Eighty years on the Twelfth parade route and no sign of stopping yet, Joe McKibbin gets ready to hit the road in Kilkeel
The Twelfth is the biggest day in the Orange calendar, centre of the years for hundreds of thousands of brethren and supporters across the province.
But this year’s parade in Kilkeel will have one very special participant proudly displaying his passion for Orangeism – Joe McKibbin, who marks eight decades marching with his beloved lodge.
A dedicated member since 1945, Joe and several mates joined right after the end of the Second World War. Now in 2025, he’s still putting on his finest to join his brethren on the parade route.
“It’s the Twelfth, it’s the best day of the year,” he told the News Letter. “I wouldn’t miss it. Everyone looks forward to it.”
From Annalong on the southern coast of Co Down, the village he lives in may be small but it’s fertile ground for Orangeism, boasting three lodges as well as a flute band, a pipe band and an accordion band.
This year Joe’s heading to Kilkeel for the big day – and one of the big changes he’s seen in 80 years of parading will no doubt come as a relief, as it’s set to be one of the hottest Twelfths of the century so far.
“The big change? Buses,” he says. “Everyone gets buses now. In the old days, you walked – everywhere.”
If things were still handled they way they were in the 1940s, that would have left Joe facing a five-mile trek just to get to the start of the parade route.
His remarkable achievement was honoured by his lodge, Annalong LOL 342, this week when long service certificates were awarded in a special ceremony. Joe’s took pride of place, as no one else comes near to his decades of dedication; indeed, his nearest rivals are young whippersnappers who have only been in the lodge for 50 years.
Now approaching 100 years old – just a year and a half until he gets his eagerly-awaited letter from King Charles, Joe says – the dedicated member of loyal orders admits he’s not as spry as he used to be, and now only walks part of the route.
But nothing’s going to keep him from the parade, a telling the News Letter with a twinkle: “No, I’m not going to stop. I’ve come this far.”