{"id":145,"date":"2026-09-17T10:37:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T10:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/ulster-lodge-irish-masonic-links-london\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T11:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T11:01:40","slug":"ulster-lodge-irish-masonic-links-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/ulster-lodge-irish-masonic-links-london\/","title":{"rendered":"Ulster Lodge and the Irish Masonic network in London"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Ulster Lodge No. 2972 was founded for Ulstermen in London, but its history shows that it quickly became part of a much wider Irish Masonic network in the capital.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Lodge\u2019s 1953 <em>Jubilee Review<\/em> records especially warm relations with other Irish-associated Lodges in London.<\/p>\n<h2>Three close London connections<\/h2>\n<p>The booklet names three Lodges in particular:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lodge of Erin No. 2895<\/li>\n<li>Trinity College Lodge No. 3153<\/li>\n<li>London Irish Rifles Lodge No. 2312<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Reciprocal visits were made on installation nights, creating a regular flow of brethren between the Lodges rather than occasional formal contact.<\/p>\n<p>The relationship with Lodge of Erin went back to the beginning. Lodge of Erin was one of the two Lodges that sponsored Ulster Lodge when it was formed in 1903.<\/p>\n<h2>Visitors from Ireland were part of Lodge life<\/h2>\n<p>The Jubilee Review says brethren from Ireland were present at most Ulster Lodge meetings and were given a particularly cordial welcome.<\/p>\n<p>It also records that the Grand Master of Ireland, the Grand Secretary and Provincial Grand Masters were honorary members of the Lodge.<\/p>\n<p>For several years the Earl of Donoughmore, then Grand Master of Ireland, attended installation meetings and took part in the ceremony. In later years Sir Frank Newson-Smith, a former Lord Mayor of London and senior English Freemason, also assisted.<\/p>\n<p>These connections mattered because they reflected the original purpose of the Lodge: to give Ulster Masons in London a home while keeping a living connection with Irish Freemasonry.<\/p>\n<h2>London Lodge, Irish roots<\/h2>\n<p>Ulster Lodge worked under the United Grand Lodge of England, but its founders never intended it to lose the character that had brought them together.<\/p>\n<p>The early history shows a Lodge comfortable in both worlds. It could take its place in English Freemasonry while welcoming brethren from Ireland, maintaining friendships with Irish-associated London Lodges and drawing senior visitors from both jurisdictions.<\/p>\n<p>That is still one of the most useful ways to understand Ulster Lodge today. It is a London Lodge with a particular history, but its story belongs to the wider history of Irish people and Irish Freemasonry in London.<\/p>\n<h2>Related reading<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/ulster-lodge-semi-jubilee-1928\/\">The 1928 Semi-Jubilee and Lord Ampthill\u2019s tribute<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/ulster-lodge-red-hand-badge-banner\/\">The story of Ulster Lodge\u2019s Red Hand badge and banner<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/unusual-moments-ulster-lodge-first-fifty-years\/\">Four unusual moments from Ulster Lodge\u2019s first fifty years<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Source: Ulster Lodge No. 2972, <strong>A Jubilee Review<\/strong>, 1953.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ulster Lodge was never an isolated London Lodge. Its 1953 history records close links with Irish lodges in the capital and regular visitors from Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14,13,15,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives-documents","category-irish-freemasonry","category-lodge-history","category-london-freemasonry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157,"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions\/157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ulsterlodge.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}