St. Patrick's Lodge No. 43 is the oldest of the Craft Lodges currently meeting at Carrickfergus Masonic Centre. The Lodge was founded on 2nd June 1756 under Warrant No. 270, issued by the Grand Lodge of Ireland to Patrick McDowell, John Patterson, Patrick Allen and Whittney Bowman.
The current number, 43, was first issued to Waterford on 20th December 1735 and was cancelled by order of Grand Lodge on 1st July 1815. On 24th June 1817 it was re-issued to Carrickfergus, the names on the Warrant being Ezekiel Milliken, Robert McAlpine and William McKinstry.
The French invasion of 1760
The following note concerning Warrant No. 270 appears in the Grand Lodge Register:
History records that the French Admiral Thurot, when he visited Carrickfergus in 1760, carried off the Warrant and Jewels belonging to Lodge 270. They were afterwards restored by Captain Elliott, who captured the French Fleet off the Isle of Man, Thurot being killed in the engagement.
Grand Lodge of Ireland records show that a duplicate Warrant No. 270 was issued free of charge in 1805, and it is only from this date that we have continuous records. The earliest minutes are scant: a typical entry reads simply, "Lodge opened in form, no business done."
The exchange of warrants in 1817
The following extract is taken from the Lodge Minute Book for 24th May 1817:
On 22nd November of the same year it was resolved that the Installation would take place on Saturday 29th November 1817. On that date Lodge 270 met to install No. 43, with Worshipful Master Ezekiel Milliken in the chair. Lodge 43 today is the direct continuation of Lodge 270; the exchange was made in order to give the Lodge higher precedence in processions, especially the church processions which were common in the early days.
The new Hall in Victoria Street
The hall in which we currently meet was erected in 1898. The first Stated Meeting in the new hall was held on 28th July 1898, and over the years the building has undergone major refurbishment and extension to make it a centre for our Brethren, their families and friends well into the 21st century.
Despite Grand Lodge having instructed Craft Lodges in the early part of the nineteenth century not to confer the higher degrees, we find recorded in the minutes of 1857 that the Templar Degree was still being conferred at Lodge 43.
Picnics and excursions
In 1901 the Brethren took a Lodge picnic to Castlekennedy on 14th August, and in 1909 a Lodge excursion to Garron Tower.
People of the Lodge
Down through the years a number of notable figures have served this Lodge. W. Bro. Hugh McAteer, who was initiated on 28th September 1894 and served as Worshipful Master in 1899, was Secretary of St. Patrick's at the time of his death in a railway accident in 1916. He had given thirty-six years of service to the Midland Railway Company and had been stationmaster at Trooper's Lane for twenty-five years.
A Carrickfergus newspaper of the day reported that he was "highly esteemed by all who knew him," with a remarkable display of respect at his funeral attended by no fewer than fifteen hundred people, including some five hundred Freemasons. The funeral service was conducted by Rev. F. G. MacNeice, Rector of St. Nicholas, who was the father of the renowned poet Louis MacNeice.
Mid-century: bazaars and church services
The Lodge Room
Photographs of the Lodge Room and members from 1981 and 1992 give a sense of the continuity of our meetings.
The Lodge today
Currently the Lodge is thriving, with membership close to one hundred and a very high standard of ritual being maintained. The Lodge meets on the 4th Friday of each month, except July and August, at 7:30 pm in the Masonic Hall, Victoria Street, Carrickfergus, and visitors, especially from our sister Constitutions, are always welcome.