Irish Royal Arch Masonry - Irish Freemasonry

Provincial Grand Chapter of Cumberland & Westmorland Masonic Hall, Station Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 6BT

Irish Royal Arch Masonry Copy of a talk given by Right Excellent Companion Michael Walker, Grand Registrar of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Ireland at the Regular Convocation of Supreme Grand Chapter held in Freemasons Hall, London on December 7th 1996. ME Pro First Grand Principal and Companions, it gives me much pleasure that it should have been considered of sufficient interest for a short address on Irish Royal Arch Masonry to be requested for presentation at this Convocation of your Supreme Grand Chapter, and that your Grand Scribe E should have invited me to make it. The first thought that struck me was that I would have to do a fair bit of work to prepare such an address; but before setting out to search for source documents on which to base my conclusions, I remembered the advice given by a certain American University Professor who had been very popular in my younger days, Tom Lehrer, who advised persons such as myself, in this sort of situation, to - "Plagiarise, plagiarise. Let no-one else's work evade your eyes. Only be sure always to call it, please, research". Thus I disclaim any accountability for the accuracy of what follows. The first recorded reference to Royal Arch Masonry, anywhere, occurs in a contemporary account of a Masonic procession in the town of Youghal, Co. Cork, on the southern Irish sea-board, in the year 1743, showing that some form of Royal Arch Masonry must have existed in those parts as early as that and probably earlier. The account starts with something that should interest your Grand Scribe E, being a Naval man, as it states that "the first Salutation on the Quay of Youghal, upon their coming out of their Lodge Chamber, was, the Ships firing their guns with the colours flying." The fourth item in the procession is recorded as "The Royal Arch carried by two Excellent Masons". Our earliest recorded Minute comes from the same location on July 30th, 1759, from the records of Lodge No. 19, Youghal, wherein is written "Then proceeded to the passing of Spencer Scannadem and Samuel) Gardner to the dignity of Royal Arch Masons, they being proper Officers of the Lodge." This was just less than one year after the first recorded conferral of the Royal Arch Degree in an English Lodge on August 7th, 1758. So much for history and the emergence of Royal Arch Masonry in these islands. Turnbull & Denslow state unequivocally that "it is to the Irish that credit must be paid for the popularity of the Royal Arch Degree, but we find our Irish Companions using a ritual which is entirely different in character from that used in other portions of the World — we find them "repairing" rather than "rebuilding" the Temple. 1


The Irish ritual for the degree is founded upon material appearing in the Second Book of Kings, Chapter 22, and in the Second Book of Chronicles, Chapter 34, in the 18th year of the reign of King Josiah when he had purged the land of idolatry and the worship of false gods which had been practised under his grandfather Manasseh and his father Amon, for, in the words of the beautiful ritual of the Degree of Heredom of Kilwinning this was yet another of the multifarious occasions when "the Israelites proved unfaithful to their God". After the death of King Solomon the people frequently lapsed into gross idolatry and during the reign of Manasseh and his son Amon, so gross was the lapse and so complete was the darkness, that the knowledge of the very existence of the Book of the Law was lost and Josiah, their successor, reigned for a period of 18 years before he saw a copy of it. Josiah, however, was a great and good Prince who piously undertook the repair of the Temple which had been allowed to fall into a ruinous condition and had become defiled by idolatrous observances. Thus King Josiah set about the repair of the Temple, during the course of which a secret vault was discovered and its contents were found to discover amongst other items, including the insignia of the three Grand Masters, a copy of the Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses. This Book of the Law was taken by Hilkiah the High Priest, who was directing operations, to Shaphan the Scribe who read it to the King. Only at this point did King Josiah realise the full extent of the transgressions of his people, and he consulted a prophetess as to what penalty might be expected. Fortunately, for him personally, the prognosis was favourable on account of his worthy deeds and motives. In our Royal Arch Degree, the first portion, which comprises the Passing of the Veils, prior to 1864 represented various degrees which were at that time conferred between the degrees of Master Mason and Royal Arch Mason. In the year 1864 these were merged in the Degree of the Royal Arch and this part of the ceremony is known as the Passing of the Veils. The only intervening degree which we now confer is the degree of Mark Master Mason. The colour of the first veil is Blue, the colour of Craft Masonry denoting Universal Friendship. The third veil is Scarlet, the colour of Royal Arch Masonry, and denotes Fervency and Zeal. The intervening veil is Purple, a mixture of Blue and Scarlet denoting Universal Concord and is significant of the transition between Blue or Craft Masonry and Scarlet or Royal Arch Masonry. From the colour of my regalia you will see that Crimson is the colour by which we designate this Degree. With Blue attributed to the Craft, Purple, the colour derived from mixing Blue and Crimson, symbolises the transition from Craft to Royal Arch as signified by the colours of the veils, and indeed we are told that Hiram Abiff was "skilful to work in Purple, in Blue and in fine linen, and in Crimson". In the next portion of the degree, the Candidate or Candidates - up to three at a time - enact the role of workmen engaged in the work of repairing the Temple, who 2


