why is 12 july special for northern ireland? - Y! Answers

July 12, 1691 was when the Battle of Aughrim was fought. The events and motivations leading up to the battle were complicated, but the net effect was a huge and final battle between Catholic and Protestant forces.

The battle was an overwhelming victory (often labeled a massacre) for the Protestant forces, and meant that England would rule Ireland for more than 200 years. During that time the Irish language and culture, along with Catholicism in general, was brutally and violently suppressed.

Most of Ireland finally attained freedom from the now United Kingdom in the early 20th century, but six counties with protestant majorities in the northeast, now known as Northern Ireland, is still part of the UK.

And every year, on July 12, the most hateful and racist of the Protestants stage a huge celebratory parade through the heart of the various Catholic neighborhoods in Northern Ireland. This is equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan having a parade through Harlem on the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and is a direct cause of the violence that has racked Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom for more than 40 years.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090710040347AAGmWBs