Adhuc Stat" A Sketch of the History of the Grand Lodge of Ireland

By BRO. JOHN HERON LEPPER, W.M., Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076,
England

THE BUILDER MAY, 1925

THE eastern seaports of Ireland having been constantly affected by
English influence from the year 1173, when Henry II granted the
City of Dublin to the subjects of his City of Bristol to inhabit,
it is not surprising to discover traces of phenomena identical with
those that preceded the establishment Freemasonry as a social
institution in England, also appearing in the smaller island. Thus
we find the Gilds of Dublin as late as 1541 indulging in annual
Corpus Christi plays (Note 1), the term "Freemason" occurring on
monuments at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Masonic
Ritual a subject for the mirth of the uninitiated by 1688 (Note 2),
and, apparently, Speculative lodges established in country
districts, remote from any town, prior to the accession of George
I (Note 3).

When, therefore, the Freemasons of London and Westminster decided,
in 1717, to form a central body to regulate their general
interests, much as the Independent States of America evolved their
Federation in 1788, it might be expected that the idea would cross
the sea and be copied by the Freemasons of Ireland: and so it
happened.

GENESIS OF THE IRISH GRAND LODGE

It is impossible to say, in default of early official MS. records,
the exact date at which a Grand Lodge was first established in
Dublin. That such a body was in existence in 1725 is certain,
thanks to a long and curious account given in a Dublin newspaper
(Note 4). From this we learn that about one hundred brethren
belonging to the six lodges of "Gentlemen Freemasons who are under
the Jurisdiction of the Grand Master" assembled at 11 a.m. on June
24, at the Yellow Lion in Werburgh Street, and proceeded in coaches
to the King's Inns (Note 5), wearing "Aprons, White Gloves, and
other parts of the Distinguishing Dress of that Worshipful Order."

After a procession round the great hall of the Inns "with many
important ceremonies," the Grand Lodge "retired to the Room
prepared for them, where after performing the Mystical Ceremonies
of the Grand Lodge which are held so sacred, that they must not be
discovered to a Private Brother; they proceeded to the Election of
a new Grand Master &c." The election resulted in the Earl of Rosse
being declared G.M., Sir Thomas Prendergast and Mark Morgan, Esq.,
Grand Wardens, and the G. M. was pleased to appoint Humphrey
Butler, Esq., his Deputy. The G.M. was then conducted to his place,
and invested with the jewel of his office, a gold trowel hung on a
black ribbon; after the brethren all dined together sumptuously,
and later attended a play in full Masonic costume (Note 6). 

This is the earliest account we have of the meeting Grand Lodge in
Dublin, and though apparently it had then been in existence for
some time, it cannot have contemplated any authority over lodges
remote from the metropolis, because, in the following year, a
similar body was established in Cork City, and assumed the style of
the Grand Lodge of Munster, having as its Grand Master, the Hon.
James O'Brien, and as Deputy G. M., Springett Penn. Both these
Masons were members of English lodges (Note 7).

But a more famous Irish Freemason of the day, who also had received
his degrees in an English lodge, was James, fourth Lord Kingston.
In 1728 he had been elected and served as G. M. of England; and, in
1730 (Note 8), became G.M. of Ireland; and in August, 1731, G.M. of
Munster. His tenure of the dual office in Ireland apparently led to
the fusion of the two Grand Lodges into one that since that date
has been truly national (Note 9).

Lord Kingston's tenancy of these three chairs in Masonry is
important, as showing that at this date the Ritual innovations,
that afterwards led to estrangement between the Masonic
jurisdictions of England and Ireland, cannot yet have come into
being. His tenures of office should also serve to remind Irish
Masons that while the existent Irish Rite is probably the most
unaltered version extant of early eighteenth century Masonic
Ritual, yet its well-head was no other than the primitive English
Rite, as practiced before 1730, possibly with a few additions of
Anglo-Irish phrases or ceremonies--distinctions without any real
difference.

THE FIRST WARRANTS

At some time during 1731, the Grand Lodge of Ireland determined to
bind closer to the central authority all the lodges in Ireland that
would acknowledge its supremacy, by issuing to them a document that
should be the warrant for their Masonic proceedings; and
accordingly on Feb. 7, 1732 (N.S.), the first of these
authorizations to hold a lodge and make Masons were issued. This
was a purely Irish invention that was copied later by the Grand
Lodge of the Antients in England, and later still by the Grand
Lodge of the Moderns, the title willingly assumed in the eighteenth
century by the Mother of all Grand Lodges. It is by no means
certain that every existing lodge in Ireland applied at once for
one of these new warrants (Note 10). In fact, the evidence tends to
show that a good many, particularly in remote parts of the country,
were content to go on working in the "time immemorial" manner; but
these recalcitrants were not treated as regular Masons by those who
adhered to the Grand Lodge, and in time they died out (Note 11).

