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Factfile on Lodge
Name: Mullinagoagh L.O.L. No. 669
Founded: 1820s
W.M. of Lodge: David Vance
Location: Dromore, County Tyrone
Mullinagoagh L.O.L. No. 669 from Tyrone has a long and impressive
history. The Lodge first appears in the Grand Lodge warrant
books in 1823 when the Worshipful Master was Francis Alexander.
That reference notes that the Lodge met at Dromore, and this
is a tradition which has been upheld until the present day.
Indeed, when the 50th anniversary of the present Orange Hall
was commemorated in 2003, it was noted how the hall had been
of great benefit to the area since it was build in 1953.
Brother Joseph Keys, a former Worshipful Master, made reference
on that occasion to how the Orange Hall had become a church
for five years. This occurred following the collapse of the
old Church of Ireland in the savage winter of 1953-54.
The Hall has also been used as a courthouse and a dole office
in a varied history, including a period between 1972 and 1978
as a church hall when the old church building had been destroyed
in a bomb explosion.
Now home to a thriving badminton club and a Duke of Edinburgh
Award group, it is also the registered office for the West
Tyrone Credit Union in addition to housing band practices
and the Lodge meetings. A Ladies and a Junior Lodge also have
a home at Dromore.
Among those who have been prominent figures in the life of
L.O.L. No. 669 have been the late Brother A.E. Kenwell, who
was W.M. of the Lodge for 43 years, as well as a Fintona District
Master, and Brother W.J. Buchanan, secretary for 21 of his
over 60 years of membership.
The Lodge is based in Fintona District, County Tyrone and
currently has 35 members.
The Lodge officers include Brother David Vance, WM, Ronnie
Gilliland, DM, and Raymond Deazley, secretary.
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