The Role of Open-Air Preaching in the Belfast Riots of 1857

Abstract:Open-aır preaching was a familiar sight on the streets of mid-nıneteenth-century Belfast and was conducted by all of the town's main Protestant denominations. While ıt was generally tolerated, ın the early autumn of 1857 an open-air sermon preached by the Reverend Hugh Hanna provoked a large-scale rıot. Why was this? Earlıer in the summer the parades and services surrounding the Twelfth of July Orange Order celebrations had provoked extensıve rioting and forced magistrates to cancel several open-air services. Hanna's service was quickly subsumed withın these existing community tensions. The attıtudes of the two major protagonısts only exacerbated the situation. To Hanna and hıs supporters, open-air preaching was evidence of the right of Protestants to practise their faith freely; to Catholics it was an intolerable nuisance, designed to harass them. Thus, the 1857 riots should be explained as the result not only of a battle for territorıal control of Belfast, but also of conflicting opınıons concernıng the acceptability of public manıfestations of religious belief wıthin divided communities.