{"id":76607,"date":"2025-09-21T07:29:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T07:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/76607\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T07:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T07:29:09","slug":"it-was-hard-to-find-a-protestant-not-in-the-orange-order-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/76607\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It was hard to find a Protestant not in the Orange Order\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walter Pringle was just three when his Protestant farmer father, Joseph, died in 1951, leaving his mother, Isabella, to rear six children and manage the family farm outside Clones in Co Monaghan, just a mile and a half from the Border.<\/p>\n

The family\u2019s neighbours, all of them Catholics, were the difference between disaster and survival, remembers the 77-year-old Pringle, who is now a lay Church of Ireland preacher in the Clogher diocese.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Johnny McGurks, the Paddy McGurks \u2013 different families \u2013 the Paddy Beggans, the Daltons, the Duffys, the Sreenans, the McKennas \u2013 they treated our farm work the same as their own. <\/p>\n

\u201cPringle\u2019s hay needed to be saved, Pringle\u2019s potatoes needed to be set, they helped with it all, did it all,\u201d he goes on, noting how the kindness of neighbours then influenced the later lives of all of Joseph Pringle\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

The Pringles\u2019 story is far from unusual in the Border counties and especially in Heather Humphreys<\/a>\u2019 own county of Monaghan. The county is home to a 10th of the State\u2019s Presbyterians, of whom the Fine Gael presidential candidate is one.<\/p>\n

Today, Pringle is pleased that a fellow county woman is running, hoping that her candidacy will help increase understanding of the different traditions on the island.<\/p>\n

If Pringle is happy to talk, however, there is a caution in others left over from the Troubles, where Border people \u2013 not just Presbyterians and Church of Ireland \u2013 recoil from intrusive questioning about identity.<\/p>\n

\"ChurchChurch of Ireland lay preacher Walter Pringle <\/p>\n

\u201cReligion isn\u2019t an issue for the vast majority. The only question is whether someone is a good neighbour, or not, but we\u2019re private people here,\u201d said one person who preferred to speak anonymously. <\/p>\n

So far, the presidential campaign has not ignited, though there is a quiet support in the Cavan\/Monaghan constituency for the woman who served as a Fine Gael TD for 13 years, regardless of political allegiances, or religion.<\/p>\n

The nervousness this week is partially explained by a newspaper report that made much of Humphreys\u2019 husband Eric\u2019s past membership of the Orange Order<\/a> \u2013 something once almost obligatory for Protestants living in the Border counties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born in \u201953 \u2013 if you weren\u2019t in the Orange Order in my youth, you were the odd man out,\u201d says local historian Noel Carney, whose Catholic father worked closely with Humphreys\u2019 father, Freddie Stewart, to develop Monaghan Co-Op and Creamery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an accepted thing that Protestants would stay together and marry each other. The same on the Catholic side. Thankfully, that\u2019s all changing now. In the past, it was difficult to find a Protestant who wasn\u2019t a member of the Orange Order,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Humphreys was born and raised just outside Drum village in Co Monaghan, about 6km from Cootehill \u2013 a place often described as \u201cthe most Protestant village\u201d in the State, though other faiths and none live there now.<\/p>\n

The Protestant primary school in the village where Humphreys spent her early years is now home to the Wee Drummers preschool, with the playground filled with the voices of children from faith and non-faith backgrounds.<\/p>\n

\"AngelaAngela Graham from Drum, Co Monaghan, who is a lifelong friend of Heather Humphreys. Photograph: Lorraine Teevan Photographers <\/p>\n

The name harks back to the village\u2019s Protestant heritage, where each year a number of bands \u2013 many of whom also turn out for local St Patrick\u2019s Day parades \u2013 play in what is locally called \u201cThe Picnic\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is not, however, an Orange parade, and this is important in Border terminology, even if the distinction confuses some. The only Orange parade in the Republic occurs annually in Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal, taking place on the Saturday before the Twelfth.<\/p>\n

In fact, there has not been an Orange parade in Monaghan since 1931 after a series of attacks by republicans took place in Leitrim and Cavan, with one attack prompting the penning of a poem remembering \u201cThe Battle of Ardrum Hill\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"NoelNoel Carney, a local historian in Cootehill, Co Monaghan. Photograph: Lorraine Teevan Photographers <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Picnic in Drum has nothing to do with the Orange Order. It\u2019s run by the accordion band, it\u2019s a community event, open to the public. Everybody\u2019s welcome. The Orange Order are not running it,\u201d says Angela Graham, a lifelong friend of Humphreys.<\/p>\n

\u00c9amon \u00d3 Cu\u00edv, then minister for community, rural and Gaeltacht affairs, came one year, Graham remembers. \u201cHe was up on the 40-foot trailer, and he addressed everyone, got a great welcome. It was a big evening for us and such excitement,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n

A return of Orange marches in Monaghan was urged, however, by Sinn F\u00e9in councillor Vincent Conlon, who was also a former IRA volunteer. Mr Conlon died last summer. So far, one has not happened.<\/p>\n

\"DrumkeenDrumkeen Presbyterian Church in Co Monaghan, where Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys attends <\/p>\n

