c. 2) was an 1850 Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which prohibited open marching, organised parades and sectarian meetings in Ireland in order to outlaw provocative movements in the wake of the Dolly's Brae fighting of 1849.

[1] The Act was strongly supported by Sir Robert Peel however opposed by other politicians such as Lord Claude Hamilton who argued that religious parades would also be outlawed, yet posed no threat.

William Johnston of Ballykilbeg led a radical Orangemen group in defiance of the act during the 1860s, and was imprisoned – prompting strong demand for its repeal in 1867, which succeeded in 1872.

[3] On 12 July 1849, Orangemen marched from Rathfriland to Tollymore Park in County Down, Ireland to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Boyne, where William of Orange defeated the Catholic King James II of England.

[6] Liberal policies of the United Kingdom government, manifesting in the Catholic emancipation of 1829 and other reforms spurned by the efforts of Daniel O'Connell were marginalising and polarising the Irish Protestant population.

Lord Hamilton claimed to have collated reports of 60,000 to 80,000 strong parades violating the particulars of the Act however without once resorting to language or behaviour constituting any breach of the peace.