TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury

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and from that date it was gradually being established in other parts of the world. It is worth
noting that the title change to 'Ancient Order of Hibernians' occurred in America before it
happened in Ireland. 22 The main difference between Ribbonism and Hibernianism was that
the former was a secret society while the latter was a Catholic nationalist society that later
evolved into a benefit society.23
The A.O.H. was established In America in New York in 1836, but they still
maintained that they were the descendants of Rory Oge O'Moore's band founded in 1565 to
protect Irish Catholic interests. As already noted, their history lay in the secret Catholic
agrarian societies of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The A.O.H. in America
concerned itself with providing sick and death benefits to its members and the fraternal
aspect of banding together to celebrate St Patrick's Day usually through parades.
A.O.H. was also concerned with protecting Catholic rights in an anti-Catholic era. 24
The
An
example of this was when Bishop John Hughes of New York called upon the A.O.H. to
guard Catholic churches against threats of violence in the mid-nineteenth century.25
The origins of the Hibernians in Australia began with the formation of Catholic
benefit societies. The origin of the Ballarat Hibernian Society best illustrates the perceived
need for a Catholic benefit society. In 1866 Mark Young was elected to the committee of
the Ballarat Benevolent Society in Victoria Australia and he noted that many Catholics
needed financial assistance when sick. Mter speaking with two men who were associated
with the miners he asked them why they had not joined a Friendly Society. He was told that
the miners had an accident fund and that Bishop Goold was not favourable to Catholics who
joined secret societies. Young, who was an Oddfellow, knew the benefits of a friendly
society so he advocated the formation of a Catholic Friendly Society for men, which did not
220p. cit.. Bergin, p. 34.
23Ibid., p. 30. The A.O.H.'s title previously belonged to the St. Patrick's Fraternal Society fonned in
1825 in response to the Ribbonmen being outlawed.
24Michael F. Funchion (ed.), Irish American Voluntary Organizations, Westport, Connecticut,
Greenwood Press, 1983, pp. 50-52.
250p. cit., Kauffman, p. 7.