The effect produced by the issue of these warrants was universal,
not merely local. It was some time before the law crystallized that
a warrant should be anchored to one place, and at first the idea
prevailed that any band of Masons possessing one of these charters
was legally entitled to make initiates wherever it took the
warrant. This procedure was checked by a new law made June 24, 1741
(Note 12), but in the beginning the Grand Lodge seems tacitly to
have assented to the practice, particularly as it had issued
warrants as early as 1732 to military lodges, enabling them to hold
regular meetings all over the inhabitable globe. The great spread
of Masonry in the American Colonies is attributable in a great
part, no doubt, to this practice. But the influence of the Grand
Lodge of Ireland on America did not end with this: the fact that
the native American lodges would naturally be impressed by the
working they observed under the ambulatory Irish warrants, during
a period when the only ambulatory warrants were Irish, led them to
mistrust those alterations in the Ritual that the Grand Lodge of
the Moderns saw fit to adopt for well nigh eighty years. The
enormous emigration from Ireland to America during the eighteenth
century also helped to cement the Masonic ties between the two
countries; indeed, it is quite likely that some of the earliest
Irish warrants whose original bailiwicks and ultimate resting
places are unknown may have helped to lay the foundations of those
great Masonic Constitutions whose extent and vitality seem so
marvelous to us today.

THE STRENGTH OF THE IRISH JURISDICTION

If we are to measure the growth of the Grand Lodge of Ireland
during the eighteenth century by the number of warrants it issued,
we find that it increased from 36 lodges in 1734 to 195 in June,
1749; by 1758 the number had risen to 300; by the end of 1782 it
was 610; and in 1804, when Downes' famous list was published, the
Grand Lodge of Ireland had well over 700 lodges on its roll. But at
none of these periods could those numbers be taken au pied de la
lettre, for there were always some lodges either moribund or
dormant, as an analysis of the lists would show, did space permit.
During the nineteenth century the number of lodges varied, the high
water mark being reached in 1815 when 1020 subordinate lodges were
in official existence. The number at present working approaches
600.

The members of the Grand Lodge at its formation consisted of the
Grand Master; his Deputy, whom he nominated; the Grand Wardens,
elected by Grand Lodge; all Past Grand Officers; and all Masters
and Wardens of subordinate lodges. In 1749 the Grand Master's Lodge
was formed, and all Master Masons raised therein were given the
privilege of sitting and voting in Grand Lodge. This privilege
continued down to 1837, when it was rescinded and extended instead
to all properly certificated Past Masters. The number of the Grand
Officers has been increased from time to time, and at present
includes the representatives of all foreign Grand Lodges with whom
fraternal communication exists, an excellent tribute paid to the
universality of the Craft, and a constant reminder that our Masonic
duties and interests are not bounded by the limits of any one
particular Constitution.

HISTORIC DATES

Space does not permit the inclusion of much detail about such
important matters as the development of the Irish Masonic
charitable organizations and the evolution of Masonic
jurisprudence. But both must be mentioned. In regard to the former,
it will be enough to say that the first successful attempt to deal
on an adequate scale by the children of deceased brethren dates
from 1792. In that year the liberality and energy of some members
of Royal Arch Lodge, No. 190, Dublin (1749-1815), launched the
Masonic Female Orphan School, whose record since then has been one
of increasing success and blessing. It has been followed by the
Masonic Orphan Boys' School (1867), and by such splendidly
administered pieces of provincial emulation as the Belfast Masonic
Charity and Widows' Funds, and the Down Masonic Widows' Fund.

In the matter of the evolution of Masonic jurisprudence, the most
interesting development took place as early as 1768, when the Grand
Lodge created an Inspection Committee to decide upon the
eligibility of candidates for Freemasonry in the metropolitan
district. Since that year no man has been initiated in a Dublin
lodge till his name has been approved by the Grand Lodge Committee,
and the same provision has since been adopted in other important
Masonic provinces in Ireland. This is, of course, not an infallible
method of securing the admission of none but worthy men, but it
does tend to exclude undesirable members and is yet another way in
which the Grand Lodge of Ireland has set a good example.

