Come Here To Me!

The theft of the Irish Crown Jewels is a mystery that goes back over a century, and remains unsolved. The Jewels were not the equivalent of the English Crown Jewels, rather the insignia of the Order of St. Patrick, the British Order of Chivalry associated with Ireland and disappeared in June 1907.

Supposed to have been assembled from diamonds belonging to Queen Charlotte, they were presented to the Order by King William IV in 1831.The Order itself technically still exists, although there has not been a granting of Knighthood since 1936. The Queen remains the Sovereign of the Order, and the Ulster King of Arms, the position of the person entrusted with the safe keeping of the regalia, still exists today.

Taken from the National Archives, NAI CSORP/1913/18119

The Jewels, valued at $250, 000 in the clipping from the New York Times below, were stolen from a safe located in the Office of the Ulster King of Arms, in the shadow of the then Detective Headquarters in Dublin Castle. The theft occurred in 1907; they were last seen in the safe in which they were stored on June 11^th of that year, with the theft not discovered until the third of July, three weeks later. King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were due to arrive in Dublin for the International Exhibition and plans were afoot to knight Lord Castletown during their visit. The process would have required the regalia of the Order and was postponed as a result. Although the King is said to have been angered by the theft, the visit went ahead.

Blame for the theft of the Jewels has been laid on a number of suspects, with varying motives. A Viceregal investigation into the theft in early 1908 leaves no doubt that whether or not he stole the jewels, the blame for their theft lay with the then King of Arms, Arthur Vicars. Known to take the jewels from their safe on regular occasion, mainly when entertaining guests, he is said to have once awoken from a drunken slumber with them placed around his neck.

Investigation into the theft showed that their was no forced entry to the safe, and that it was open by a key, (two of which existed, both held by Vicars) or at the very least, a copy of one. On two occasions prior to the discovery of the theft, a maid had reported to Vicars that the door to his office, and indeed that of the strongroom were left unlocked. On both occasions, Vicars is alleged to have shrugged and failed to act on the information he received.

Taken from the New York Times archive

Another avenue of investigation pointed the finger at Vicars’ housemate at the time, Francis Shackleton, brother of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. Shackleton, who held office under Vicars’ is rumoured to have hosted parties in the office where the jewels were kept, and  an article in the Gaeilic American accused him of ‘nightly orgies.’ Although Shackleton wasn’t in the country at the time of the theft, this line suggests that he planned the robbery, which was then committed by an accomplice. Vicars’, in his last will and testament (having been shot by the IRA on 14th April 1921, accused of being an informer,) maintained his belief that it was Shackleton who stole the jewels saying:

I was made a scapegoat to save other departments responsible and when they shielded the real culprit and thief Francis R. Shackleton (brother of the explorer who didn’t reach the South Pole.)

Shackleton, as well as his brother Ernest were rumoured to be in great debt at the time of the robbery. Other theories suggest both that the Jewels were stolen by Unionists in order to derail Home Rule, and by Republicans in order to embarrass the occupying Crown Forces. What is known, however, is that the jewels were never found.

In September 1931, a note was received by the Irish Authorities, written on expensive notepaper, stating that the Crown Jewels would be returned in return for a ransom. Despite being widely reported in the media, nothing ever came of the investigation. One legend tells that the Jewels were stolen under order from King Edward VII and these were later fashioned into a brooch worn by Queen Elizabeth II. Even up to the 1980’s, investigations were ongoing, and a field was dug up in the Dublin mountains on the back of information received from an ex-Republican. Nothing was ever found.

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http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0910F9385A15738DDDA10894DF405B878CF1D3

http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/irhismys/jewels.htm

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LYsjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UowFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6913,886242&dq=crown+jewels+stolen+dublin+1907&hl=en

Robert Perrin, Jewels, London and Henley 1977, page 269.