Quatuor Coronati Lodge: Our Next Meeting

Quatuor Coronati Lodge meets five times a year on the second Thursday in November (Installation); third Thursday in February; second Thursday in May; fourth Thursday in June; and second Thursday in September. Lodge meetings are usually held at Freemasons’ Hall, Great Queen Street, London, and open at 4.00pm.

The United Grand Lodge of England requires those attending QC Lodge meetings, whether members of QCCC or otherwise, to be a member of a lodge under UGLE’s jurisdiction or members of lodges in Masonic jurisdictions recognised by UGLE. We wear undress regalia (Craft), dark suit and tie. Where we host non-masonic speakers or open the lodge to non-Masons, we close or call the Lodge off for the lecture and at that point welcome everyone to attend. There is no formal dress code for visitors on such occasions.

Thursday, 8 May 2025
The Prestonian Lecture
The Second Grand Lodge, The London Irish & Antients Freemasonry

The impact of the Grand Lodge of Ireland and of Irish freemasonry extended beyond, indeed, far beyond, the island of its birth. This is seen perhaps most clearly in the development of ‘Antients’ freemasonry, which was established by London’s expatriate Irish community in the mid-eighteenth century. More inclusive and mutually supportive, Antients freemasonry was not only shipped back to Ireland but transported across Britain’s burgeoning Empire, particularly North America, where it was carried by migration, trade, and the regiments of the British Army. It was also absorbed formally into English freemasonry following the 1813 union of the original Grand Lodge of England (the ‘Moderns’) and the Antients Grand Lodge to create the United Grand Lodge of England. This entertaining and fully illustrated Lecture recognises the seminal role that Irish and Antients freemasonry has played in the transmission of Masonic and Enlightenment ideas across the globe, and in creating English freemasonry as we know it today. We anticipate a lively discussion of the paper post-delivery and at the ‘Conversazione’ – informal drinks – that follows. The book of the Lecture is available from the Shop at Freemasons’ Hall or from Amazon. An abbreviated version has been posted here: AQC138.03 Berman. The on-the-night delivery version will be different from both!

The Speaker
Ric Berman

Ric researches and speaks on English, Irish, and American Freemasonry, with a focus on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He has written numerous journal articles and some ten books, and has given keynote talks and lectures worldwide. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Ric holds a master’s degree in economics and a doctorate in history from the University of Cambridge and the University of Exeter, respectively, following which he spent two years post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford. Ric has been a Freemason for over forty years and has twice been Prestonian Lecturer. He holds Grand Rank in the United Grand Lodge of England and is a past master of three English lodges including Quatuor Coronati Lodge, the premier lodge of Masonic research. Ric is also an American Freemason, a member or honorary member of lodges in five states, a Fellow of the Philalethes Society and a member of the Society of Blue Friars.

The meeting will be held at 4.00pm at Freemasons’ Hall, London.
The Summons is available here: QCL Summons- May 2025

Please notify the Lodge Secretary if you will be attending: secretary@quatuorcoronati.com. It is sufficient to give your name, rank and Lodge. Everyone is entitled to attend, from EA onwards.

Delivery papers (with the exception of the Installation paper), are available to members of QCCC prior to each meeting. Papers are copyright and may not be reproduced.
Comments and questions on delivery papers should be sent via email to editor@quatuorcoronati.com for publication in AQC.

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