Tommy and Sadie go to Mrs McConkey’s shop to choose new decorations for their street when they arrive at the shop their friends Linda and Steve are already in Mrs McConkey’s buying decorations. The Jackson’s house doesn’t look like any other house in the street because of a painting which is on the side showing a mural of King Billy. We are introduced to Tommy and Sadie Jackson who are already looking forward to the celebrations of the 12th of July which is a Protestant commemoration day.īefore dinner Mr Jackson asks his children why this is such a special day, the children reply to their father that King Billy was a great man who rode on a white horse, he then asks them ‘who is a bad man? ’ and the both shriek with ‘The Pope! ’. In the first chapter the book is set in a Protestant street.

The Twelfth Day of July is a celebration in Northern Ireland, for Protestants which started in the 18th century celebrating the ‘Glorious Revolution’ and the victory of Protestant King Billy over Catholic King James at the Battle of Boyne in 1690. It centres on the characters of Kevin McCoy, who is Catholic, and Sadie Jackson, who is Protestant and how their friendship develops despite the religious bigotry which affects the country they live in. This book is about the discord between the Catholic and Protestant religions. ‘The Twelfth Day of July’ Task: Explain how Kevin and Sadie change by the end of the novel ‘The Twelfth Day of July’ is a book by Joan Lingard.

Joan lingard the twelfth day of july