Other minutiae of changes that have accumulated during almost,
perhaps quite, two centuries of government, while they would loom
largely in a complete history, must be discarded in a short sketch;
but mention should be made that since 1829 the Royal Arch Degree
has had a central governing body of its own, known as the Grand
Royal Arch Chapter of Ireland; since 1836 the Knights Templar have
been ruled by a supreme body now known as the Grand Preceptory; and
since 1826 the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish
Rite has exercised jurisdiction over all degrees in its system
superior to the Craft degrees. Prior to these respective dates
those Orders, and many other Masonic degrees as well, were
conferred in the Craft lodges at the convenience and free will of
the members.

THE ULSTER SCHISM

During its long life the authority of the Grand Lodge of Ireland
has only once been seriously threatened by internal schism (Note
13). This took place in the period 1806-1813, when a number of
Ulster lodges, deceived by the misrepresentations of Alexander
Seton, a former Deputy Grand Secretary, who had been dismissed from
his office for misconduct, attempted to secede and form a Grand
Lodge for the province of Ulster (Note 14).

It was due entirely to the tact and disinterested efforts of the
reigning Grand Master, Richard, second Earl of Donoughmore, that
the better class Masons who supported the movement at the outset,
because of certain undoubted grievances, returned to their natural
allegiance within a very short time; while those who persisted in
following Seton only involved themselves and their lodges in
disrepute, not merely at home but also all over the Masonic world.
The Grand Lodge of Ireland emerged from a severe inter-necine war,
if not stronger in numbers, stronger in having vindicated its
authority without compromising its dignity, and within a few years
all the rebel lodges had either submitted, or become extinct, or if
they continued to drag out an estranged existence were regarded
with abhorrence as clandestine Masons.

To the student of this unhappy event one thing stands out
enshrined, the truly Masonic spirit of the Grand Master, a
broad-minded, warm-hearted man, who thoroughly deserved the tribute
addressed to him by his Irish brethren when in 1813 he retired from
office, at his own request:

"Your lordship's services to this institution will long live in the
grateful remembrance of a Society whose principles ensure its
duration, and who will ever rank the name of Donoughmore among
those that are dearest to Masonry and Ireland."

That these words were no mere empty compliment was shown exactly
one hundred years later, when 2,000 Irish Masons assembled in Grand
Lodge to acclaim as their new Grand Master, another Earl of
Donoughmore, who since then has amply proved that he has inherited
not the honors and name only, but also the ability of his great
ancestor to maintain the dignity of his office and be a trusted and
beloved leader in time of stress.

IRISH MASONIC INFLUENCES

The influence of the Grand Lodge of Ireland on new, independent
Masonic Constitutions has been large, out of all proportion to the
home territory it governs, a fact that has never, in default of an
official history, been adequately realized by the Craft generally.
Allusion has already been made to its work in the U.S.A. In Canada,
too, Irish lodges were early at work as well as in the British West
Indies; Masons in Portugal, Peru, Brazil have worn our colors; the
very first lodge held in Australia met under an Irish warrant No.
227 held in the old 46th Regiment; and in that Commonwealth as well
as in New Zealand, Africa and India, some lodges still retain their
allegiance to the old Irish Constitution. Let me add, that the
Grand Lodge of Ireland never places any obstacle in the way of one
of its lodges wishing to sever connection with the Mother
Constitution to join a newly-formed Grand lodge in the country
where it is situated; and provided the new Constitution conform to
the ancient standards it is assured of immediate recognition and
brotherly cooperation from the Grand Lodge of Ireland, which is
swift to welcome the appearance of a new star in the banner of the
Masonic Federation of the World.

IRISH MASONIC CELEBRITIES AND SCHOLARS

Throughout a history of two centuries it is but to be expected that
the Grand Lodge of Ireland should be able to show with pride many
distinguished names on her rolls, but of all on the list possibly
none exerted more lasting effect upon the Freemasonry of his
generation, aye, and of future generations, than that stickler for
orthodoxy in matters of the Craft, the inspired journeyman-painter
Laurence Dermott. His story has been well and fully told by divers
scholars (Note 15) but no reference to the Irish Grand Lodge would
be complete without mention of the brother who was initiated in
Lodge No. 26 in 1740, became its Master in 1746, and departed to
England to become the most notable figure in eighteenth century
Masonry, as poet, controversialist, and restorer of the old
landmarks --to say nothing of his being the inventor of a term,
which I understand to be very bad Hebrew, Ahiman Rezon, which like
a javelin of flame flew from him with such impetus as even to cross
the Atlantic and to be adopted for long enough as a symbol by those
who prided themselves upon preserving the old traditions of the
Craft (Note 16).

