Peep O'Day Boys
Encyclopedia
The Peep o' Day Boys was a Protestant secret association in 18th century Ireland, active in the 1780s and '90s and a precursor of the Orange Order.
, Ireland
. Members of this secret association were also known as the "Protestant Boys", "Wreckers", Hearts of Steel, Oak Boys and, finally "Orangemen
." According to John Mitchel
, their members were all Protestants. Their grievances he writes were connected with landlord oppression and clerical exaction, in addition to alleged injustice of employers in manufacturing labour. The latter disturbances however were soon over, because he says, the grievances were not so deep-seated because the two sides being mainly of the same race and religion the enmity and exasperation was never so fierce. However, Richard R. Madden suggests that the Peep-of-Day Boys were composed of both Anglicans and Presbyterians while the Defenders originally consisted of Catholics. The Peep-of-Day Boys so-called on account of the nature of their attacks between dusk and dawn on the homes of their Catholic neighbours in search of arms. The title "Defenders" arose on account of the resistance of Catholics to these aggressions. From the search for arms the "privileged party" proceeded then to more general acts of plunder and outrage, perpetrated on most occasions with the most "scandalous impunity."
for years dying down to nothing under the influence of the United Irish. Henry Joy McCracken
while attempting to unite the Peep O'Day Boys and Catholic Defenders
was placed under surveillance and was later arrested in October, 1796, and sent to Dublin, being placed first in Newgate prison
, and afterwards to Kilmainham Jail.
was to break up the popular unity, by stirring up disunity and disturance under the pretext of zeal for the Protestant religion. Richard R. Madden writes that "Popish plots and conspiracies" were fabricated with a, practical facility" by some "influential authorities" who he says "conceived it no degradation to stoop to." Alarming reports he says of "dark confederations were circulated" by these influential authorities with a restless assiduity.
With the arrival of a new Viceroy, Earl Fitzwilliam the Peep of Day boys resumed their activity after a hiatus of nearly two years. Jackson suggests that it is impossible to miss the connection between this fact, and the lie propagated by the Clare-Beresford faction that Fitzwilliam was there to replace the Protestant ascendancy with a Catholic one. With Defenders, again in action, he says, every successful defence against Peep of Day attack began to be portrayed as a "Catholic outrage." This "artificially worked-up pogrom" culminated in what came to be known as the Battle of the Diamond
.
" in Loughall, County Armagh
. However according to Mervyn Jess, the Protestant faction in the battle was not composed only of Peep of Day Boys, with a large contingent from Co. Tyrone known as the Orange Boys. These Protestant Peep of Day Boys and plundering banditti afterwards developed itself according to Mitchel into “the too-famous organisation of "Orangemen." The Orange Society was founded in the aftermath of this "battle" which occurred on the 21 September 1795 , with the first Orange lodge established in Dyan, County Tyrone. Its first grand master was James Sloan
of Loughgall, in whose inn the victory by the Peep O’Day Boys was celebrated.
The Governor of Armagh, Lord Gosford, gave his opinion of the County Armagh
disturbances which resulted from the "battle" at a meeting of magistrates on the 28 December, 1795: "It is no secret, that a persecution, accompanied with all circumstances of ferocious cruelty which have in all ages distinguished that dreadful calamity, is now raging in this county. Neither age nor sex, nor even acknowledged innocence as to any guilt in the late disturbances, is sufficient to excite mercy, much less to afford protection. The only crime which the wretched objects of this ruthless persecution are charged with, is a crime, indeed, of easy proof—it is simply a profession of the Roman Catholic faith, or an intimate connection with a person professing this faith. A lawless banditti have constituted themselves judges of this new species of delinquency, and the sentence they denounce is equally concise and terrible! It is nothing less than a confiscation of all property, and an immediate banishment."
Former Grand Master of the Orange Order William Blacker, says he deplored these events but has suggested that no known wrecker or Peep of Day Boy was ever admitted to the Orange Institution. Mervyn Jess however notes that some Peep of Day Boys might have “slipped through the net” but if so they found themselves in a vastly different organisation.
In the Irish House of Commons, on the 20th of February, 1796, Henry Grattan
observed, "that of these outrages he had received the most dreadful accounts. Their object was, the extermination of all the Catholics of that county". He described it as " a persecution conceived in the bitterness of bigotry—carried on with the most ferocious barbarity by a banditti, who, being of the religion of the state, had committed, with greater audacity and confidence the most horrid murders, and had proceeded from robbery and massacre to extermination! They had repealed by their own authority all the laws lately passed in favour of the Catholics had established in the place of those laws the inquisition of a mob, resembling Lord George Gordon's fanatics—equalling them in outrage, and surpassing them far in perseverance and success. These insurgents", he continued "call themselves Orange Boys, or Protestant Boys, that is, a banditti of murderers, committing massacre in the name of God, and exercising despotic power in the name of liberty".
