Battle of the Diamond
- When
- 1795–1796
- Where
- Near The Diamond, County Armagh (Atkinson's home area); Near Loughgall, County Armagh; James Sloan's inn, Loughgall; County Armagh; Anniversary commemoration
- Episodes
- 5
The Battle of the Diamond was a planned confrontation between the Catholic Defenders and the Protestant Peep o' Day Boys fought on 21 September 1795 near Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland. Its aftermath saw the founding of the Orange Order at James Sloan's inn in Loughgall and the onset of 'the Armagh outrages', in which thousands of Catholics were driven from County Armagh.
Episodes
- Founding of the Orange Order
After the battle, the Peep o' Day Boys founded the Orange Order at James Sloan's inn in Loughgall.
- The Armagh Outrages
In the winter of 1795–6, Protestants drove around 7,000 Catholics out of County Armagh.
- Peace Conference of 18 September 1795
Captain Joseph Atkinson convened Protestant landowners and Catholic priests as numbers swelled before the battle.
- Battle of the Diamond
The Catholic Defenders and Protestant Peep o' Day Boys fought a planned confrontation near Loughgall on 21 September 1795.
- Diamond Day and Orange Heritage Week
'Diamond Day' marks the battle's anniversary and begins Orange Heritage Week.
Background and detail
Background. Tensions between the Catholic Defenders and the Protestant Peep o' Day Boys escalated in the days before the battle. By Friday 18 September 1795, numbers had increased so much that Captain Joseph Atkinson, a local magistrate living about a mile north of The Diamond, called a peace conference between four Protestant landowners and three Catholic priests.
Peace Conference and Dispersal Claims. The Catholic priests at the conference were Fathers Taggart, possibly Arthur Taggart, parish priest of Cookstown, County Tyrone; McParland, possibly Arthur McParland, future parish priest of Loughgall from 1799; and Trainor. Blacker, present on the Protestant side on the day of the battle, later told a government Select Committee on the Orange Order on 4 August 1835 that the Defenders had agreed to disperse and that the Peep o' Day Boys would do likewise.
Aftermath and Legacy. After the battle, the Peep o' Day Boys retired to James Sloan's inn in Loughgall, where James Wilson, Dan Winter, and James Sloan founded the Orange Order, a defensive association pledged to defend 'the King and his heirs so long as he or they support the Protestant Ascendancy'. The winter of 1795–6 saw Protestants drive around 7,000 Catholics out of County Armagh in 'the Armagh outrages'. 'Diamond Day' marks the battle's anniversary and opens Orange Heritage Week.
People involved
- Joseph Atkinson · Local magistrate who called the peace conference
- James Wilson · Co-founder of the Orange Order
- Dan Winter · Co-founder of the Orange Order
- James Sloan · Innkeeper at Loughgall and co-founder of the Orange Order
- Blacker · Protestant participant who later testified before a Select Committee
Sources
- Battle of the Diamond Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-01
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.