Laurence Dermott is the more noteworthy, because the Grand Lodge of
Ireland has not produced a great number of historians or writers
who have added to our knowledge. Vallancey and O'Brien (of the
Round Towers), however, are still occasionally quoted by those who
have never learned caution, and there have been several deservedly
respected names in our own times. Some like Twiss, John Robinson,
Tait, and Redfern Kelly are still with us; others, alas, are no
longer here to teach us, such as F. C. Crossle, Westropp, and the
Master Mason of them all, the late Dr. Chetwode Crawley, some time
Grand Treasurer, a scholar so meticulous, whose work was so
comprehensive that those who come after him seeking to pursue some
line of research often find themselves only plowing a furrow that
has already been broken by his industry. That there is still
something to be added to the work he accomplished is merely another
way of saying that the progress of knowledge never stands still,
but his followers and emulators may well despair of ever hoping to
surmount his total of achievement. It may have been some
satisfaction to his last years to see the formation in Dublin of
the Lodge of Research, No. 200, pledged to continue the labors
wherein he took such an interest, and though it may seem too much
to hope that this body will ever produce another scholar to compare
with the one that is gone, still it has already proved a focussing
point for those Masons who bend their energies towards finding more
light for the present from the lessons of-the past. With no mean
aim, this lodge contemplates, indeed the project is in process of
realization, the compiling of a reliable history of the Grand Lodge
of Ireland, a book that is badly needed, never having been
attempted; and I hope that the present short and imperfect sketch
has shown that the history of that Grand Lodge has not been without
interest, as assuredly, it has not been without honor.

NOTES
Note 1. Vide Harris' Dublin, 1766, p. 142 et seq.
Note 2. Vide Crawley's Introduction to Sadler's Masonic Reprints
and Revelations.
Note 3. Vide Articles on Mrs. Aldworth A.Q.C. VIII-- 16, 63.
Note 4. The Dublin Weekly Journal NO 13, Saturday, June 26, 1726.
Note 5. The Irish equivalent of the London Inns of Court.
Note 6. The short report of this event, inserted in the London
Journal, July, 1725, is quoted by Gould History of Freemasonry,
III, 34.
Note 7. It was natural for Springett Penn to hold high office in
the Craft in Ireland where he had large estates; but his appearance
in this character is even more interesting on account of the close
Masonic communication that afterwards existed between the Grand
Lodges of Ireland and Pennsylvania, which state was largely
colonized by emigrants from Ireland.
Note 8. Ed. Spratt Constitutions, Dublin, 1751, page 121.
Note 9. Lord Kingston, while still the Hon. Jas. King. was
initiated on June 8, 1726, in a lodge held at the Swan & Rummer in
Finch Lane, London, Dr. Desaguliers, D. G. M. of England, attending
to confer the ceremony. For Kingston's activities when G. M. of
England, vide Minutes of the G.L. England, etc.. by W. J.
Songhurst, London. 1913; p. 37 et seq.
Note 10. In the course of the year 1732 the following advertisement
appeared several times in the Dublin newspapers: "Whereas there are
Several Lodges of Free-Masons congregated in several Towns in this
Kingdom, without a Warrant under the Hand and Seal of the Right
Honourable the Lord Viscount Netterville, Grand Master of all
Ireland. .. . It is therefore Ordered that all such Lodges do apply
to the Secretary Mr. John Pennell in St. Patrick St.. Dublin, and
take out true and perfect Warrants and be enroll'd in the Grand
Lodge Book, or they will not be deem'd true and perfect Lodges."
(Faulkner's Dublin Journal: Sat. Dec. 30, 1732--Tues. Jan. 2,
1732/3.)
Note 11. Right up to the beginning of the nineteenth century we
come across the terms "Clandestine" and "Hedge Masons" applied to
these bodies by the regular Masons: instances of the "re-making" a
non-regular brother who conformed are not uncommon.
Note 12. Vide Dassigny's Serious and Impartial Enquiry, 1744, page
48.
Note 13. In 1740 an attempt seems to have been made to form a rival
Grand Lodge which proved abortive in its very conception.
Note 14. The authorities on this subject are F. C. Crossle, Henry
Sadler, and, of course, Dr. Chetwode Crawley. Some fresh
information collected from the records of disaffected lodges is
also given in a paper by the present writer, read before Quatuor
Coronati Lodge, No. 2076 (E.C.), on St. John's Day, 1922.
Note 15. Notably Bywater and Sadler.
Note 16. Attention must also be called, if only in a footnote, to
services rendered by such Masons as John Fowler in the metropolis-
Michael Furnell in Munster; and Archdeacon Mant in Ulster.

