Another image from inside the Clifton Street Orange Order hall: an outline of the island of Ireland under the title (in Old Irish script) Oḋreaċt na [h]Éıreann – The Heritage of Ireland – surrounded by the coats of arms of the cities of Londonderry, Dublin, Cork and Belfast, and with the words “Occupy Till I Come – Luke 19:13” at the bottom.

“Occupy until I come” is the King James translation of Luke 19:13 (Greek: πραγματεύσασθαιἐνᾧἔρχομαι) and is better translated as “conduct business until I come [back]”. It is from the story of the king who gave money to 10 servants to see what they would make with it. The one who does nothing with it says he knows the king is exploitative and harsh (αὐστηρὸς, austere!) and he was afraid (to lessen or lose the money, presumably). To which the king says, roughly, ‘if you knew that I expect to profit from other people, you should have done something with it!’ and has his money taken away; meanwhile, the citizens who spoke against the king in his absence are executed. So the moral of the story for Ireland is … the King has given Ireland to Protestants in order to increase its value, and they better make sure they do, because he expects to collect the profit; and anyone among the natives who protests is to be executed upon his return?

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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