TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury

64
importance.3 The ritual parade expressed these ideas through stylized and ordered marches
through the streets of cities or towns. The key to this communication is in its symbolism.
The association of orange sashes and banners with William III declared through a nonverbal
and dramatic way to the wider community that these marchers were 'Orangemen'
celebrating William Ill's triumphs. If a bystander did not know who William III was, he/she
would still recognize the use of symbols such as the crown or the Bible. There is a powerful
communication of any message that is dramatized by a ritual parade. Long after the parade
has finished and is only a distant memory a person might remember the 'sight' of a parade
rather than any speeches that would have occurred at a rally.
The Hibernians used contrasting images and communicated a different message to
that of the Orange Institution when they were involved in St Patrick's Day parades. They
involved the whole Catholic community in their parades, which gave the signal that the
Hibernians were an integral part of the Catholic community.
These parades by the
Hibernians and other Catholic groups communicated to the wider community what it meant
to be Irish and also that they had their place in society . This idea was highlighted in an
editorial in the New Zealand Tablet concerning St Patrick's Day Celebrations-
The two most marked features in the character of an Irishman are love for his religion and love for
his native land. Even the bitterest enemies of the Irish people admit their patriotism, and centuries
of cruel persecution have failed to shake or weaken their fidelity to their Holy Faith. It is
probably because the anniversary of Ireland's patron saint affords ample scope for the exercise of
both these feelings - the religious and the patriotic - that the celebration of St Patrick's Day has
taken such a deep hold everywhere on the hearts of the Irish people. 4
In this editorial comment the 'Irish' are both Roman Catholic and nationalistic. This ignores
the Irish Protestant community which was not seen as being 'Irish'.
For New Zealand
readers Catholic equalled Irish at this time. Yet this editorial went further and offered the
equation of Irish = Catholic. Linking Irish Catholicism to St Patrick's Day was a good
opportunity to solidify these claims. Thus, St Patrick's Day was a celebration of Irish
Catholicism.
3David I. Kertzer, Ritual, Politics and Power, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1988, p.
29.
4New Zealand Tablet, 19 March 1897