Tyre Masonic Lodge, About us

Tyre Masonic Lodge No 724 sits in Newtownards Masonic Centre, in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the 4th Thursday of the month ex 6,7,8. at 7:30pm. Taken from the first recorded minutes was the following text. The original is further down the page.

An Occasional Communication was held by the Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Lodge of Down in Regent Street Masonic Hall, Newtownards on Thursday August 12th 1948 at 6pm, for the purpose of Constituting and Dedicating of Tyre Masonic Lodge No 724.

Right Worshipful Bro, Sir WM. Robinson, J.P. Deputy Provincial Grand Master in the chair, conducted the ceremony assisted by the Provincial Grand Officers of Down. The name of the foundation members of Lodge 724 were read from the roll by the Provincial Grand Secretary and they advanced in order to stand in front of the PGM and were addressed by him.

The PGM then declared Tyre Masonic Lodge No 724 to be at labour in the E.A. Degree. All the Brethren present were then called upon to salute the newly constituted Lodge and an address on the history and tenents of Freemasonry was delivered by the PG Chaplain. Very Worshipful Bro, J.W. Carson. The R.W. the PGM then installed W. Bro, John McQuoid as first W.M. of Lodge 724 and he was saluted according to ancient custom. The W.M. then proceeded to install his officers as per attendance book, each being saluted in turn.

Bro. J. Greer proposed and Bro. J. Hadnett seconded that the names of Bro. John White, Bro Robert Bailey, Bro. Joseph Moore Kennedy, all of Lodge 486, and Bro. Richard Whitten, Lodge 306 be placed on the books for affiliation for the usual time prior to ballot.

The W.M. then thanked the Deputy P.G.M. and Officers for coming to perform the ceremony, and gave all present a hearty invitation to the festive board. There being no further business the P.G.M. and Officers resumed their places, and after the P.G.M. had extended hearty good wishes for the future the Lodge was closed in Peace, Love and Harmony.

Sadly W. Bro. Campbell did not over elaborate his description of the consecration and the subsequent Installation and Festive Board, but other records may turn up.Our Main Lodge written records are now complete.

Tyre Masonic Lodge

Why the name, Tyre Masonic Lodge was chosen is not clear, but it is fair to say in the forties the Bible was the book most families had in their homes and was then the most widely read book available, ritualists took passages from the Bible and incorporated them into their degrees, to lengthen the legends and to personalise their degree. Hirem was an important figure in these legends and as the King of Tyre, he supplied the Ceders from Lebanon and the Master Craftsmen, including one Hiram Abif to aid Solomon in the construction of the Great Temple, Tyre plays a starring role in our History and it's fair to say that without the expertise and aid of Hirem of Tyre, Solomon would not have been able to fulfil the order of the Lord to "build him a house, and I will establish his throne forever" (Solomon's Throne), Tyre therefore plays an important part in establishing the Great Temple and fulfilling King Solomon and David's pledge to finish the House of the Lord.

Our Masonic tradition tells us that our Craft had three original Grand Masters. The first of these, Solomon, the King of Israel, figures prominently in our Masonic story and is still known as a great personage thirty centuries after his time. The third of this trio is the center and source of our deepest teaching and to him all Masons are bound by a unique tie. But the second of our Grand Masters has only a passing reference in our Ritual and outside of a Masonic Lodge is known only to a few specialists in history, Hiram of Tyre was a monarch who ruled over a powerful kingdom at the peak of its greatness. He and his people deserve to be known better by the Masonic fraternity. The Kingdom of Tyre, or Phoenicia, as it was more generally known, was located on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean north of Palestine. Its principal city was the seaport of Tyre, which because of its geographical location became a converging point on the great trade routes. Tyre became one of the foremost commercial centers of the ancient world and grew rich and powerful.

Phoenicia has two just claims to high achievement. In the first place, the Phoenicians were among the first known sailors of the world. It is said that they were the first to navigate upon the open sea and to chart their course by means of the stars. Thus to the men of Tyre goes the distinction of being the fathers of modern navigation. They must indeed have been an alert and venturesome race. It is known that Phoenician sailors traveled all over the Mediterranean, sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar,down the coast of Africa, up the coast of Spain and even as far as England. If we wish to romanticize history a little we can see in our mind's eye a sea captain of Hiram of Tyre sailing through the pillars of Hercules and gazing out upon a vast ocean - not knowing that 3000 miles beyond his sight lay a land where 3000 years later the name of his royal master would be perpetuated in Masonic Lodges.

In the second place, the Phoenicians may claim to a high place in the history of mankind because they were the inventors of one of the first known alphpabets. We take the alphabet so much for granted that it is hard for us to conceive of the time when it did not exist. Hiram's people were certainly possessed of intellectual curiosity and skill to formulate a way whereby the thoughts of men could be transmitted through other than oral means. The Phoenician alphabet influenced the Greek, and the Greek the Roman. In reading these lines you are bearing a certain mute testimony to the genius of the people over whom our second Grand Master once ruled.

Solomon's name and fame are still remembered today while that of his neighbor to the north has been largely forgotten. Solomon was fortunate in having adequate chroniclers, himself included which Hiram lacked. Solomon did not equal Hiram in wealth and in worldly power, but he did surpass him in the greater and more enduring values of wisdom and of the spirit.

King Hiram of Tyre has been saved from complete oblivion in the dusty tombs of history and is remembered by Freemasons because he gave freely of his resources to help, aid and assist a neighbor in a great and important undertaking.

Though it appears that the People of Israel have always been at odds with their northern neighbor, history notes periods when relations between the two were not only amiable, but very lucrative as well. Both biblical and other accounts relate to periods in both countries' historical pasts when Lebanon, known then as the Kingdom of Phoenicia (or Tyre), and Israel engaged in trading and other forms of mutual cooperation. This was especially so during the long reign of perhaps Israel's must successful monarch, King Solomon, son of David.

In fact, this period of mutual cooperation was so strong that King Solomon, upon directive from God to build the Temple in Jerusalem, enlisted the assistance of King Hiram of Tyre to provide both materials and skilled craftsmen to construct this stately edifice. Solomon, who desired to build a permanent 'House' for the Ark of the Covenant, and its most noted contents, The Ten Commandments that Moses received from God on Mt. Sinai, asked Hiram to bring his chief craftsmen, who together with Israel's Master Builder, Hiram Abif (from the Tribe of Naphtali) would construct the Temple.