New York journalist depicts Doneraile’s Lady Freemason
For veteran journalist and TV news producer, Kathleen Aldworth Foster, her story with Doneraile began in 2000 at the pyramids of Giza and will now culminate in the publication of her first historical fiction novel ‘Doneraile Court: The Story of The Lady Freemason’.
“During a trip to the pyramids at Giza in Egypt for New Year’s Eve 2000, a man told me I share the name with the first-ever female Freemason, Elizabeth St. Leger Aldworth. The man gave me the book The Hiram Key. This is what first sparked my interest in the history and mysteries of Freemasonry.
“Aldworth is my middle name, it was my grandmother’s maiden name, my mother gave it to me and I gave it to my daughters,” Kathleen told The Avondhu.
In 2006, Kathleen was working as a television news producer in Shmona, Israel, a town that sits on a tiny peninsula of land that juts into Lebanon, covering a war between Hezbollah fighters and Israel.
“I was preparing to leave my assignment early to meet up with my family in Ireland for a pre-planned genealogy trip to visit people and places connected with my recently deceased grandmother’s relatives in County Roscommon. Because of work, I hadn’t had much time for extracurricular research. So, during a few quiet hours between Katyusha explosions, I hopped on my laptop. However, instead of searching for our Roscommon family names, I typed in ‘Aldworth’ and discovered that The Lady Freemason’s initiation took place in County Cork,” Kathleen explained.
Landing in Shannon Airport, Kathleen ended up taking a taxi directly to Doneraile.
“That’s when my interest in her (Elizabeth St. Leger Aldworth) started. I wanted to find out how we were related,” Kathleen said.
At the time, Doneraile Court was still behind a chainlink fence, before any of the extensive renovations began.
“I had learned about the Lady Freemason a few years prior and was investigating our possible family connections. I am not a direct descendant but I wanted to know more, more, more. I started digging and found as many newspaper articles as I could find,” Kathleen added.
RESEARCH-BASED
Kathleen didn’t return to Doneraile until 2013 when she was in the process of writing.
“I realised I needed to go back, so I contacted the Irish Office of Public Works. At that time, Doneraile Court was still unrenovated but they allowed me access,” she said.
She managed to find a floor plan of the original room layout of Doneraile Court, giving her greater insight and befriended Sheila O’Hanlon, who worked in the tea rooms and became her main reader, as the novel progressed.
Originally, the book was intended to be non-fiction, considering Kathleen’s background in journalism, however, this was not to be.
“It is mainly research-based. I wanted to write non-fiction because I am a journalist, but that really just wasn’t possible because there wasn’t enough about her and her life during that time,” Kathleen said.
Focused around research, the book has also been checked and read by David Butler of the Munster Freemasons to ensure its accuracy.
Publishing the book, however, was also a difficult decision as Kathleen discovered she is not a direct descendant of Elizabeth Aldworth, however is distantly related to her husband, Richard Aldworth.
Kathleen’s Aldworth branch of the family is from Bandon and are likely the descendants of Puritans who settled in the area in the 1600s. Their branch and the branch of Elizabeth Aldworth’s husband, Richard, all trace back to the same family in the Bristol, England area.
“It was a long process, a 15-year process. I finished my first draft in 2018 and it has taken until now to publish it because I hit some stumbling blocks, I hit a genealogy brick wall.
“I was questioning whether I was the right person to write this book, but then, Why did my mom give me this name? I think it was preordained and I was meant to write this story,” Kathleen added.
RITUAL
The book is based on a true story that took place at the Doneraile Park Estate back in 1712. It brings to life the night when 17-year-old Elizabeth St. Leger was caught spying on Freemasons in the middle of a mysterious, dark and bloody initiation ceremony in her family’s home, Doneraile Court.
Elizabeth’s own father voted to kill her. She was only saved when one of the Freemasons suggested an unorthodox solution: put her through the ritual, swear her to secrecy, and make her the first-ever female Freemason.
In real life that man, Richard Aldworth, promised that night to be “responsible” for Elizabeth for the rest of his life… and he was. They married just five months later and lived together as married Masons for some 60 years – the only married regular Freemasons in recorded history.
UPCOMING READING?
Doneraile Court: The Story of The Lady Freemason - a story of truth, relief, and brotherly love… and proves well-behaved women seldom make history - is currently available on Amazon in hardback form. Paperback and e-book versions should be available soon and the book will be in bookstores in March.
Despite not being a direct descendant of Elizabeth St Leger Aldworth, Kathleen has still forged strong connections with Doneraile and intends to return to Doneraile Court when possible.
“I would never have gone to Doneraile if I had not discovered her. I have all sorts of friends there now and I’m working with the OPW to do a reading at Doneraile Court, but that’s all dependant on when the works and the house are finished,” Kathleen said.
Watch this space...