. ^ Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics (2005) pp. 110, lines 12-22: The Rise of the Hibernians

[edit] External links