July 12 remembers the battle of the Boyne in 1690 when James II, a roman catholic was deposed by the protestant William III of Orange, called so after the principality of Orange in modern day France.
The main way in which the battle of the Boyne is commemorated is with large parades involving orangemen, supporting bands and bonfires. They are almost exclusively held in northern Ireland and County Donegal. According to reports, in County Tyrone effigies of the Sinn fein vice president and the taoiseach have been placed on loyalist bonfires which police say they are treating as hate crimes, with a view to having the material removed.