DLOL 15

Comber District No15, County Down

Due to an ever inreasing number of Orange Lodges belonging to Ards District No4 in the mid 1880`s, Comber District No15 was formed in 1885 and it comprises of seven Orange Lodges, five of which reside in the town and meet in Comber Orange Hall. One resides in the townland of Ballyknockan, near Ballygowan and the other resides in Gilnahirk on the outskirts of East Belfast. These are commomnly called "private lodges" to which individual Orangemen belong. Each private lodge has five principle officers - the Worshipful Master (acts as chairman at meetings), Deputy Master, Secretary, Treasurer and lastly but by no means the least, the Chaplain.

A District lodge and its Officers are elected annually from these private lodges who are then responsible for overseeing the administration, organising parades and church services etc. All lodges are in possession of a Warrant (authorisation) and a number that is issued by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland when a lodge is constituted.

Before giving a brief history of each lodge in Comber some explanation is required to the anomally that though some lodges may have a relatively low number, it doesn`t necessarily mean that it is the oldest lodge. Two main reasons for this exist;

1. With the rapid growth of the Orange Order, apart from the formation of local lodges, many members were serving members of the Irish Militia, (formed in 1791). With the Act of Union in 1800 they were liable for active service overseas. To enable such lodges to work legally, they were granted `Marching` or `Travelling` Warrants.

2. The dissolution of Grand Lodge in 1835 led to many, although not all, Warrants to be returned. When Grand Lodge was reconstituted, once again many new lodges applied for Warrants, some acquiring their original number, others allocated what was available.