Eóin Byrne, one of our newest Master Masons, shared his first year’s journey with us. It makes fascinating reading, and highlights many of the benefits of becoming a Freemason. Take it away, Eóin…..
“Everyone has their own personal reason or story for joining Freemasonry. Some join to follow in the footsteps of a friend or family member; for some it’s curiosity; for others it’s about self-improvement, but for me it was all about community.
I moved to Leeds in late 2017 having lived in three different cities in the previous three years. Despite my best efforts and what those cities had to offer I never really found myself calling any of them ‘home’ until I moved to Leeds. I very quickly fell in love with the city, its people (my now wife in particular) and everything Leeds has to offer. After living here for two years I decided that I needed to put down roots, to find my place in the community and to not just be a ‘resident’ of Leeds, but a citizen who gave back to the city that had, unknowingly, given me so much.
I joined a number of community Facebook groups and sub-reddits, subscribed to local newsletters and started following more and more grassroots groups based in Leeds who existed solely to make our city better in the hope of finding somewhere I might be able to help. One day, possibly through a retweet of someone I followed or possibly through a fortuitous algorithm, I happened upon a tweet from The Lodge of Dawn which had said that they were seeking new members.
I didn’t know much about Freemasonry. I had attended an event in the Grand Lodge of Ireland while I was at university but outside of being in awe of the building, I didn’t think that there was much of a place for me there. The internet and pop culture had led me to believe that Freemasonry was an elite secret society that operates behind closed doors with sinister motives. But after about two minutes on the Lodge Twitter timeline I saw that this definitely wasn’t the case. I clicked the link to the Lodge’s website and started to read a few articles about the charitable work that was being done and the core focus and tenets of Freemasonry. This wasn’t the Illuminati. This wasn’t some secretive group running the world. This was a group of men who kept a centuries old tradition alive and committed a portion of their week to doing better for themselves and those around them. This was something I wanted to be a part of.
I reached out through the website and within a few days I’d received a call from the Lodge Mentor, who I now know was W Bro. Rob Phillips. This was the first of many conversations I had with a number of brethren over the next few weeks as we geared up for an in-person meeting. A date was set, a venue agreed upon… and within days COVID put the world into lockdown.
However, throughout the many months that followed, we kept in touch. Emails and calls were exchanged making sure that all were healthy, and staying sane. I was told that the weekly Lodge meetings had been replaced with weekly Zoom meetings and that, although times were taxing and terrifying for many, this fraternity were looking after its brethren in any way they could.
As the world started to open up again another date was set for us to meet and in August 2020 I finally sat down to dinner with four members of the Lodge. We finally put faces to names & voices and spoke of work, life and Freemasonry. They were incredibly generous with their time and knowledge and even though eight months had passed since I first made contact with them, the passion and enthusiasm they showed for friendship, philanthropy and Freemasonry reassured me that this was something I wanted to be a part of. I was told soon afterwards that they thought I might be a good fit and that we could move onto the next stage of the joining process. What followed instead, though, were two additional lockdowns.
These progressed ‘in a manner somewhat similar to the first’ and thankfully vaccines were rolled out and society reopened. I eventually had my second meeting in a cold, wet beer garden the following spring and the wheels were officially set in motion over a few pints of Kirkstall Ale.
November 2021 came around and I finally set foot in the Lodge for the first time, now 22 months after my initial expression of interest, and I can honestly say without any hyperbole it was definately worth the wait. The ceremony was unforgettable. The brethren of The Lodge of Dawn welcomed me with open arms and scarcely a week has passed (besides COVID raising its ugly head again) that I haven’t attended the Lodge in some capacity. The ceremonies, the practices, the Festive Boards and the social events have given me a chance to meet and befriend men with whom I may never have crossed paths with, but am incredibly lucky to have as a part of my life.
In the short time that I have been a part of The Lodge of Dawn I’ve seen the enthusiasm for community and philanthropy that I was looking for. The brethren have given tirelessly and without a second thought to causes as local as supporting the widows of their own brethren to providing funding facilities for local sports clubs and to assisting in the raising of over £500,000 for the people of Ukraine.
You would assume that joining a group that has such a long and rich history as the masons would mean that it would be hard to get involved as an active member, but that has simply not been the case. Between having an opportunity to participate in our Junior Masters’ Night, to working with a group of new and young masons across the city via The Leeds Light Blues and coordinating lecturing events, it’s been a fantastic opportunity to grow as a person, learn new skills and give back to my community.
Though my journey to get here wasn’t the most straight forward, I felt like I was a welcome member of The Lodge of Dawn long before I officially joined. As the end of my first masonic year approaches, I look forward with hope that this has been the first of many years in which I can develop myself, commit to worthy causes around the country and put down some roots in a city that I (wrongly) assumed would be another stop-gap. I’m not ashamed to say that my past assumptions were wrong and I look forward to seeing just how far I can go helping to better myself, and developing my Freemasonry in general and my contribution to The Lodge of Dawn in particular.”
If, having read the above, you would like to join The Lodge of Dawn in Leeds, please feel free to get in touch via our ‘Contact Us’ page.
If you are not a Freemason and, having read the above, would like to find out more, read our Seven Reason to Join The Freemasons, our guide on ‘How to join The Freemasons‘ or our simple ‘What is Freemasonry?’ page.
Or, rather than take our word for it, you’d rather contact Eóin direct and ask him, he can be contacted here.