Grand Lodge of Ireland Mortified Over Use of Dublin's Freemason Hall

by Christopher Hodapp

WARNING: This is NOT a family-friendly story, I'm afraid. Nor is it pleasant to even describe. But it's been in the internet headlines all week, so I need to.

A tempest has been brewing in the international press this week over a story involving the historic Dublin Freemason Hall of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. The initial reports were that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson had interviewed one-time Irish UFC Mixed Martial Arts fighter Conor McGregor for his online streaming program and that the Grand Lodge was furious over their lodge room being used as a backdrop for the political-themed interview. The Grand Lodge's reaction seemed oddly hyperbolic in these early reports, and now I know why. The real reason is NOT being widely reported.

I am NOT going to venture into Irish politics here, for therein lies the path to madness. But to explain this story takes some background, I'm afraid. And the Carlson interview doesn't really have anything to do with it. 

Conor McGregor is a highly tendentious figure in Ireland (recently convicted in a high-profile rape case, and currently hoping to run for their president on what is characterized as a far-right anti-immigrant platform). After the interview aired, there was great huffing and puffing out of the Grand Lodge about how "controversial" McGregor is (he is, without doubt) and how equally "controversial" Carlson is. Like so many large Masonic buildings around the world, the Grand Lodge of Ireland makes their building available for rentals to the general public, and this event was booked by an outside organization. Early statements out of the Grand Lodge claimed ignorance and denounced the entire episode as a horrible mistake on their part, saying they would have denied the use of their building had they known McGregor and Carlson were involved. They immediately offered to donate the €2500 booking fee to charity.

Here's an excerpt from the BBC:

The Freemasons' grand master elect told members in an email that the interview had caused "incalculable" damage and that the venue had been used for "grossly inappropriate purposes".

"The Grand Lodge of Ireland does not comment on any political matter and so regrets letting our premises facilitate any political discussion," Richard S G Ensor wrote.

"I look for your support to get us over this unpleasant time and steer us back on the right path.

"I am personally abhorred at what has taken place and extend my personal apology to our members, family and friends."

Earlier this week, the grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland, Philip Daley, told Irish broadcaster RTÉ that they regularly take bookings from media organisations but "insist" on knowing the interviewer, guests and topics of discussion to ensure this aligns with the organisation's "morals and principles".

However, he said in the case of McGregor and Carlson, the information was only received an hour before the interview.

But something seemed strange about their reaction to a simple two-shot of two men talking to each other for 55 minutes. That's NOT what the Grand Lodge is "abhorred" about.

I am no one's apologist for this story, but Tucker Carlson airs interviews with all kinds of people on all sides of the political and cultural spectrum, and they are often personalities that few members of the public know anything about apart from headlines. I don't care what anyone may think about him, pro or con, but Carlson wants to know why someone stirs controversy and lets his subjects praise or damn themselves out of their own mouths. While McGregor is doubtless one of the very last guys you'd want associated with the fraternity, nothing in the interview itself even remotely implied any connection to the Freemasons, unless you instantly recognized the large organ that dominates the back of the room they were in. McGregor's opinions may or may not be offensive to a majority of Irish people, but that's a whole different discussion to be had over the precarious position free speech rights currently hold in the Western world. But as it turns out, the Tucker Carlson angle has been played up in the media when the real problem has nothing to do with him. (Several articles made sure to stress the line, "Carlson was himself booted off Fox News in mysterious and acrimonious circumstances" in an effort to make him the villain of the piece, or at least a co-henchman with unspecified dark motives.)

The real truth is that McGregor was already in the Grand Lodge building because his recording production company was there shooting a political "music" video (and I use quotations deliberately, because music is nothing like what you'd call it). The publishable title of this pro-Irish Republican Army, anti-monarchial rap piece is "Spit In It" by an entity calling itself Eskimo Supreme (Irish rapper Alex Sheeran). But the actual lyric itself is the far more repulsive "Spit in my c--t".

No, I won't link to it here, but it's on YouTube if you really feel compelled to see it. It's is pure I.R.A. anti-U.K. agitprop packaged like a music video. And no matter what your views on Irish politics may be, it's noxious no matter how you slice it.

The story line, as it were, is that the British royal family has discovered that a female royal can morph into a reptilian dragon if imprisoned Irish Republican Army members can be compelled to (I'm not making this up) spit saliva onto her genitals. The video depicts an unnamed woman ("your royal highness") sitting on her throne, dropping her panties to the floor, who is then treated to this disgusting activity, while some sort of doctor supervises. After completing the deed, each prisoner is then taken out back and shot. Eventually, an escaped IRA prisoner dressed as an English palace guard bursts into the room, spraying machine gun fire, releasing the prisoners, and then apparently mounting the kneeling royal lady from behind, who then transforms into a flying dragon and spits fire at famed Tower Bridge. 

The.  End.

Not exactly Handel's Messiah.

