U.S author’s book on Doneraile Freemason

AMERICAN author Kathleen Aldworth Foster will give her first book its Irish launch in Cork next week, with events at the Freemasons’ Hall in the city and in Doneraile.

It would be an exciting few days for a debut novelist in any circumstances. But for Kathleen it is the culmination of a true labour of love, almost 20 years since she first set foot in Doneraile and more than a quarter of a century since she first heard about the woman on whom she has based her historical fiction novel - Elizabeth Aldworth.

The Cork woman, born Elizabeth St Leger in 1695, was the first recorded woman to be initiated into regular Freemasonry. In Doneraile Court: The Story Of The Lady Freemason, Kathleen creates a narrative around what is known about Elizabeth’s initiation, and in the process offers a fascinating glimpse into the rituals of Freemasonry of the time.

Her interest sparked by a chance conversation at the turn of the millenium, Kathleen’s book is the fruit of years of research.

“I went to the pyramids in Giza for Y2K, and met a man who told me I shared this Aldworth name with a Lady Freemason,” Kathleen tells The Echo. “I didn’t really know a lot about Freemasonry then, he sent me a book called The Hiram Key and that was the first book on Freemasonry I ever read. Now, today, the author of that book wrote the blurb on the back of [my book].”

Kathleen initially assumed Elizabeth Aldworth was British, but the name stuck in the back of her mind, and rose to the surface before a family trip.

“In August, 2006, I was in northern Israel [for her work as a journalist]. I had one quiet day before I had to leave to meet my family in Ireland for a pre-planned genealogy trip, for another branch of the family. I decided to do a little bit of research before I left but instead of punching in names from Roscommon, I put in Aldworth, and up comes Elizabeth Aldworth, the first time I had seen anything about her on the internet. That’s when I saw she was from County Cork.”

When she landed at Shannon, she met her family and they joined the driver they had booked for the trip.

“He heard me telling my dad about Elizabeth Aldworth, that she was from Ireland. And he said, ‘Yeah, not only that, her house is still standing, do you want to go?’ 

"He took us straight from the airport to Doneraile Court. At that time it was not open to the public, it was behind a chain link fence and he is the one who told me the whole story.”

Kathleen was gripped by the tale, particularly given the name.

“I always had a real connection with the Aldworth name, I was named after my great-grandmother, it is my middle name.”

Her subsequent research established a family connection to Elizabeth; “certainly not direct, it is very, very distant through her husband”, but she remained fascinated by the Doneraile woman’s story.

“I wanted to know everything about it, I just couldn’t imagine how this story could possibly be true. Why would her father and brothers want to kill her? Who saved her, who was there? I just went down a rabbit hole that lasted years, and I focused a lot on Freemasonry because I had this interest from The Hiram Key. And I wanted to see what she had gone through that night to lead to such a story. I spent way too much time going down the wrong paths and having to veer back. I decided this couldn’t possibly be a non-fiction book, there is just too much misinformation out there, so decided to roll with it and create a historical fiction novel.”

So, in addition to researching Elizabeth, Kathleen also found herself studying Freemasonry.

“Freemasonry is a huge part of the story. That has become a major audience for this book and I didn’t see that coming. 

"I though this book was going to be written for tourists like me who would go to Doneraile and hear the story and want to know more. That was my goal. I thought the Freemasons might be kind of mad at me for writing this book, because they still don’t allow women in the regular organisation, and second of all, that a girl could face death for something like this is something they have never denied. But I have had the opposite outcome, Freemasons all around the world are fascinated by her story and they want to know it as much I did.

“Through this I have become a lecturer on her life – through the research and this family connection I have and the series of coincidences that led to this.”

Her experience of Freemasonry has not quite matched their famed reputation for secrecy.

“I have spoken to a lot of Freemasons over the years and they would say we are not a secret society, we are a society with secrets. However, a lot of it can be found out there. These rituals are all written down now. Women are now in co-masonry. They just said the information you seek is out there, you just have to go find it. They would never tell me but they would tell me where to find it.

“David Butler, who proofread my book, is a member of the Munster Freemasons. He is the provincial archivist and librarian for Munster Freemasonry. He is the man who is in charge of the small museum dedicated to her.”

The material on Elizabeth Aldworth is in storage at the moment but there are plans for a display following renovations of the Hall in Cork city.

Kathleen made a return trip Doneraile in 2013 to continue her research and has been blown away by the assistance she received from many quarters - including then-groundskeeper Mick O’Sullivan, local historian Michael O’O’Sullivan, David Butler and many others.

She is also delighted her research and writing has coincided with major restoration work on the estate, with the house now open to the public for guided tours. The research took time, and there were pauses during busy times in her own life, particularly when twins Elizabeth and Mary came along. But Kathleen has always had a deep certainty that she would write a book and returned to her work until she had her final draft.

“My dad said this book was preordained when I was given this name. I always felt lucky to have this Aldworth middle name. 

"Kathleen Aldworth was my father’s grandmother, a wonderful lady. My mother came into the family and also fell in love with her, so much so that she named me after her, it was her that chose this name. I have since given the Aldworth middle name to my two daughters.”

Kathleen’s husband Chris, her daughters and extended family are all travelling with her for next week’s events, for the first of what she plans as a series of books based around the life of Elizabeth Aldworth. So for fans of historical fiction, for those who find themselves taken with Doneraile, and for those curious about Freemasonry, there is much more to come.

Kathleen will appear at the Freemasons’ Hall in Cork on Friday, April 14 at 7pm. A limited number of lecture tickets are available.

For more information, email Eamonn Connaughton at E.Connaughton@ucc.ie. 

Book sale proceeds will go to the Freemasons’ Hall Building Fund, which will include creating a new exhibit space for the Lady Freemason’s personal effects.

Kathleen is also involved in a number of events on Saturday, April 15. A book signing will take place at Philip’s Bookshop in Mallow from 12-1pm. A small, private reading will take place in the library at Doneraile Court at 3:30pm. From 5-7pm, a book signing and launch party will take place at Cafe Townhouse Doneraile.

Proceeds from books sold at the Doneraile book launch will be donated to local charities.

The book can also be bought at donerailecourt.com. Available now