Annual Orange Order marches take place in Northern Irelandbr br Orange Order parades in Northern Ireland draw thousands of participants and tens of thousands of spectators to celebrate the annual July 12th commemoration of Protestant monarch King William of Orange's victory over his Catholic rival in 1690 at the Battle of the Boyne. The parades, seen as triumphalist by many in the Irish nationalist and Catholic community, have attracted violence in the past, but passed off peacefully. The 'Twelfth' is "a fantastic tradition," Lorraine Osborne, a spectator at the Belfast parade, tells AFP. "We've been going to it from when we were born," said the 58-year-old as marching bands passed by.