My father James Renwick was a Catholic living in Dublin Ireland in 1914. He was 19 years old when the First World War broke out and he immediately volunteered to join the British navy. He served throughout the war and was awarded many medals for his bravery. After the War, on Remembrance Sunday, he would bring us to the Memorial Gardens in Dublin to honor the fallen. When the Boys Brigade played their Bugle Calls his tears flowed as he remembered his lost comrades. He was very proud of his service to King and Country.
Three of my elder brothers were boilermakers with experience of building ships in Dublin. When the 2nd World War broke out, Ireland decided to be a neutral country and as a consequence, strategic materials like steel were kept for the British war effort. Repair work on ships was greatly reduced. My brothers heard that Harland Wolff shipyard in Belfast was recruiting (Titanic)
My brothers were worried because the Yard had a reputation of discrimination and bullying of Catholics. Our surname was an English surname "Renwick". For obvious reasons, they pretended to be unemployed Protestants suffering from discrimination in the South. They were housed in a 3-bedroom house in Protestant Whiteabbey.
Throughout Northern Ireland, Protestant Orangemen celebrate the Battle of the Boyle that took place on 12 July 1691. On the Glorious Twelfth, they paraded across Ulster. The streets and lampposts are bedecked with British flags and bunting. On the eve, they have huge bonfires to burn the effigy of King James. Orangemen on the Twelfth wear a black suit, an Orange sash, war medals, white gloves and a bowler hat behind huge banners. They also have loyalist marching bands playing Unionist tunes backed up by loud Lambeg drums.
From 1940 to 1945 my parents and my siblings would travel by train to my brother's house in Whiteabbey to holiday with them. Because of his valor in the Great War, my father was invited to join the local Orangemen's parade so he dressed up like them with his medals, bowler hat, etc even though he was a Catholic. It was a thrill for him to parade again after 20 years. I was ever so proud to see him marching with his head held high.
My brothers and parents developed strong relationships with their next-door neighbors, the McManus family. When the war ended in 1945, my brothers were made redundant and returned to repair ships in Dublin. After the war, the McManus family invited us to stay with them over the 12th holiday period so that my dad could be involved in the local parade.
I was 7 years old and was lectured not to tell anybody in Whiteabbey that we were Catholics. Young Alec McManus was my own age and we developed a great boyhood relationship. On Saturday afternoons we would go to the local Orange Hall where they would show mostly cowboy and war pictures.
On my first visit, Alec told the Lodge Grand Master about my brothers working in H& W and that my father was parading with the Lodge. He never questioned my religion, believing I was a true Protestant.
Because I was a new recruit, the Grand Master took me under his wing and allowed me to wear some of their regalia. He was a traditional Irish storyteller and he had a fascinating way of telling us about the various battles fought in Ireland. I was enthralled with his story of the Derry Apprentice Boys and how they had been forced to eat dogs, horses and rats during the siege. He also explained the need for their Unionist traditions i.e. to uphold their civil and religious liberties. Being so young I was hooked and kept asking him to repeat his stories.
I was only a boy then, but I now realize that I got a fantastic insight into the minds of Unionists, their values and traditions. I was mesmerized by his historical stories, letting me wear Orange regalia, waving their flags and singing their songs. I think he was grooming me to become a Derry Apprentice Boy. I was becoming more Unionist than the Unionists themselves.
At the end of the 2-week holiday, Alec begged my parents to let me stay an extra week and they agreed. We would play around our made up clubhouse like in the "Just William" books. On some occasions, we would play in an unused underground air-raid shelter. When the pretend bombing was over, we would all come out ready to fight the Germans.
On Tuesday 17th July, a day I will always remember, we decided to re-enact the Battle of the Boyne i.e. Protestants versus the Catholics. I was selected to be a Protestant and not realizing the consequences, I refused. The subject got hot and heavy regarding my refusal. I was so immature and finally blurted out that I was a real Catholic and would not fight against my own kind. They were shocked to hear that they were playing with a Catholic. Alec was really upset and ran home to tell his parents repeatedly shouting "Mammy, Mammy, Brendan says he is a Catholic. What will we do"? Alec's parents already knew of my secret and they were very concerned about the consequences and they told me to go upstairs and pack my things and sent me home by train.