discover a flagstone which, when prised up, reveals a hidden vault into which one of them descends and finds, amongst other items on a raised pedestal, the copy of the Sacred Law which in modern times by extension represents the VSL and, as the Conductor explains, if the Candidate has been ignorant of its contents, or neglectful of its precepts, it has been, in effect, long lost to him. (RE Comp Walker then explained the salute in the Irish Royal Arch.) Should you visit an Irish Royal Arch Chapter, probably the most disconcerting moment would be when the Captain of the Host, by command of the Excellent King and Council, directs the Companions to divide the Word. All the Companions form groups of three, with the senior Companion facing the East, and perform the ceremony of dividing the Word. The Senior Companion initiates the division of the Word and is the only one to repeat the syllables in their correct order. The Captain of the Host, the Superintendent of the Tabernacle and the Royal Arch Captain watch to see that all do so correctly, for this is where impostors are most likely to be discovered and, when satisfied that all is in order, they themselves perform the ceremony and the Captain of the Host reports to the Excellent King and Council that the Companions have divided the Word. We have not, and presently see no reason for so doing, removed the traditional Word from our ceremonies. The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Ireland was formed in 1829 and has gone through a number of changes since then, but the structure we have today is basically that which emerged in the early 1860s when, though previously working the Josiah legend, for the first time the King became the Principal Officer with the High Priest and the Chief Scribe comprising, in that order of seniority, the other members of the Council. Incidentally, the Zerubbabel legend is not missing from Irish Masonry as it forms the basis of the Red Cross Degrees which are governed by the Grand Council of Knight Masons, offering a branch of Chivalric Masonry, on request, to all Craft and Royal Arch Masons and not solely to Christians. Members of Councils are referred to as "Sir Knights". As mentioned earlier, Irish Royal Arch Masonry incorporates and controls the Mark Degree by the ingenious assumption of having a Mark Lodge attached to every Royal Arch Chapter. We have, therefore, no Mark Grand Lodge or Mark Grand Officers and when we visit your Mark Grand Lodge we have to do so as Grand Chapter Officers being deemed to have equivalent status in both Degrees. When, therefore, a Candidate is elected to a Royal Arch Chapter, he is first advanced to the Degree of Mark Master Mason in the Mark Lodge which only opens to advance a Candidate or to install the Very Worshipful Master and his Officers. The minutes of such meetings are read in the subsequent Royal Arch Chapter convocation. An English Royal Arch Mason who affiliates to an Irish Chapter, and who is not a member of a Mark Lodge, must immediately be advanced to that Degree and, if he is a Past Z, he can receive the Degree of Very Worshipful Master, by dispensation, by standing in at the next Installation of a Very Worshipful Master. As such the Officers of the Mark Lodge are not elected but take their place in the corresponding Offices to which they are elected in the Royal Arch Chapter, the Excellent King being also the Very Worshipful Master 3


of the Mark Lodge, in which Office he must be installed before he may be installed in the Chapter. Whilst Grand Lodge recognises "the Degrees of Royal Arch and Mark Master Mason so long as the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Ireland shall work only those two Degrees in the form in which they were worked" when Grand Lodge Law No. 3 was passed, Supreme Grand Chapter is a self-governing and regulating Body and, unlike the situation within the English Constitution the Grand Master and other Grand Lodge Officers have no statutory position in Grand Chapter. The Grand King is elected annually, generally for as long as he is prepared to remain in Office, and the Grand High Priest and Grand Chief Scribe attain their ranks over a six year period of progressive Office, having started on the ladder as Grand Chapter Standard Bearer and Grand Janitor (that is Inner Guard) respectively. The only Grand Officer common to both Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter is the Grand Secretary who is also Grand Registrar in the Royal Arch (Grand Scribe E in your parlance). This is for administrational and cost effectiveness! Supreme Grand Chapter therefore has the regulating of, in fact, six Degrees being those of Mark Master Mason and Very Worshipful Master in the Mark Lodge; and Royal Arch Mason, Chief Scribe, High Priest and Excellent King in the Royal Arch Chapter. In order to qualify for the Degree of Chief Scribe, the first of the Council Degrees, a Royal Arch Mason must be an Actual or Past Master of a Craft Lodge at the time of his election - not installation - as such. I am sorry if these remarks are a bit disjointed, but time is short and there could be so much to say. Nonetheless, despite the many differences in our Royal Arch chronology, working and nomenclature, there is much of a common thread running through our thoughts and ideas. Diversity of approach only adds to the devotee's interest and reinforces the theme. We both have a common goal and similar achievement - the search for and eventual discovery and restoration of that which was lost - nothing achieved without work which brings its own reward and satisfaction in the end. ME Pro First Grand Principal, it has been a great pleasure to be with you all here today, and I really do appreciate the chance of being able to address you.

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