Eleventh Night

Today is Eleventh Night in Northern Ireland. On July 11th the Protestants burn huge bonfires in every neighborhood and town in Northern Ireland – where they burn Catholic symbols (ie Crosses, Irish Flags, pictures of the Pope, etc.)

Tomorrow is the “The Twelfth” in Northern Ireland. The Twelfth is when the Northern Irish Protestants celebrate the Victory of Protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne (1690), which began the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland

Note: it was celebrated by the Irish Protestants in all of Ireland until 1922 when Ireland became an independent country and Northern Ireland stayed part of the UK.

The Twelfth is really just a day for Northern Irish Protestants to carry-out anti-Catholic attacks, parades and demonstrations.

The Protestants parade and march through Catholic neighborhoods – even going through the Peace Lines separating the two communities – to show that the Protestant Ascendancy is still alive after all these centuries and to make sure the Catholics “know their place” at the bottom.

There has always been violence and even death since The Twelfth was first celebrated in the late 18th Century.

Here is a picture of the Protestant Area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Red, White and Blue of the British Flag is there to let Catholics know it is a Protestant Area and that Catholics are not welcomed or safe there.

In case a Catholic still doesn’t understand that they can then read the Ulster Loyalist Protestant Sign on the Mural. I took this picture in June 2010. I was in Northern Ireland at the end of June and even then you could see bonfires being built in every Protestant area for the 12th.

The Twelfth should be banned as should any event or act that promotes the violence and death of either Catholics or Protestants.