The Grand Lodge of Ireland's lodge room was used for the throne room scenes, edited to appear as though it is located in the U.K. Parliament building in Westminster. In an early wide shot, the squares and compasses can be clearly seen in the upper cornices of the room. I guess to imply the royal reptilians are all Masons...

According to an article on BrteakingNewsIE by Olivia Kellaher:

Alex Sheeran, the artist behind Eskimo Supreme, is signed to Greenback Records, which is credited at the end of the video. [Conor] McGregor launched the label last summer with music industry business partners. He said it was set to be a “a multi-genre record label supporting artists at all stages of their career.”

Now, none of this has been explained in the vast majority of stories making the rounds. Only that McGregor is disgusting, that Carlson is disgusting-er, and that the Grand Lodge is VERY, VERY sorry that this interview was ever shot in their building. Which begs the obvious question: when all of this genital-spitting, knicker-dropping, prisoner screaming and machine gun firing was going on in the very same Grand Lodge room, was there NO ONE from the Masons to shout, "Not in OUR building, you don't!" Honestly. Did they just hand the keys over to the crew and go home? Even if an "outside booking company" handled the transaction?Didn't one single trustee, grand officer, janitor or Blue Lodge Mason happen to spot any of this and demand a halt be called long before McGregor and Carlson shot their interview? Or did the €2500 seem enough lucre at the time to assuage everyone's Masonic consciences?

I advocate all the time for opening the doors to our facilities to the general public in order to remind our communities that we remain an important part of the civic and moral fabric. But this is beyond the pale.  If ANY Freemason was present for any of this display of grotesqueries at the time, they need to be expelled from the fraternity.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the press wants to keep leaning into the "FAR RIGHT! FAR RIGHT!" screaming mania, without any revelation as to what was really going on.

UPDATE: Late this week, the Grand Lodge of Ireland got around to addressing the "Spit In It" video with a second apology and vows to investigate just who was responsible for approving the use of the hall. I don't really care who approved the rental. Why didn't anyone step in during the shoot itself and halt it?

(NOTE: Comments are turned off because I don't feel up to non-stop policing them for the next 72 hours.)

Scottish Press Tries To Make A Masonic Scandal Out of GM's Resignation

by Christopher Hodapp

When Joe Morrow, former two-time Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, completely resigned from the fraternity 'for personal reasons' back on September 17th, the silence as to why he really did so left a wide-open field for speculation. Over the weekend, the Scottish press finally got around to purportedly blowing the whole story wide open, and it landed with a resounding thud. (The story originated in the Scottish Sun by Jennifer Jones: "LODGE COMPLAINT: The real reason Scots freemasons chief quit organisation for good after pledging to modernise ‘the craft")

The Reverend Canon Dr. Joseph Morrow first served as Grand Master of Scotland in 2004, but resigned before completing his term. Two decades later, he was elected to the Grand East again, vowing to 'modernize' the fraternity and make it 'more transparent.' But he once again resigned this year before completing his term of office, and announced this time that he was completely withdrawing from the fraternity.

The widely syndicated and reprinted article from November 3rd turned out to be yet another non-story about Masons from the UK press. Start off by mentioning ‘arcane rituals, lurid oaths and dodgy handshakes,’ then spend 20 paragraphs to eventually admit Morrow probably pissed off all of his committee heads ‘pointing out all their deficiencies’ and demanding a bunch of (unexplained) changes, right before leaving the country.*

But the article never does REALLY explain his resignation this time. An unnamed source claims the Grand Lodge sought a replacement for him before he went to Asia, but the GL says that’s not true, that they sought a replacement only AFTER he left on his trip and resigned. 

It's not like Morrow has a shortage of honors and public notice. In addition to being an Episcopalian priest, Morrow is the current Lord Lyon, King of Arms, the head of Scotland's heraldry court,. That body issues new coats of arms to people, companies or organizations, and makes decisions on the proper or improper use of them, and Dr. Morrow has the last word. (Misuse of coats of arms is actually a criminal offense in Scotland.) He also took part in the coronation of King Charles III and Camilla in 2023.

The story DOES take careful pains to also reveal Morrow is gay and that he was originally outed by a snickering press during his FIRST stint as Grand Master 20 years ago – a story that the Scottish papers gladly and gleefully covered back in 2004. The story goes on to speculate without any shred of evidence that his resignation this time was possibly engineered by a group of anti-gay members who muscled him out the last time. 

But there's no proof. No conclusion. Certainly no scandalous revelation. And certainly no reason whatsoever for a 96pt headline and a 4-column article that got reprinted in several papers, including the Times of London. Just one more opportunity to take a swipe at the Masons without a reason.

That equals no story, in my book. 

*Ms. Jones does get an extra point for NOT using the term 'rolled-up trouser leg' anywhere in the article.

