Lisburn District marks 150th anniversary of Orange Hall

Jim Halliday and Stephen Croft of Lagan Valley Orange Historical Society, as well as The Grand Master Of The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland Brother Edward Stevenson, as well as officers and members of Lisburn District unveiled a brass plaque to commemorate the special occasion.

The earliest mention of an purpose built orange hall in Lisburn was in 1862 when William James Gwynn, Deputy Grand Master of Antrim, in giving a speech in the assembly rooms to the district urged them to think about erecting a hall.

Nothing seems to have been about this until early in 1870. In April 1870 advertisements were placed in the local newspapers for tenders to build a hall to the plans and specification that could be seen with John Knox, Railway Street, sealed tenders to be sent to George P Johnston, Ballymacash.

In May 1870 a meeting was held for the propose of hearing a report of the committee on the steps taken in regards to the building the hall, the secretary reported that £400 had already been raised and Mr McHenry had been awarded the contract and the total cost would be £998. The plot of land on which the hall was built was donated by the Marquess of Hertford.

On August 13, 1870 a large crowd gathered to watch the foundation stone being laid by The Very Reverend Dean Stannus. The hall was robe larger that originally planned, it was now to be 100 feet by 20 feet and £1,200 had been raised towards the building. On Friday August 11, 1870 the building of the hall had been completed and it was opened by The Very Reverend Stannus in the presence of a very large crowd of Orangemen and the public.

After the opening of the hall a bazaar took place, which continued over two days.

The exterior of the hall has changed little over the decades, however during the Second World War the railing at the front were removed to help with the war effort.