30/10/2026
Portadown to Host Centenary Parade as Junior Orange Women’s Association Marks 100 Years
The Junior Orange Women’s Association of Ireland (JOWAI) will celebrate its centenary in 2027, with a major parade in Portadown on Saturday 29 May marking 100 years since the first Junior Orange warrants for girls were issued.
Portadown holds a special place in the Association’s story.
JOWAI’s beginnings can be traced to Sister Mary S.A. McDonald, a member of a Ladies’ Orange Lodge in the Portadown District, whose proposal in 1926 led to the establishment of an organisation for younger female members of the Orange tradition. The first Junior Orange warrants for girls were issued the following year.
A century later, the Association continues to grow, with recent years bringing a significant increase in membership and the formation of new lodges across the country.
That growth has introduced a new generation of girls to an organisation centred on friendship, heritage, community involvement and its enduring motto, “Truth & Loyalty.”
The Centenary Parade will bring members, supporters and friends together from across Ireland and beyond, while returning the celebrations to an area closely connected with the Association’s earliest history.
It will also recognise the generations of girls and adult members who have shaped JOWAI, together with the support of the Association of Loyal Orangewomen of Ireland, throughout its first century.
Further details of the Centenary Parade and other events planned for 2027 will be announced in the months ahead.