Embattled Grand Master Mario Urquía Carreño of the GL of Cuba Is Forced To Resign

Mario Urquía (left) and the Grand Masonic Temple of Cuba (right)

Image © Collage Facebook/Mario Urquía - CiberCuba

by Christopher Hodapp

Mario Alberto Urquía Carreño, the embattled Grand Master of the Gran Logio de Cuba (Grand Lodge of Cuba), has resigned following months of controversy and scandal. His resignation was officially tendered Sunday, August 18th after a contentious confrontation with representatives from more than 100 lodges on the island.

Carreño had already been removed from his office and expelled by the fraternity earlier this year in the wake of the disappearance of US$19,000 from the National Masonic Asylum's accounts, one of the principal charities of this grand lodge. He subsequently took his case before the Cuban Ministry of Justice, which decided to overrule the constitution and organizational authority of the grand lodge itself and ordered him reinstated. This unprecedented interference by the Cuban regime's judiciary also nullified the appointment of Juan Alberto Kessel Linares as Grand Master, as the Freemasons had overwhelmingly voted to do several months ago.

The resulting uproar by hundreds of Cuban Masons intensified and the story began to appear in the media over the summer. Carreño reacted against the protesters by arresting the charters of at least four Cuban lodges for failing to acknowledge his reinstatement, which only served to throw oil on the fire. When the story began to get independent media attention, the State Security officials of the Cuban Communist Party found it couldn't control the message any longer, and Carreño was compelled to call a special meeting last Sunday. 

From Mario Urquía Steps Down as Cuba's Grand Master After Months of Controversy by Emma Garcia:

The Masons gathered in the theater of the Grand Lodge building, where an anonymous source consulted by the cited media described that Urquía intended to manipulate the attendees. However, the Masons present did not allow it, and the unanimous phrase heard was “hand it over and leave.”

One of the meeting's witnesses recounted that tensions escalated to the point where Urquía left the theater but was followed by the Masons to the eleventh floor, where his office is located.

Under the pressure of those present, the Grand Master agreed to meet with a representation of them. During two hours, the terms of his departure were negotiated, although the details of those conversations remain secret.

Finally, Mario Urquía agreed to resign, and Deputy Grand Master Maykel Filema was appointed in his place. Filema will have the task of calling for elections in the next High Chamber session, scheduled for September.

Urquía's resignation is seen as a victory by the Masons. The problems began with the mysterious theft of $19,000 from the Grand Master's office, an event that culminated in his expulsion from the Order.

Despite this, the Cuban Ministry of Justice, in an act of interference permitted by the country's laws, did not recognize the expulsion and reinstated Urquía in his position in less than three months. This led to a massive protest by Masons outside the Grand Master's office on July 23 and caused dozens of lodges to rebel.

In recent days, Mario Urquía spoke in a video explaining that the stolen money belonged to the National Masonic Asylum and addressed the accusations against him, including those of treason and theft. Urquía Carreño categorically denied being responsible for the theft and clarified that the police document he signed, committing to return the money, did not imply an admission of guilt.

He explained that the delay in returning the sum was due to the need to comply with Cuban laws, which require the reimbursement to be made in Cuban pesos (CUP), resulting in a considerable loss due to the disparity with the dollar's value in the informal market.

The Grand Master also questioned the initial communiqué issued by the National Masonic Asylum's Board, calling it “incriminatory.” He emphasized that he had already made a deposit of 270,000 CUP, equivalent to $1,000, as a sign of his commitment to return the funds. Despite his intention to remain in the position, Mario Urquía ultimately had to yield to the pressure to resign.

“Before allowing the existing division to further harm the Institution and increase the attacks through social media, which would further denigrate the Grand Lodge of Cuba by its enemies, this Grand Master resigns for the good of the Institution,” Urquía Carreño stated in an official communiqué, as reported by the independent media outlet Cubanet.

[snip]

Regarding the reasons for his resignation, Urquía Carreño indicated that there is “an incompatibility in criteria for the correct application and interpretation of our laws” within the Masonic institution, leading to “divided opinions in our Lodges regarding the correct procedures.”

He further lamented that “hatred and insults have erupted among brothers, forgetting that we swore to defend each other, present or absent. The institutional situation today shows a dire division. Some Masons' actions indicate a growing danger of confrontations, and we will not allow this to happen; misunderstanding has subjected our brothers.”

Prior press accounts of this story can be seen at the following links:

Freemasons Protest at Cuba's Grand Lodge, Demand Assembly to Elect New Grand Master
Tuesday, July 23, 2024 by Madison Pena
https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/285593

Four Masonic Lodges Suspended for Rejecting Grand Master Mario Urquía
Wednesday, July 31, 2024 by Alex Smith
https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/286112

Detained Masonic Leader Ángel Santiesteban-Prats Prior to Official Meeting in Havana
Thursday, August 1, 2024 by Emma Garcia
https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/286170

Mario Urquía Steps Down as Cuba's Grand Master After Months of Controversy
Monday, August 19, 2024 by Emma Garcia

https://www.cubaheadlines.com/articles/287095