Jonathan Swift, the Earl of Rosse, Duke of Wharton, and Sir Charles Wogan: The Irish-Spanish Masonic Connection

Abstract

Drawing on unpublished documents in the Diocesan Archive in Galway, Ireland, this essay investigates the correspondence of Sir Charles Wogan, with Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in Dublin. They reveal Wogan’s collaboration with Phillip, Duke of Wharton, Grand Master of Écossais Freemasonry, in Spain in 1729-31. By examining Swift’s Masonic publications and relation with the Earl of Rosse, friend of Wharton and Grand Master of Ireland; and with other Jacobites in Spain; and admirers of Wogan, probable Mason and devotee of Don Quixote, we gain a new perspective on Swift’s Jacobite sympathies and Irish-Spanish Masonic connections.