The Apprentice Boys revisited - a concluding but not a final chapter

While we still look over our shoulders, and sometimes check under our cars, there is a definite air of optimism around here and I believe that the Boys are justified in embracing the general euphoria.

This year’s highly successful Maiden City Festival and Relief celebrations have provided appetising entrees for the main course of shared culture that is on the menu for 2013, when critics from all over the UK and further afield will be sampling what is on our plates.

We are advised that it is a time for much reflection in the interests of truth and justice, and as the Boys have, at times, had a fairly raw deal in this department, I propose to conclude with a summary of their case.

By the late 1960s, revolution was happening in Paris, London, Berlin, and even in our long forgotten outpost. The Apprentices were in ‘69 what they are today - an association dedicated to commemorating two keynote events in their history and the whole business of the legacy of the 1688/89 Siege.

It can be argued that the action of the original 13 was the most radical to take place here for many generations but this fact was lost in the melee that characterised 1969. There is actually no real mystery about what has happened to the Boys since then and readers will have a variety of opinions concerning whodunnit. The build-up to ‘69 was pretty ominous; public unrest about issues far outside of the remit or influence of the Apprentice Boys soon intruded into their world.

Tension was already evident in July when the Orangemen were attacked on their return for their demonstration in Limavady and many days of rioting followed so by August the temperature locally was high.

Readers of the more sedate generation will recollect that due to the expanding numbers at the Relief parades in the ‘60s an extended route through the city was organised; this route involved a march along Strand Road, up Great James Street, across the Northland Road, down Rock Road and back along the Strand through Waterloo Square into the walled town.

It should be noted that much of this route passed by what were still predominantly Protestant areas like the Northland estate. Some negotiations between the Boys and other interested parties did take place before the 12th and the day itself passed off reasonably peaceful, until mid afternoon, when the end of the parade was attacked at Waterloo Square and the rest, as they say, is history.

More realistically a living hell descended on this community from which we are still recovering. A prime example of this nightmare was the beginning of an exodus of Protestants from the west bank - with the obvious exception of the Fountain - and lots and lots of real tragedy. A prime example of such tragedy was the brutal murder of William King, an absolute gentleman, who lived in the Fountain.

In 1970 a ban on parades throughout Northern Ireland meant that the Boys were compelled to hold an open-air rally in St Columb’s Park, although the thanksgiving service continued at the Cathedral. In the following year the Relief coincided with the immediate aftermath of the introduction of internment and chaos ensued; the parade was banned but the Cathedral thanksgiving was observed. By 1972 the prospect of a third ban on parading in successive years motivated many Boys to organise a parade to the Waterside, in contravention of restrictions - 40 clubs and some bands attended and a rally was held in Duke Street.

A modicum of normality returned in August ‘73 when 90 clubs with bands paraded through the Waterside and ‘The Sentinel’ of 15th August was happy to report that the eight parent clubs had marched through the walled town from the Memorial Hall.

It was a bittersweet result, however, because two weeks later, just after midnight on August 27, a 100lb bomb destroyed the 145 year old Walker’s Pillar - a seminal event in local history and the loss of a revered symbol for the Protestant community.

Many historians view the attack on the Pillar as signalling the real exodus of Protestants and the targetting of Protestant businesses and property in the city centre. In adversity, the Boys have often prospered, as we have observed in the overview of the 19th/ early 20th centuries, and they provided badly needed cohesion within their confused, battered community. The rapid expansion of the number of clubs also reflects the strength of solidarity with the parent clubs felt by those ‘outside’ of Londonderry and the rejuvenation of the abiding symbolism of the Siege.

In July 1974 a Derry Journal editorial delivered a plea for toleration of the annual celebrations under the impressive and welcome banner of ‘Live and Let Live’ and by ‘75 the main parade returned to the cityside - albeit to a much modified route. The Walls were ‘out of bounds’ for many years for security reasons but the Boys managed to adjust to the changing circumstances - after the destruction of the Pillar they conducted the Lundy burning ceremony at Bishop Street (Within) and they extended the August route to incorporate the Irish Street estate.

At all times the Boys maintained a dignified vigil although reality frequently invaded their world in the form of orchestrated attacks on the Memorial Hall, its patrons and visitors, which can only be regarded as downright sectarian thuggery.

Many members of the Association also paid the supreme sacrifice during those awful years and their memory will be preserved in the Room of Remembrance currently under completion at the Hall.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, of course, and despite all of the above, the Boys continued to prosper throughout the ‘80s, with an amalgamated committee formed in England to cater for clubs formed from Barrow to Portsmouth and many new clubs were established in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The tercentenary of the actions of the original 13 young apprentices in December 1988 witnessed a renewed optimism among the Boys. Over 20 years later we continue to benefit from this inspired stance.

The tercentennial year itself involved much innovation, with re-enactments of aspects of the Siege, joint exhibitions with the City Council, receptions and events throughout Ulster, Scotland and England and I consider that I was honoured to act as chair of the proceedings.

It was a crucial turning point in the long history of the Boys - despite much obvious setback in the mid ‘90s - because a youthful confidence emerged among the ranks of the Association. This was demonstrated, for example, in 1992 with the opening of the memorial garden, adjacent to the Hall with, at its centre, a replacement statue of Governor Walker and the rededication of a viewing plinth on the site of the Pillar in the Mall wall.

The fact that the unfortunate Governor still attracts unhappy attention, even in his obvious resting place, does not detract from the general air of positivity currently prevalent.

In 1994, with relaxation of some of the security precautions and ceasefires, a section of the Walls was available to the Boys for the Relief parade to the Cathedral. By the following year the entire circuit of the Walls was open to public access and the General Committee submitted an appropriate application. Details of difficulties encountered in ‘95 and the following year are well within the living memory of most readers and are readily available in a variety of recent archives and I do not propose to revisit the chronicle of those particularly cantankerous days. Suffice to take note that much negotiation at all levels took place and the Boys, with considerable fortitude and excellent leadership emerged to administer the type of celebration that we have recently witnessed at the 321st anniversary of the Relief.

The Boys in the mid ‘90s rested their case on the right to celebrate in appropriate manner an event which lay at the very core of their history and culture and, in the final analysis, who could logically argue against such reasoning?

In response to an overwhelmingly favourable endorsement from most quarters, the Boys have, during recent years, thrown open the doors of the Hall to all who require information about the history and culture that brought them such a successful verdict from their juries in the mid ‘90s.

The very popular Maiden City Festival, born during those earlier optimistic days, has claimed widespread acclaim and has also helped to maintain the Boys’ profile in changing times,

The necessity for a purpose built centre to assist the interpretation of this wealth of heritage and culture - first mooted during tercentenary year - remains constant and the Boys pursue this project with vigour.

I have deliberately avoided the identification of individuals concerned with the recent history of the Boys - there are simply too many to incorporate into a brief review such as this and, as we all recognise, selective identification can offend even the meekest of minds.

I am justified, however, in directing readers’ attention to the sterling work of the current full-time administrator of the Boys, director of the Maiden City festival, onetime Governor and current General Secretary, whose contributions to the last three decades of the Boys’ history can not be quantified. He requires no further identification.

The Boys will be involved in all of the anticipated success of the UK City of Culture in 2013 and it is to be hoped that their involvement will be acknowledged by all of the players in this unfolding drama for Londonderry.