| Sectarian violence
in Ireland is regrettably is no stranger on the worlds media today,
a symptom of the countrys long and torturous history. On the 12th
July 1849 an Orange parade was fired upon by Catholic Ribbonmen
at Dollie's Brae outside Castlewellan Co Down. The reaction from
the Orangemen although none were injured left the nearby village
of Magheramayo a smoldering ruin and 30 Catholics dead.
Largely as a response to this episode Parliament
passed the Processions Act of 1850, the first of a series of legislative
attempts to reconcile the two communities. |