Orangemen and ex-Peep O'Day Boys were also involved in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
providing Yeomanry corps and supplementary loyalist militias to the service of the government. According to Jim Smyth "Later apologists rather implausibly deny any connection between the Peep O'Day Boys and the first Orangeman or, even less plausibly, between the Orangemen and the mass wrecking of Catholic cottages in Armagh in the months following the Diamond; all of them, however, acknowledge the movement's lower class origins."
Origins
The Peep-of-day Boys arose in the year 1784, in County ArmaghCounty Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Members of this secret association were also known as the "Protestant Boys", "Wreckers", Hearts of Steel, Oak Boys and, finally "Orangemen
Orange Institution
The Orange Institution is a Protestant fraternal organisation based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, though it has lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States. The Institution was founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, Ireland...
." According to John Mitchel
John Mitchel
John Mitchel was an Irish nationalist activist, solicitor and political journalist. Born in Camnish, near Dungiven, County Londonderry, Ireland he became a leading member of both Young Ireland and the Irish Confederation...
, their members were all Protestants. Their grievances he writes were connected with landlord oppression and clerical exaction, in addition to alleged injustice of employers in manufacturing labour. The latter disturbances however were soon over, because he says, the grievances were not so deep-seated because the two sides being mainly of the same race and religion the enmity and exasperation was never so fierce. However, Richard R. Madden suggests that the Peep-of-Day Boys were composed of both Anglicans and Presbyterians while the Defenders originally consisted of Catholics. The Peep-of-Day Boys so-called on account of the nature of their attacks between dusk and dawn on the homes of their Catholic neighbours in search of arms. The title "Defenders" arose on account of the resistance of Catholics to these aggressions. From the search for arms the "privileged party" proceeded then to more general acts of plunder and outrage, perpetrated on most occasions with the most "scandalous impunity."
Removing sectarian divisions
Through the efforts and exertions of both the Anglican and Presbyterian brethren who came forward to protest against the continuance of the disabilities under which the Catholic community laboured “throughout ages of injustice and unexampled oppression” brought about some redress between 1794 and 1795. Under the influence of the United Irishmen according to T. A. Jackson, political unity was replacing sectarian divisions in Ulster. This he says inspired "public-spirited zeal" in Catholic areas like County Armagh were the population had been evenly divided and the scene of sporadic violence between the Peep O'Day Boys and Catholic DefendersDefenders (Ireland)
The Defenders were a militant, vigilante agrarian secret society in 18th century Ireland, mainly Roman Catholic and from Ulster, who allied with the United Irishmen but did little during the rebellion of 1798.-Origin:...
for years dying down to nothing under the influence of the United Irish. Henry Joy McCracken
Henry Joy McCracken
Henry Joy McCracken was an Irish industrialist and a founding member of the Society of the United Irishmen.-History:...
while attempting to unite the Peep O'Day Boys and Catholic Defenders
Defenders (Ireland)
The Defenders were a militant, vigilante agrarian secret society in 18th century Ireland, mainly Roman Catholic and from Ulster, who allied with the United Irishmen but did little during the rebellion of 1798.-Origin:...
was placed under surveillance and was later arrested in October, 1796, and sent to Dublin, being placed first in Newgate prison
Newgate Prison, Dublin
Newgate Prison was a place of detention in Dublin until its closure in 1863. It was initially located at Cornmarket, near Christ Church Cathedral, on the south side of the Liffey, and was originally one of the city gates.-From city gate to prison:...
, and afterwards to Kilmainham Jail.
Government reaction
The reaction of the English Whigs and the administration in Dublin CastleDublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
was to break up the popular unity, by stirring up disunity and disturance under the pretext of zeal for the Protestant religion. Richard R. Madden writes that "Popish plots and conspiracies" were fabricated with a, practical facility" by some "influential authorities" who he says "conceived it no degradation to stoop to." Alarming reports he says of "dark confederations were circulated" by these influential authorities with a restless assiduity.
