This remote and elite Order is said to be derived from a very ancient Order in Ireland, consisting of freemasons and said to have been erected and patronised by the Kings of Ireland, for it is claimed that in early times Erin (Ireland) possessed a literature and history equal to that of the most highly developed of ancient nations. While it is generally accepted that Bro John Yarker (1833—1913) was at one time head of the ‘English Revived Order of the Red Branch of Eri’, certain records of the Order relate that Bro F. G. Irwin, while Worshipful Master of the Inhabitants Lodge No 178 at Gibraltar in 1858, received the Order at the hands of the captain of an American trading vessel, to whom it had been transmitted from father to son, dating back to 1757, when his Irish forbear emigrated to New York while a District Grand Master of the Order. Major Irwin is then purported to have restored and reorganised the degree in England under the aegis of the Grand Mur-Ollamham. The order possesses two Psalters, the Major Psalter being basically the rituals of the degrees and the Minor Psalter comprising the laws and rules of the order. 
Admission to this order is strictly by invitation only and is restricted to members of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia who have attained the fifth grade or above. The Order is governed by a Most Enlightened Grand Master who is supported by eight Knights Grand Cross and also a retinue of hierarchy designated Ard Officers who constitute the Grand Mur-Ollamham.

The degrees embodied in this Order are:
1. Man-at-Arms: The candidate is admitted under an exhortation of a celebrated Celtic Bard by the name of Mac Leag (AD 1015) and in a simple yet impressive ceremony, is duly armed.
2. Esquire: Reception into the second degree is promulgated through the interpretation of an important charge which stimulates the candidate to demonstrate humility and service in supporting the honourable creed of the ancient kings.
3. Knight: In this, the last degree, the aspirant is encouraged to engage in figurative combat and his reward is the acclaim of his Brother Knights, to commemorate the mighty deeds of their forbears at the Battle of Ossary. After investiture he is instructed in the Ancient Mysteries and Legends of the Order by the Brehon.
There are three Chapters of the Order; meeting in London and the Midlands as well as in Australia.

In the United States this order is a part of the Allied Masonic Degrees. 

We have published the american rituals of this order on our CD-Roms Freemasonry and Fraternal Organizations and the Masonic Rosicrucian Library.

Home