Ireland
In Ireland, after the Craft degrees conferred under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Ireland there are a number of degrees and orders that are administered separately and are open to Master Masons either by petition or by invitation.
- The Royal Arch in Ireland is unique, and regarded widely as being the oldest Royal Arch working in the world. Members of Royal Arch in England, Scotland or America would notice a great many differences in the theme of the degree from what they are used to. Royal Arch Chapters in Ireland can meet as Lodges of Mark Master Masons to confer the Mark Degree on a candidate. This must be done before a candidate is given the Royal Arch Degree. Irish Royal Arch chapters operate under the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Ireland and both the Mark Master Masons and Royal Arch degrees are recognised by Grand Lodge as being part of "pure, ancient Freemasonry."
- The Knight Mason degrees make up the last part of "Universal" Irish Freemasonry. They are open to any member of the Craft and Royal Arch. They are frequently known in other constitutions as the Red Cross Degrees, namely, Knight of the Sword (formally Red Cross of Babylon or Red Cross of Daniel), Knight of the East (formally Jordan Pass), and Knight of the East and West (formally Royal Order). These degrees had previously been administered by Knights Templar Preceptories and some Royal Arch Chapters. In 1923 the Grand Council of Knight Masons was established to support and preserve the Degrees and the Councils that confer them. Irish Knight Masonry is now a worldwide masonic body and is continuing to grow. The Degrees practiced under the Grand Council of Knight Masons are conferred in the correct chronological order and are given in far greater detail than any similar body anywhere else in the world. In other jurisdictions, it is invitational.
Invitational Degrees
- The Military Order of the Temple, often known as the Masonic Knights Templar, confers Knight Templar and Knight of Malta degrees. Membership of the Order of the Temple is strictly invitational.
- The Ancient and Accepted Rite of Ireland has strict requirements for membership. It is by invitation only and membership of Knight Templar is required. The degree structure is extremely close to the more famous Scottish Rite in America; however, as in the Ancient and Accepted Rite in England, progression through each individual degree is by invitation only.
Read more about this topic: Masonic Bodies, Rites, Orders, and Degrees
Famous quotes containing the word ireland:
“It is often said that in Ireland there is an excess of genius unsustained by talent; but there is talent in the tongues.”
—V.S. (Victor Sawdon)
“They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here, and sea fog, and eerie stories. That’s not because there are more ghosts here than in other places, mind you. It’s just that people who live hereabouts are strangely aware of them.”
—Dodie Smith, and Lewis Allen. Roderick Fitzgerald (Ray Milland)
“The tragedy of Northern Ireland is that it is now a society in which the dead console the living.”
—Jack Holland (b. 1947)