Enagh New Lights L.O.L. 814
A Brief History of LOL 814
It is not known where or when this lodge was formed but only that it is one of the oldest Lodges in Markethill District. The warrant is referred to in the 1825 register when the W.M. was given as Samuel Hawthorne, subsequent registers give the W.M. as John McCune in 1856, when the lodge met in Glassdrummond and W J Scarr from 1875 to 1907. This Brother who lived in the Killycarn area was a long serving W.D.M. of Markethill.
Like most Lodges in the nineteenth century LOL 814 would have had a nomadic existence with meetings being held usually in the home of the W.M., this meant moving when another W.M. was appointed. Around the turn of the century the Crozier and Stevenson families from the Seagahan and Corran areas respectively were active. Mr William Stevenson was a spectacular sight on horseback in front of the Lodge on anniversaries in the early 1900’s. About this time the Lodge met in the barn of Mr David Graham near the Flo Bog.
Mr Gordon Gray of Enagh Cottage was the W.M. in 1912 and the present Orange Hall was built on the site formerly owned by William Gilmore about this time. Stones were raised in the local quarry and the building was erected by voluntary labour. In 1921 a banner which is still to the fore and may have been the first one for this Lodge was supplied by Wm. Bridgett of Belfast. This bore a painting of King William III crossing the Boyne and a scene from the 36th Ulster Division’s plight at the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. The title Enagh True Blues was inscribed on the banner although the formal title is Enagh True Lights. It is believed that the original title could have derived from a liberal group within the Presbyterian Church in the mid eighteenth century known as the New Light Movement. Their doctrine was Unitarian with the divine worship of God and led to the forming of the Non- Subscribing Presbyterian denomination. The stigma attached to the New Lights title was the reason why it was not portrayed and True Blues chosen probably because of the popularity of another local lodge of that title.
A new banner was purchased in 1961 and again this was a silk purple centre with orange surrounds. The Enagh True Blues title was adhered to and “Markethill District” was added to the inscription but the Somme scene was exchanged for a theological depiction. The trend of improvement has continued throughout the sixties, seventies and eighties. The hall was enlarged in 1961 and electricity was installed in 1973.
The Lodge continued to thrive through the 80’s and into the 90’s with record numbers of members exceeding 50 for the first time. The lodge had many longstanding members with quite a number receiving 50 year certificates.
Rather than holding an annual church service each year it was decided in October 2005 to hold an annual harvest thanksgiving service and this has been the tradition ever since with the hall well filled on the last Sunday afternoon of October each year. Each year a worthy cause is selected and the offering collected is donated in it’s entirety to the chosen cause/charity. Some of these have included the Mitre Trust, Macmillan Nursing and the Southern Area Hospice.
The most recent banner was purchased in 2007 with the unfurling taking place on 19th May by Mrs Ruby Graham. This depicts King William on one side with a picture of the Lord Jesus riding on a donkey entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. This banner was painted by Mr William Magowan, Garvagh.