Triune Lodge, number 333
on the Register of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, first met in
Limerick in 1846, and appears to have drawn many of its first
members from the neighbouring Antient Union Lodge No. 13. The
minutes of the Grand Lodge Board of General Purposes record that
on the 29th December 1845 they read the Memorial of Bros. Saml.
Dickson, Wm. Massy and Henry Massy all of Lodge No. 13, for a new
Warrant to be held in Limerick, and this was recommended by the
Provincial Grand Master of North Munster and the Masters of Lodges
13 and 73. The Board recommend that a warrant be granted to
the Memorialists and the warrant granted was No. 333. This had
previously been held by lodges in Caledon, County Tyrone in 1759
and a lodge in Tynan, County Armagh in 1801, both these lodges
becoming defunct.
The name of the Lodge is
unusual and it seems likely that Triune, (Tria Juncta in Uno or
Three in One), was suggested by the number of the warrant,
although that name does not seem to have been used by the previous
warrant holders. The number three has various Masonic
significances, as well as the obvious religious meaning, and so
the awarding of Warrant number 333 would be fortuitous. One of
the original by-laws of the Lodge limited the total membership to
33, although this has since been changed.
The year of the foundation
of the Lodge, during the Great Famine, was one of great tragedy
for the people of Limerick and it has to be recognised that the
membership of the Lodge at that time was only available to the
better off. Details of that initial membership is sketchy but the
names of the founding members of the Lodge, Massy and Dickson,
represent two well-known and prosperous Limerick families, the
Massys holding lands in Castleconnell and Galbally, and the
Dicksons at Croom Castle. The secretary of the Lodge in 1847, and
presumably the founding secretary, was Right Worshipful Brother
Michael Furnell who was also the Provincial Grand Master of North
Munster, a Freemason of the highest rank, and also a Limerick
landowner. The original initiation fee was ten guineas and the
annual dues were £5.00, and these were very large sums of money
when a craftsman might only earn £60 in a year.
Records show that the
Lodge got off to a good start and we read in The Freemasons’
Quarterly Review for December 1846, This lodge, not yet twelve
months formed, displays a regalia of singular taste and value; and
has subscribed handsomely to Masonic Charities! to the Poor Relief
Fund of the parish, and to the Grand Lodge building fund. Such
are the acts which best prove its high character. Other
records from the same period show substantial charity donations
from this Lodge and from related Masonic bodies for local relief.
In 1847, the well-known
New England Masonic author, Charles Whitlock Moore (1801-1873) was
made an honorary member of the Lodge, and expressed his
appreciation in The Freemasons’ Monthly Magazine, edited in
Boston. The Lodge then appears to have worked without incident
until late in 1862 when the warrant was returned to Grand Lodge
for a period of just over a year before being coming back to
Limerick. The reasons for this hiatus are not known, but perhaps
falling membership was to blame. However, from 1863 onwards the
Lodge has worked without interruption and in the latter half of
the nineteenth century appears to have been strong enough in
numbers to have associated with it a Royal Arch Chapter No. 333,
and a Preceptory of High Knights Templar. Eventually all the
Limerick based Preceptories were merged into one, but Royal Arch
Chapter 333 continues to meet in Limerick.
The passage of time saw
the lodge attract people from more conventional backgrounds and by
the twentieth century the trades and professions provided most of
the membership. The Great War had a significant impact on the
lodge in several ways. In addition to members of the lodge
joining the army, there appear to have been a number of soldiers
who were stationed temporarily in Limerick and who became
members. This sometimes necessitated them receiving the three
degrees of Masonry within an unusually short time, for example,
Company Quartermaster Sergeant Bentley of the Royal Welch
Fusiliers, received all three degrees in a period of four weeks in
November 1918, just as the war was ending. Unfortunately, some
members of the lodge paid the ultimate price, Sergeant Joseph
Gray, of the York and Lancaster regiment, who joined the lodge in
1914, was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal in June 1915 and
was also Mentioned in Despatches, before being posted Missing on
the 9th August 1915.
Today, the lodge is
representative of local society with members from a range of
backgrounds and occupations, and from a much greater geographical
spread than in the past. In recent years fraternal relations have
been established with Royal Preston Lodge, No. 333, English
Constitution and the Lodge of St. George, No. 333, Scottish
Constitution, with exchange visits taking place. One important
thing that has changed is that the cost of joining the lodge is
modest when compared with that of 1846.