With the arrival of a new Viceroy, Earl Fitzwilliam the Peep of Day boys resumed their activity after a hiatus of nearly two years. Jackson suggests that it is impossible to miss the connection between this fact, and the lie propagated by the Clare-Beresford faction that Fitzwilliam was there to replace the Protestant ascendancy with a Catholic one. With Defenders, again in action, he says, every successful defence against Peep of Day attack began to be portrayed as a "Catholic outrage." This "artificially worked-up pogrom" culminated in what came to be known as the Battle of the Diamond
Battle of the Diamond
The Battle of the Diamond was a violent confrontation between the Catholic Defenders and a Protestant faction including Peep o' Day Boys, Orange Boys and local tenant farmers that took place on 21 September 1795 near Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland. The Protestants were the victors, killing...
.
Battle of the Diamond
The violence reached a pitch in 1795, when the two groups fought in the "Battle of the DiamondBattle of the Diamond
The Battle of the Diamond was a violent confrontation between the Catholic Defenders and a Protestant faction including Peep o' Day Boys, Orange Boys and local tenant farmers that took place on 21 September 1795 near Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland. The Protestants were the victors, killing...
" in Loughall, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
. However according to Mervyn Jess, the Protestant faction in the battle was not composed only of Peep of Day Boys, with a large contingent from Co. Tyrone known as the Orange Boys. These Protestant Peep of Day Boys and plundering banditti afterwards developed itself according to Mitchel into “the too-famous organisation of "Orangemen." The Orange Society was founded in the aftermath of this "battle" which occurred on the 21 September 1795 , with the first Orange lodge established in Dyan, County Tyrone. Its first grand master was James Sloan
James Sloan
James Sloan may refer to:* James Sloan, co-founder of the Orange Institution in 1795* James F. Sloan, head of US Coast Guard Intelligence* James Sloan , United States Congressman from New Jersey...
of Loughgall, in whose inn the victory by the Peep O’Day Boys was celebrated.
The Governor of Armagh, Lord Gosford, gave his opinion of the County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
disturbances which resulted from the "battle" at a meeting of magistrates on the 28 December, 1795: "It is no secret, that a persecution, accompanied with all circumstances of ferocious cruelty which have in all ages distinguished that dreadful calamity, is now raging in this county. Neither age nor sex, nor even acknowledged innocence as to any guilt in the late disturbances, is sufficient to excite mercy, much less to afford protection. The only crime which the wretched objects of this ruthless persecution are charged with, is a crime, indeed, of easy proof—it is simply a profession of the Roman Catholic faith, or an intimate connection with a person professing this faith. A lawless banditti have constituted themselves judges of this new species of delinquency, and the sentence they denounce is equally concise and terrible! It is nothing less than a confiscation of all property, and an immediate banishment."
Aftermath
Throughout the 1790s up to 7,000 Catholics were expelled from their homes in central Ulster. According to Edward Hay, the object of these Orangemen appears to have been, "not to suffer a Catholic to remain within the limits of their sphere of action." They posted on the doors of the Catholics he says, peremptory notices of departure; specifying the precise time, a week at the farthest, pretty nearly in the following words: "To hell or to Connaught with you, you bloody Papists! and if you are not gone by (mentioning the day) we will come and destroy yourselves and your properties. We all hate the Papists here." They were he concludes, generally as good as their words.Former Grand Master of the Orange Order William Blacker, says he deplored these events but has suggested that no known wrecker or Peep of Day Boy was ever admitted to the Orange Institution. Mervyn Jess however notes that some Peep of Day Boys might have “slipped through the net” but if so they found themselves in a vastly different organisation.
In the Irish House of Commons, on the 20th of February, 1796, Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan
Henry Grattan was an Irish politician and member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century. He opposed the Act of Union 1800 that merged the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain.-Early life:Grattan was born at...
observed, "that of these outrages he had received the most dreadful accounts. Their object was, the extermination of all the Catholics of that county". He described it as " a persecution conceived in the bitterness of bigotry—carried on with the most ferocious barbarity by a banditti, who, being of the religion of the state, had committed, with greater audacity and confidence the most horrid murders, and had proceeded from robbery and massacre to extermination! They had repealed by their own authority all the laws lately passed in favour of the Catholics had established in the place of those laws the inquisition of a mob, resembling Lord George Gordon's fanatics—equalling them in outrage, and surpassing them far in perseverance and success. These insurgents", he continued "call themselves Orange Boys, or Protestant Boys, that is, a banditti of murderers, committing massacre in the name of God, and exercising despotic power in the name of liberty".
Orangemen and ex-Peep O'Day Boys were also involved in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
providing Yeomanry corps and supplementary loyalist militias to the service of the government. According to Jim Smyth "Later apologists rather implausibly deny any connection between the Peep O'Day Boys and the first Orangeman or, even less plausibly, between the Orangemen and the mass wrecking of Catholic cottages in Armagh in the months following the Diamond; all of them, however, acknowledge the movement's lower class origins."