Graham went to primary school in Drum alongside Humphreys, and later the two were sent by their parents to St Aidan\u2019s Comprehensive School in Cootehill \u2013 which took in pupils from all faiths long before it was common elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Noel Carney was a pupil there, too, though a decade before: \u201cIt was wonderful. We were all integrated and we were great friends with each other. We played together at break-time and we didn\u2019t see the differences between us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humphreys\u2019 political career was fostered by a fellow Presbyterian politician, Fine Gael\u2019s Seymour Crawford, who was the only Ulster Protestant to serve in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann during his time as a TD for Cavan\/Monaghan between 1997 and 2011.<\/p>\n

She took his place on Monaghan County Council when he was elected as a TD and, later, ascended to the D\u00e1il when Crawford stepped away before the 2011 general election because of ill-health.<\/p>\n

Her appointment three years later as Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht stunned Fine Gael colleagues. \u201cShe would not have been seen then as cabinet material,\u201d said one colleague of the time.<\/p>\n

The post began badly after she was embroiled in a controversy about the appointment of John McNulty to the Irish Museum of Modern Art board, especially when he ran to fill a byelection vacancy in the Seanad later.<\/p>\n

In truth, Humphreys, just days in office, had been instructed to make the appointment, since McNulty could not run for the Seanad panel vacancy unless he could show a connection with cultural matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just goes to show that Presbyterians are lousy liars. She could not say that she was told to appoint him, and then she could not think of anything else to say,\u201d says one close observer of the time, not unkindly.<\/p>\n

The experience left her badly bruised and, equally, left with her a jaundiced view of the Fourth Estate. \u201cI see the vultures are already here,\u201d she told a local in Monaghan at a function at the height of the controversy.<\/p>\n

However, she gained in experience and confidence in the roles she enjoyed in the years afterwards, including Rural and Community Development, Social Protection and Business, Enterprise and Innovation. <\/p>\n

For nine months, she filled Helen McEntee\u2019s place in Justice during her maternity leave, along with her other ministerial roles. \u201cShe has a capacity for hard work, and for making decisions. She\u2019s not afraid of either,\u201d said one official.<\/p>\n

In Social Protection, she drew heavily on her experience as the manager of the Cootehill credit union, constantly framing actions against the backdrop of cases she dealt with during the post-2008 financial crisis.<\/p>\n

Today, the credit union has three branches in Kingscourt, Bailieborough and Cootehill and 24,000 members. Wishing her well, its chief executive, Angela Rice, said she was \u201cinstrumental\u201d in its growth and had provided \u201csteady leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Heather gets things done\u2019: Pride in Drum as Humphreys begins \u00c1ras campaignOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

For now, there are concerns in Monaghan \u2013 to say that it is a fear would be overstating it \u2013 that Humphreys\u2019 Presbyterian background will be used against her to stoke division.<\/p>\n

Local Presbyterian minister Rev Daryl Edwards thinks carefully before making a public comment. \u201cOn a personal level, I know Heather Humphreys very well, so it is exciting to know a presidential candidate first hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though an official Presbyterian comment \u201cwouldn\u2019t be appropriate\u201d, he encouraged his congregation \u201cto prayerfully consider\u201d who they will support, and to \u201cpray for those in authority, and those who seek elected office, at whatever level in the country\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"HeatherHeather Humphreys at the Ulster Canal in Clones, Co Monaghan on the day her presidential nomination was confirmed. Photograph: Lorraine Teevan Photographers <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Belfast-based grand secretary of the Orange Order, Mervyn Gibson, is keen to emphasise that the choice of the next president is a matter for voters south of the Border.<\/p>\n

Pressed, however, to offer his view, he says: \u201cPersonally, I think Michael D Higgins has been horrendous for community relations. I\u2019m looking for a president who will build on what Mary McAleese did to grow relationships with Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at all the good work she did over the years, which was forgotten about during his term in office. He didn\u2019t go down well with people, period. He had no rapport with people in Northern Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understandably, given her long friendship with Humphreys, Angela Graham is thinking positively: \u201cIf elected, I know she will follow in the footsteps of those amazing women, the two Marys there before, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humpheys\u2019 campaign slogan is \u201cCommunity, Unity and Opportunity\u201d, though the unity referred to is not the unity of the island, but, rather, the need for a president who will be \u201ca unifying force to bring people together\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Humphreys does favour a united Ireland. \u201cI definitely do, I have committed to that, but only through working with people and bringing them together,\u201d she said at her Monaghan campaign launch last week.<\/p>\n

If elected, she would be able to offer a hand of friendship across the Border in a way that no other president has been able to do, Graham argues.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s lived it. She understands. It\u2019s in her DNA. That\u2019s what\u2019s so important,\u201d she says. \u201cNo other candidate will bring that. She has that unique ability to cross community divides. She wouldn\u2019t just be talking the talk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walter Pringle was just three when his Protestant farmer father, Joseph, died in 1951, leaving his mother, Isabella,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,23935,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,35046,5,59,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-76607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-common-ground","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-monaghan","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-presidential-election","24":"tag-top-stories","25":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}