Elizabeth Aldworth

Elizabeth Aldworth was born in Doneraile, County Cork, around 1694 and became the first recorded woman initiated into Regular Freemasonry. She walked at the head of Masons in Cork and Dublin, wearing her apron and insignia while crowds filled the theatres to watch her support the Female Orphan Asylum. A private lodge warranted by her father may have admitted her before marriage, but the exact chamber and date remain uncertain.