This is one of the most commonly asked questions about our organisation. Some of our members on a visit to the Grand Lodge of Ireland which is located in Molesworth Street, Dublin found this piece of text at the entrance to their wonderful museum and is was titled 'What is Freemasonry.'

Freemasonry is one of the Worlds oldest secular fraternities concerned with moral and spiritual values. Members are taught its precepts by a series of ancient forms, using the customs and tools of stonemasons as allegorical guides.

The essential qualification of membership is a belief in a Supreme Being and membership is open to adherents of different religions. Freemasonry is not a religion, nor a substitute religion and members are expected to follow their own faith. Topics of either a religious or political nature are not permitted at Masonic meetings.

The great principles of Freemasonry are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth; Brotherly Love in the sense of tolerance and respect for the ideas and beliefs of others, relief in a charitable sense, to care for others in the giving of time and effort, and truth, in the sense of striving for high morals in all aspects of life.