{"id":261193,"date":"2025-07-13T09:10:30","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T09:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/261193\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T09:10:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T09:10:30","slug":"sun-shines-on-augher-as-it-hosts-twelfth-festivities-for-first-time-in-six-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/261193\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun shines on Augher as it hosts Twelfth festivities for first time in six years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clear skies and scorching temperatures of up to 28C brought people out in their hundreds to watch bands parading<\/a> through the streets of the village.<\/p>\n

Family groups, the elderly and young people all came out to watch the festivities with the sweltering temperatures meaning ice-creams, frozen bottles of water and plenty of drinks were the order of the day<\/p>\n

Bands and lodges assembled on Favour Royal Road shortly after midday before making their way through the village to the demonstration field next to the town graveyard.<\/p>\n

A number of wonderfully polished classic cars sparkled in the sunshine on their way through the village including a dark purple Jaguar, a Union flag Mini Cooper and a bright orange convertible kit car.<\/p>\n

Also on display was a white horse and cart which trotted through the Main Street of Augher ahead of the Fivemiletown Lodge banner to the delight of the crowd.<\/p>\n

Several ice cream vans dotted along the route of the parade provided revellers with some much needed cooling relief from the beating down midday sun.<\/p>\n

As well as constantly reapplying sun cream, many in attendance had taken extra precautions against the sunshine by bringing along brightly coloured gazebos, umbrellas and covered camping chairs.<\/p>\n

Many had decorated their plots in traditional red, white and blue while others adorned their hats or drums with the orange lily.<\/p>\n

The parade was headed by district officers from Fivemiletown LOL No.15 and Annahoe LOL No.6.<\/p>\n

Recently appointed Worshipful District Master of Fivemiletown No.15, Nigel Trotter, told the crowd: \u201cI hope everyone is having an enjoyable day and I would like to welcome you all to our Twelfth in Augher.<\/p>\n

\"Twelfth<\/p>\n

Twelfth of July celebrations for the Clogher Valley takes place in Augher. 12th July 2025 (Photo by Luke Jervis)<\/p>\n

\u201cI extend a very special welcome to the officers and brethren of our neighbouring district, Annahoe, who have joined us today in our celebrations. A cordial welcome also to our visiting brethren from Monaghan and Cavan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very special occasion for me personally, it\u2019s my first Twelfth as district master and the first time it has been held in my home village of Augher.<\/p>\n

\"PACEMAKER<\/p>\n

PACEMAKER BELFAST. 12\/07\/2025 12th July Augher Co Tyrone Little helpers of Loughans LOL 197.<\/p>\n

Watch: Twelfth celebrations take place across Northern Ireland <\/p>\n

\u201cI am sure you would all agree with me that the village and here in the field has all been very well decorated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blistering temperature across Northern Ireland meant vendors were doing a roaring trade throughout the day as people did their best to stay hydrated.<\/p>\n

Two of the many revellers lining the route were veteran Orangeman Trevor (70) and his wife Helen (67), from Lisburn, who attended despite Trevor\u2019s ill health.<\/p>\n

\"Reuben<\/p>\n

Reuben Mulligan at the Twelfth of July celebrations for the Clogher Valley in Augher. 12th July 2025 (Photo by Luke Jervis)<\/p>\n

Helen said: \u201cIt was a bit tiring for us walking along the parade route to the field and back again in the heat but we had a lovely day.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrevor has been coming for over fifty years and we both go to the parades every year. He had a stroke earlier this year which has affected his mobility but he still wanted to get out and enjoy the bands.<\/p>\n

\"Twelfth<\/p>\n

Twelfth of July celebrations for the Clogher Valley takes place in Augher. 12th July 2025 (Photo by Luke Jervis)<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a brand new collarette this year for their 300th anniversary of his lodge, we always enjoy the religious service and the barbecue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe enjoy it because everyone is welcome and anyone can come along with their families and enjoy the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Local businesswoman Tracy Smyth (48), owner of Arty\u2019s cafe in Clogher, set up her brand-new food trailer on the field and was delighted with her day at the Twelfth.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cThis is only our second voyage out in our wee trailer so it\u2019s very exciting to be here, the weather is fantastic which really helps and it\u2019s been lovely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sun always makes things much better, the cafe is local to here so we\u2019ve seen a lot of our customers along the parade route and got plenty of trade which is great.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis our first time doing the Twelfth because we only just got the trailer up and running and it\u2019s not too far to travel this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a wee bit stressful getting everything organised but I\u2019ve really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tracy<\/p>\n

Tracy Smyth at the Twelfth of July celebrations for the Clogher Valley in Augher. 12th July 2025 (Photo by Luke Jervis)<\/p>\n

Despite the good vibes Tracy said she had been subjected to some negative comments while setting her stall up the previous day.<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cI\u2019m in a cross-community marriage and I was putting my pitch up on the Eleventh and the abuse we were getting from people passing by was shocking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were giving us the finger and shouting insults, they\u2019ve no idea who I am or what I believe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was brought up to go to the Twelfth every year, my daughter was actually born on the 12th of July and that was the first one I ever missed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe raised our children to make their own minds up and they can take it or leave it, culturally I\u2019m not really into the bonfires as I think some people take things too far. It\u2019s not for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like our local bands and the parades and the music and the way it gets everyone together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clear skies and scorching temperatures of up to 28C brought people out in their hundreds to watch bands…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[63017,1144,6413,94225,1210,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-261193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-john-toner","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-orange-order","11":"tag-the-twelfth","12":"tag-tyrone-news","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114845150599781699","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}