ROYAL ORDER OF ERI
ROYAL ORDER OF ERI Degrees
Brief History and Origin The Royal Order of Eri is supposedly derived for an ancient Order in Ireland, consisting of freemasons, and it is 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. (K.B. Jackson 1994) Brother John Yarker was at one stage the head of the “English Revived Order of the Red Branch of Eri”. In American the “Red Branch of Eri” degree is one of those controlled under USA Grand Council of the Allied Masonic Degrees.
Organisation and Structure Chapters/lodges are known as a Faslairt and under England there are three, 2 working in England (in the Midlands and London) and 1 in Melbourne, Australia. A Faslairt, which is headed by its Enlightened Knight Commander, only meets twice per year, and usually only take one candidate per meeting. The Order is governed by a Most Enlightened Grand Master who is supported by eight Knights Grand Cross of Eri and a number of Ard (Grand) Officers who constitute the MurOllamham or Grand Lodge.
The degrees of the order are: Man-at-Arms Esquire Knight All are worked on the candidate on the meeting he joins the order. Legend relates that the Order, comprising freemasons, was founded in 1697 BC by the then King of Ireland, Brian Boru. An ancient book entitled The Annals of the Four Masters of Ireland tells of the Knights of the Collar of Eri as instituted by King Eamhium and his eight princes over the armies of the four provinces, ie. Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connaught. The ancient Knightly Order was comprised of Ollamhs who were the teachers and hospitallers, the Brehons who as judges ensured that the laws were correctly administered, the Crimthears being priests who attended to the religious and moral education of the people, the Bards as historians who preserved the memory of the noble deeds of their ancestors and the later Heralds who assisted in developing the Arts and Sciences. Much of the modern ceremonies are couched in Bardic Verse and include much ancient Irish lore. (K.B. Jackson 1994)
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