Ancient Order of Hibernians

Ancient Order of Hibernians
Abbreviation	AOH
Motto	Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity
Formation	4 May 1836
Type	Catholic American fraternal order
Headquarters	31 Logan Street, Auburn, New York, United States
President	Seamus Boyle
Website	www.aoh.com

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836. Its name was adopted by groups of Irish immigrants in the United States,^[1] its purpose to act as guards to protect Catholic churches from anti-Catholic forces in the mid 19th century, and to assist Irish Catholic immigrants, especially those who faced discrimination or harsh coal mining working conditions. Many members had a background with the Molly Maguires. It became an important focus of Irish-American political activity.^[1]

Background in Ireland

The organisation had its roots in the Defenders and the Ribbonmen, Catholic agrarian movements of the 18th and 19th centuries.^[2] It emerged in Ulster at the end of the 19th century in opposition to the Orange Order.^[3] It was organised by Joseph Devlin of Belfast, who was Grandmaster by 1905.^[4] The AOH was closely associated with the Irish Parliamentary Party, its members mainly members of the party.^[5] It was strongly opposed to secular idologies such as those of the Irish Republican Brotherhood who were most unhappy at the re-emergence of this old rival 'right-wing' nationalist society.^[6]

From a membership of 5,000 in 1900, nearly all in Ulster, it climbed to 64,000 by 1909, complimenting the United Irish League.^[7] By 1914 the order had spread throughout the country, mainly because of its utility as a patronage, brokerage and recreational association.^[8] As a vehicle for Irish nationalism, the AOH greatly influenced the sectarian aspect of Irish politics in the early twentieth century. In Ulster and elsewhere it acted as an unruly but vigorous militant support organisation for Devlin, Dillon and Redmond against radicals and against William O'Brien: O'Brien regarded himself as having been driven from the party by militant Hibernians at the "Baton Convention" of 1909.^[9]

After the 1916 Easter Rising the organisation declined outside of Ulster, its members absorbed into Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army.^[10] In many areas the organisation provided by the AOH was the nearest thing to a paramilitary force. Many republican leaders in the 1916-1923 period, among them Sean MacDermott, J.J Walsh and Rory O'Connor, had been "Hibs" before the formation of the Irish Volunteers in 1913.^[11]

The AOH is also significant as a link between the new nationalist organisations and the century-old tradition of popular militant societies. More directly, it lingered on as a pro-Treaty support organisation. Some Hibernians fought in the Irish Brigade in the Spanish Civil War. The quasi-Fascist Blueshirts movement of the 1930s may, in fact, have owed as much to the Ribbon tradition which it so much resembled as it did to continental analogies.^[12]

Within Northern Ireland, the AOH remains a visible but somewhat marginal part of the Catholic community. It parades at Easter, Lady Day and a few other times a year.

United States

St. James Church, New York City

The Order in the United States was founded in New York City May 4, 1836 at St. James Church located near the old Five Points neighborhood. Its existence and activities were concealed for some years. Its motto is "Friendship, Unity, and Christian Charity."

• The Ladies Auxiliary was formed in 1894 in Omaha, Nebraska.

• Most historians accept that for well over a decade in the late 19th century AOH acted as a "front" for the Molly Maguires. However alternative interpretations exist.^[13]

• The AOH raised $50,000 to build the Nuns of the Battlefield sculpture in Washington, D.C., which the United States Congress authorised in 1918.^[14][15] But the Irish American sculptor, Jerome Connor, ended up suing the Order for non payment.^[14]

• The AOH coordinates the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City.

• The Brothers of St. Patrick Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America was established at Brother's of St. Patrick in Midway City, California in 1995.^[16]

See also

• Knights of Equity
• List of Hibernian buildings
• Fraternal and service organizations
• Banners in Northern Ireland
• Hibernian Rifles

References

Reading

• Tom Garvin: The Evolution of Irish Nationalist Politics Gill & Macmillan (2005) ISBN 0-7171-3967-0 : Pages 105-110: The Rise of the Hibernians.
• Prof. R.V. Comerford: Ireland Inventing the Nation (Hodder 2003).

External links

• Ancient Order of Hibernians (in America) webpage
• AOH information
• The Molly Maguires