freemasonry

freemasonry originated in Scotland around 1600, as a blend of medieval and Renaissance mysticism. It expanded rapidly in the 18th century, adapting itself to Enlightenment rationality and catering for the growing demand, at all social levels, for new forms of sociability. An Irish grand lodge was formed in 1723 or 1724. There are indications of tensions in the early decades between Jacobite and Hanoverian elements within the movement. Despite explicit condemnations of masonry by successive popes, in 1731, 1758, and 1786, a majority of Irish members in the late 18th century appear to have been Catholic. Daniel O'Connell became a mason in 1799 but later openly renounced the movement. Masonry spanned all sections of society, from aristocrats like the 1st earl of Rosse, the Irish lodge's first grand master, or the 1st earl of Donoughmore (see hely‐hutchinson, john), also a grand master in his time, to tradesmen and farmers. There were close connections in the 1790s between masons and United Irishmen, and in the years after the insurrection of 1798 clashes were recorded between masons and members of the Orange society. Yet Orangeism also incorporated much masonic symbolism in its rituals and insignia.

Irish masonry revived in the second half of the 19th century. A masonic hall in Molesworth Street, Dublin, was completed in 1869. What was by now its exclusively Protestant character, combined with the secrecy surrounding its proceedings and membership, encouraged some Catholic polemicists, particularly in the decades immediately after independence, to make extravagant claims regarding its supposed clandestine influence.