TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury
TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury
TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury
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117<br />
in theory, would decrease the number <strong>of</strong> mixed marriages. It is in this way that the Catholic<br />
Church used the Hibernian Society as a means <strong>of</strong> social control.<br />
The Hibernians were not a success as their membership grew very slowly. This<br />
indicated that Catholics were content to stay in other benefit societies which <strong>of</strong>fered greater<br />
benefits.<br />
Another cause <strong>of</strong> their failure was due to the Irish-centred nature <strong>of</strong> the<br />
H.A.C.B.S. This may have been a deterrent to non-Irish Catholics, but also to the Irish who<br />
wanted to distance themselves from their 'Irishness' and emphasize their loyalty to New<br />
Zealand rather than Ireland. I 0 Davis suggests that to "the bewildered colonial the patriotic<br />
intransigence <strong>of</strong> the Irish Catholic was matched only by the equally Irish intransigence <strong>of</strong><br />
the Orangemen." I I<br />
The kinship, identity and solidarity that the L.O.1. and H.A.C.B.S. <strong>of</strong>fered to their<br />
members was expressed through their parades. The parade was a means <strong>of</strong> declaration and<br />
affirmation <strong>of</strong> their beliefs, to themselves and for the benefit <strong>of</strong> the wider community .1 2<br />
The marchers wore distinct uniforms as they "reduced variety and effaced individualism,<br />
heightening the image <strong>of</strong> order created by concerted movement...Tokens <strong>of</strong> identity, such<br />
as badges, sashes, ribbons, and banners, unified marchers and separated them from their<br />
audience."13 The parades were also a religious and social expression <strong>of</strong> the institutions.<br />
The symbolism and ritualism intertwined with the parades helped to maintain their links<br />
with Ireland but it also displayed the sectarian traditions that were transported from Ireland.<br />
The L.O.1. used their provocative parade as an expression <strong>of</strong> their anti-Catholicism. Their<br />
subsequent banquets with anti-Catholic rhetoric cemented a community who were clinging<br />
to their Old World values and beliefs. To the public, the parades signified the Irishness <strong>of</strong><br />
both institutions and also highlighted the irreconcilable differences and rivalry <strong>of</strong> the two<br />
communities.<br />
l~ewZealandTablet, 8 and 29 May 1913.<br />
I lOp. ciL, Davis, p. 69.<br />
12Susan G. Davis, Parades and Power Street Theatre in Nineteenth-Century Philadelpbi