The Twelfth of July

Orangemen in Northern Ireland are again celebrating 17th century victories today.  Here's an explanation:

Orangemen commemorated several events from the 17th century onwards, celebrating the survival and triumph of their community in the face of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the Williamite war in Ireland (1689–91). The first such commemoration was the anniversary of the 1641 rebellion on 23 October, when it was believed that a plot to massacre all Protestants in Ireland had been narrowly averted. The second major day was the birthday of William of Orange, Protestant victor of the Williamite war in the 1690s on 4 November. Both of these anniversaries faded in popularity by the end of the 18th century.
The Twelfth itself originated as a celebration of the Battle of Aughrim, which took place on 12 July 1691 in the Julian calendar. Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite war, in which the predominantly Irish Catholic Jacobite army was destroyed and the remainder capitulated at Limerick, thereafter being exiled to France to fight in the wars of Louis XIV, the Sun King. The Twelfth in the early 18th century was a popular commemoration of this battle, featuring bonfires and parades. The Battle of the Boyne (fought on 1 July 1690) was commemorated with smaller parades on 1 July. However, two events were combined in the late 18th century to switch the Twelfth commemorations to the Boyne.
The first reason for this was the British switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, which repositioned the Battle of the Boyne to 11 July in the new calendar, the very eve of the Battle of Aughrim, on 12 July in the old calendar. The second reason was the foundation of the Orange Order in 1795. The Order preferred the Boyne, due to William of Orange's presence there. It has also been suggested that in the 1790s (a time of Roman Catholic resurgence) the Boyne, where the Jacobites were routed, was more appealing to the Order than Aughrim, where they had fought hard and died in great numbers.
The Twelfth parades of the early 19th century often led to riots and public disorder, so much so that the Orange Order and the Twelfth were suppressed in the 1830s and 40s.

The sectarian parades are ridiculously routed to inflame Irish Nationalist passions as much as possible.  Since the Good Friday Accords, the Parades Commission has lowered the tensions some.  It would be nice if these displays passed into history soon.  As it is, I hope for a peaceful passage of this "holiday."