The Orange Order was never as prominent in the Australian colonies as its own
publicity asserted and its arguments against the power of Rome in Australian politics
and society were more shrill than accurate. However, it held a clearly defined position
as a vector of anti-Catholicism and ultra-Protestantism in many parts of colonial
Australia, and its parades and social gatherings were important spaces for the formation
of Australian Protestant identities imbued with varying levels of Irishness.
The use of public space meant that the Loyal Orange Institution had a wider impact
than their often small numbers might otherwise suggest.With their parades, sermons,
public meetings, and demonstrations many Orangemen and women attempted to
claim colonial public space not only as Protestant, but as a particularly Irish inflected
anti-Catholicism.