Knight Masons
Kilkenny Council #33
Jurisdiction of Nevada
ORIGINS
The
Knight Mason Degrees have their origins to the earliest records
of Masonry, in fact there is some indication that the Knight
Mason Degrees may have been developed even before the degree
of Master Mason!
To
protect and preserve the ancient and beautiful work the order
of Knight Masons was formed in Dublin, Ireland on June 18th,
1923 for the purpose of governing the degrees previously known
as the "Green Degrees." These degrees were formerly
controlled by the Orders of Knights Templar in Ireland (for more
than 80 years) and conferred in their subordinate bodies.
Until
the mid-Nineteenth Century they were worked in Ireland under
the auspices of the Royal Arch Chapters and later the Commandery
Preceptories. In 1923 the Grand Council of Knight Masons was
formed in Dublin, Ireland and assumed responsibility for the
degrees from the Preceptories. The degrees are also worked under
the authority of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland.
The
Degrees were introduced in the United States on May 20th, 1936,
when the Grand Council in Ireland chartered three Councils in
North Carolina under a Provincial Grand Superintendent. The councils
in the United States formed the Grand Council of Knight Masons
of the United States of America in 1967. The Grand Council in
Dublin recognized this Grand Council in 1969. Subsequently seven
additional Councils were charted by that Grand Council in the
United States.
TODAY
Today,
there are over 70 Councils of Knight Masons in the U.S.A. with
nearly 7000 members. The membership includes many of the leaders
of Masonry in the United States.