The Singing Flame - strange paragraph

[Doylers]

I've just finished reading this book by Ernie O'Malley and near the end came upon a very strange piece.
He is reminiscing about Republican prisoners in the Curragh and their songs and ballads they often sang.
Now remember, these are Republican prisoners during the Civil War. I'll quote the paragraph.

quote

The northern men had their own ballads. They sang or recited the Orange songs with vigour. 'Dolly Brae', 'The Protestant Boys', 'The Battle of the Boyne', and those which many ancestors of the present Orangemen had sung marching in '98 when they carried their long pikes against the red coats. Some huts would take part in a Twelfth of July procession which would have edified their northern critics, although none had learned to make drumsticks of their hands.

unquote

Then a King Billy song they are supposed to have sung is quoted.

There's no reason to doubt it happened, O'Malley was there, but I thought it strange that northern Republicans would be celebrating the Twelfth.

[anmajornarthainig]

Probably just bored and looking to break the monotony of prison life more than anything else. It`s interesting but I wouldn`t read too much into it.