The Honourable Mrs Aldworth, wearing masonic emblems, resting finger of left hand on an open Bible

Elizabeth Aldworth, née St Leger, the daughter of Lord Doneraile of Doneraile Court, Co. Cork, was the first and only woman to have been made a Freemason. This occurred when she mistakenly witnessed the initiation of a gentleman into the first steps of Masonry, being performed by her father and brothers. On being discovered by the butler it was decided that the only course of action for them to take would be to pass her through the same ceremonies which she had already in part witnessed