Knights of Saint Columba - History

History

The Knights of Saint Columba was founded by an Irish migrant from Cork, Patrick Joseph O'Callaghan in Glasgow, Scotland. He gathered a meeting of twenty-four Catholic gentlemen on 5 October 1919, at Central Halls, Bath Street, Glasgow, where the men present agreed to found a fraternal organisation. The founders, known as the Incorporators, looked to model the organisation on the Knights of Columbus, which had existed since 1882 in the United States after being founded by priest Michael J. McGivney. A similar organisation had also been founded in Ireland a few years earlier, known as the Knights of Saint Columbanus, while in Britain there were female specific organisations such as the Catholic Women's League.

The primary motivation for the Order was to be a mutual benefit society based on the principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. The knights sought the social, economic and spiritual welfare of the members, together with the defence of Catholic principles and interests. It had only been in 1829 that the Catholic Emancipation had been completed in Britain, there were still some stigmas and socio-economic barriers, especially for Irish and to some extent Highland Catholic migrants to the Presbyterian Lowlands. In the late 19th century, Catholics were regularly excluded from trade unions and other organisations that provided social services. In addition, Catholics were either barred from many of the popular fraternal organisations, or, as in the case of Freemasonry, forbidden from joining by the Catholic Church itself. The society was influenced by the social teachings put forward by Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum Novarum.

The first initiation of members began on 11 November 1919, while the following year a concert was held on Saint Patrick's Day which strongly boosted the membership numbers of the organisation into the hundreds. The Order is set at three levels: councils are local groups which are arranged into larger groups called provinces. The highest level is a Board of Directors led by the Supreme Knight. There is a Head Office located in Glasgow, Scotland, where the Order was founded. The highest constitutional meeting of the Knights of Saint Columba is the annual conference or Supreme Council and is the body that decides national policy. The Supreme Knight is elected annually and can serve for a maximum of three years. Councils and provinces are chaired by Grand Knights and Provincial Grand Knights respectively and these, too, are in office for a maximum of three years or an additional one year if approval is given by the Supreme Knight. The Order is noted for its charitable work and has raised money for projects such as assisting health in the developing world, earthquake relief as well as projects in Britain.