Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

Welcome to the website of The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in Ireland.

Ours is an ancient Catholic chivalric order of Knighthood with the Pope as sovereign who appoints the  Grand Master, currently His Eminence Edwin Cardinal O'Brien. It is headquartered in the Vatican City and is under the unique protection of the Holy See. The 28,000 members of the Order worldwide are organized either within Lieutenancies or Magistral Delegations, the most recent of which have been established in Venezuela and a section in New Zealand.

This website was launched in 2011 to celebrate the 25th. Anniversary of the foundation of the Irish Lieutenancy. I hope you will take the opportunity to browse this site and familiarise yourself with our work, spiritual commitment and ceremonial.

This year we in Ireland are priviledged to host the International Eucharistic Congress. It will be our honour to welcome His Beatitude the Latin Patriarch when he leads a group of pilgrims from the Holy Land who shall travel to Dublin this coming June.

Please take some time to explore our site and send your feedback to the Webmaster . If you have any suggestions for changes in the content, appearance or structure of the site which you think would make it more attractive and/or more useful to you or to the browsing public,   please send it to the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

"Deus lo Vult - Mar is toil le Dia - God Wills It"

Nicholas McKenna, GCHS
Lieutenant

H.E. Nicholas McKenna with the Grand Master in St Peter's Basicilia on Saturday 18 February 2012, the day the Grand Master was created Cardinal

The Grand Master  has said "My responsibility will be to support the Christian institutions in the Holy Land, primarily -- but not exclusively --  as they relate to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. And to encourage members of the Order to take interest in what's going on there: [such as] the diminishing number of Christians, and the many obligations we have in schools and hospitals, seminaries, the obligations we've taken on to support these Christian institutions, and many Catholic institutions, and the people living there. [With] so few people living there, help has to come from outside. That is the principle goal that I will have: to educate, to encourage members of the Order to take greater interest -- not only by their donations, and by their participation in the activities of the Order, but certainly by pilgrimage. There's always more we can do, and we should not presume without grace. And grace is available to us, and I think there will be many graces during this Year of Faith."

To keep up to date with developments in the Holy Land, please access the following websites: 

Bishop Shomali with Irish Pilgrims in Jerusalem in September 2011.

.

Purposes of the Order

1. To strengthen in its members the practice of Christian life, in absolute fidelity to the Supreme Pontiff and according to the teachings of the Church, observing as its foundation the principle of charity of which the Order is a fundamental means for assistance to the Holy Land.
2. To sustain and aid the charitable, cultural and social works and institutions of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, particularly those of and in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, with which the Order maintains traditional ties.
3. To support the preservation and propagation of the Faith in those lands, interesting in this work the Catholics scattered throughout the world, united in charity by the symbol of the Order, and also all Christian brothers.
4. To sustain the rights of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land.

Investiture 2011

On Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd of July, 2011 our annual investiture took place in Maynooth. 

Members in the cloister of St Patrick's College Maynooth, July 2011

Preamble to the Constitution 

"You are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1.8.) 

Knighthood is defined as self-discipline, generosity and courage. Whosoever does not have the firm willingness to develop and deepen these traits in his life will never be able to become a True Knight. The zeal for self-renunciation, in the midst of this society of abundance, generous aid to the weak and those without protection, courageous struggle for justice and peace are the characteristic virtues of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

The tie with Jerusalem which is manifested in the Order and exacts responsibility for the Holy Places orients our desires toward the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4.26)

The Holy Sepulchre is the symbol of the Passion shared with Jesus and also our hope in the Resurrection (Phil. 3.10.)

The Cross which we wear is not just jewellery but a testimony of our submission to the Cross of Christ. The form of the Cross which is the symbol of the Order brings to our minds the five wounds of our Lord as well as the suffering in the Holy Land with the loss of its own blood.

"The Pilgrim Shell" reminds us of the reality that we are all pilgrims on this earth, and recalls also our pledge to aid the needy.

Exemplary moral conduct and true Christian feeling are the prime requisites for admission to the Order. The practice of Christian faith must be shown in the heart of one's family, at work, in obedience to the Holy Father, and in involvement in Christian activities both in one's own parish and in one's Diocese.

This distinction of the affiliation with the Order requires of its members:

• Religious devotion.
• Participation in the activities of the Church.
• A lay apostolate, placed at the service of the Church.
• Diligence of the ecumenical spirit, above all by means of active interest in the well-recognized problems in Palestine.

The characteristic feature of the Order consists of its pledge to the Holy Places of Jerusalem and its obligations toward the Church in Palestine. It is not possible to stress sufficiently that the charitable work of the Order must have its roots in the spirituality of its members.