As with many things Irish, the past presents strange mysteries... It would appear that in the 1790', the Orangemen and the Defenders were formed and did daily battle with each other... The Orangemen were protestants and the Defenders were Catholic, sort of... Considering the events of the 90's up to and including the 1798 rebellion: The Militia appears to have been staffed with both Protestants and Catholics, with the Protestants serving as officers and Catholics as enlisted men... The Yeoman Corp. appears to have been Protestant... The Orange men appear to have had both Church of Ireland and Presbyterian members... The United Irishmen appear to have had both Catholic and Presbyterian members... The Masons appear to be Protestants, both Church of Ireland and Presbyterian, Loyal to the King of England... Is this a correct picture, or do I have some of it wrong??? Looks like a mess to me, with Presbyterians killing Presbyterians and Catholics doing battle with Catholics... A precise explanation of these groups and events would be helpful... Dick Kiernan

I agree with Dick Kiernan, if we could have some sort of reconstruction maybe we could get it right next time. I believe it was as Frank Carson said "the Presbyterians". Jason Mills