Editorial: Major Apprentice Boys commemoration to mark pivotal moment in history

The Apprentice Boys of Derry are set to stage one of their major commemorations this weekend.

Held every year on the second Saturday in August, the “Relief of Londonderry” celebrations will see around 10,000 Apprentice Boys and over 120 bands converge on the city from all corners of Northern Ireland, including visitors from mainland Great Britain.

The other main demonstration organised by the Apprentice Boys is the “Shutting of the Gates” on the first Saturday in December, when the loyal order marks that moment in history when 13 apprentices shut the gates of the city against the approaching army of James II. The day comes to a close with the traditional burning of “Lundy the Traitor” in Bishop Street.

The actions of those 13 apprentices in December 1688 led to the 105-day Siege of Londonderry, when the residents of the city withstood months of pressure and hardship as enemy Jacobite forces surrounded the city walls.

It wasn’t until August of the following year that the forces of James II were driven away from Londonderry by the arrival of William of Orange’s relief ships and troops. Famously, it was The Mountjoy, a merchant ship captained by Michael Browning, which broke the boom and sailed up the Foyle to relieve the city and its defiant residents.

Commemorations for the 337th anniversary of the Relief of Londonderry will begin at midnight tomorrow, with a cannon firing from the city’s walls. Saturday will then see the Apprentice Boys parade around the walls, and take part in a Service of Thanksgiving in St Columb’s Cathedral.

It promises to be a wonderful spectacle of culture, music and pageantry, and a fitting commemoration of events widely regarded as having great significance to the histories of Ireland, Britain and Europe.