Apprentice Boys gearing up for Easter Monday province-wide extravaganza with over two dozen parades scheduled

Apprentice Boys will be out in force across Northern Ireland this coming Monday for the institution’s annual Easter parades.
By Adam Kula
Published 28th Mar 2024, 11:38 BST
Updated 28th Mar 2024, 13:24 BST
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The organisation has over two dozen marches planned in the Province, with the biggest one being down in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.

Billy Moore, the general secretary of the Apprentice Boys, told the News Letter that it has been perhaps 10 or 11 years since the main Easter Monday celebrations were held in Enniskillen.

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"We’re pleased to be back in Fermanagh for an enjoyable and special occasion in the County of the Lakes,” he said.

PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 10/4/2023: Benvarden members of the Mitchelburne Club of the Apprentice Boys march through Cookstown during the Apprentice Boys' South Derry and East Tyrone Amalgamated Committee commemoration of the 334th anniversary of the start of the Siege of Londonderry on Easter Monday. Thousands of marchers and over 40 bands took part in the parade through the Co. Tyrone town. PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISONPACEMAKER, BELFAST, 10/4/2023: Benvarden members of the Mitchelburne Club of the Apprentice Boys march through Cookstown during the Apprentice Boys' South Derry and East Tyrone Amalgamated Committee commemoration of the 334th anniversary of the start of the Siege of Londonderry on Easter Monday. Thousands of marchers and over 40 bands took part in the parade through the Co. Tyrone town. PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON
PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 10/4/2023: Benvarden members of the Mitchelburne Club of the Apprentice Boys march through Cookstown during the Apprentice Boys' South Derry and East Tyrone Amalgamated Committee commemoration of the 334th anniversary of the start of the Siege of Londonderry on Easter Monday. Thousands of marchers and over 40 bands took part in the parade through the Co. Tyrone town. PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON

"All fingers are pointing towards an exceptional day.”

At present the weather forecast for the town appears to be a cloudy but relatively dry.

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The Easter Monday ABOD marches are designed to commemorate what Mr Moore calls “the start of the siege proper”: when James’ army returned to encircle Londonderry on April 18, 1689, having been denied access four months earlier when the original apprentices shut the gates on him.

Organised by the South West Ulster Amalgamated Committee, the main Monday parade begins in Hollyhill Car Park in the centre of the Enniskillen at 12.30pm.

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It will march west to the Windmill section of the town, then loop south and come back eastwards.

En route, the parade will pause at the war memorial off Belmore Street for a wreath-laying and a short act of remembrance.

Some 41 bands are slated to march, ranging from Cairnalbana Flute Band in the remote townland of east Antrim to Castlederg Young Loyalists Flute Band in the north-west of the Province, and a selection of bands from the greater Belfast area.

The 11/1 form lists 3,000 participants and some 2,500 spectators. There are no conditions imposed.

Related topics:Northern IrelandEnniskillenProvinceCo Fermanagh

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