The mysterious disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels

ST Patrick’s Hall in Dublin Castle has been the scene of many great State occasions in the recent past. It was the ceremonial home of the Order of St Patrick and when  the State was founded, the banners of living Knights were removed but were replaced when the hall was redecorated in 1962. After 1921, the new Irish government declined to appoint any members and there are no living members of the Order. The British Monarch is Sovereign of the Order so when Queen Elizabeth II visited Dublin Castle she was probably the first person associated with the Order to visit its ceremonial home in over 100 years.

Set up in 1783, the Order of St Patrick was limited to 22 Knights, nominated by existing members and appointed by the Sovereign. It is the third most senior of the British Orders of Chivalry. It is outranked by the Order of the Garter, confined to England and the Noble Order of the Thistle, confined to Scotland. The regalia of the Order consisted of a Star and Badge. Presented to the Order by King William VI in 1831, they were known as the Irish Crown Jewels and consisted of rubies, emeralds and diamonds mounted in sliver. The Star and Badge were to be kept in a safe in Dublin Castle and were worn on state occasions. They were used on four occasions by Queen Victoria, by King Edward VII in 1903 and were due to be used again by Edward on his visit in July 1907.
The jewels were stored in a safe in the office of the King of Arms, Sir Arthur Vicars. When the safe was opened on the afternoon of July 6, the jewels were found to be missing. There had been a number of keys to the office but only two keys to the safe and both of those were held by Vicars. The police were called and when experts examined the safe they announced the lock had not been tampered with but rather had been opened with a key. Suspicion immediately fell on Vicars and at the Kings insistence, he was removed from office. Vicars always protested his innocence and suspicion also fell on one of his assistants, Francis Shackelton, brother of the explorer who, at that same time, was preparing for his Antarctic expedition. Allegedly the police knew the identity of the culprits but lacked proof. They supposedly satisfied themselves by ordering Shackelton to leave the country.
The full details were never known and the disappearance remains one of the great mysteries of the last century. As with any good mystery there are conspiracy theories. Shackelton the explorer was a personal friend of the King and there were suggestions that Vicars was made a scapegoat to prevent shame falling on the Shackelton name. There is supposed to be a gap in the King of Arms correspondence around this time and also that eight Home Office files dealing with the theft were destroyed.
They may have been sold to a Dutch pawnbroker, might have been buried outside of Dublin or maybe even offered for sale to the new government in 1927. Whatever happened, the Irish Crown Jewels have not been seen since they were reported missing on July 6, 1907 – 105 years ago this week.