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Apprentice Boys
Apprentice Boys, a Protestant political society, named after the thirteen apprentices who on 7 December 1688 shut the gates of Derry against Catholic troops under Lord Antrim. Their motive was fear of an impending massacre of Protestants, aroused by the recent circulation of an inflammatory forgery (the ‘Comber letter’), rather than allegiance to William III; on 21 December the citizens agreed to accept a Protestant but nominally Jacobite garrison under Robert Lundy. In retrospect, however, the closing of the gates initiated Derry's resistance to James II.
The brotherhood of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, founded in 1814, has branches throughout Northern Ireland, in Britain, and in North America. Its members celebrate the shutting of the gates on 18 December and the lifting of the siege of Derry on 12 August. (In both cases, as with the battle of the Boyne, the gap between the old and new calendar has been mistakenly taken as eleven days rather than ten.) Violence following the celebration of 12 August 1969 was an important stage in the development of the Northern Ireland conflict. |
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"Apprentice Boys." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Apprentice Boys." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-ApprenticeBoys.html "Apprentice Boys." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-ApprenticeBoys.html |
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Apprentice Boys
Apprentice Boys. The Apprentice Boys are an Ulster loyalist organization whose title celebrates the thirteen apprentices who shut the city gates of Derry before the Jacobite siege (April–July 1689). The commemoration of the siege by the Williamites of Derry began possibly in 1692, though it only became an annual event after c.1790: the first Apprentice Boys Club appears to have been formed in 1714. With the shifting sectarian balance in the city in the 19th cent. the Apprentice Boys took on a more defensively protestant character. Like the Orange order, the movement appears to have been in abeyance in the second quarter of the 19th cent., but to have enjoyed a growth after c.1850. The Apprentice Boys remain in existence, with a membership of around 10,000.
Alvin Jackson |
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Apprentice Boys." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Apprentice Boys." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-ApprenticeBoys.html JOHN CANNON. "Apprentice Boys." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-ApprenticeBoys.html |
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Apprentice Boys
Apprentice Boys The Apprentice Boys are an Ulster loyalist organization whose title celebrates the thirteen apprentices who shut the city gates of Derry before the Jacobite siege (April–July 1689). The Apprentice Boys remain in existence, with a membership of around 10,000.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Apprentice Boys." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Apprentice Boys." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-ApprenticeBoys.html JOHN CANNON. "Apprentice Boys." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-ApprenticeBoys.html |
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