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Every nation has its treasures,
but the Irish Crown Jewels met a mysterious fate.
by Michael Nash
Almost every nation
has its State treasures. They may be symbols of
national pride, such as Crown Jewels, or documents
that encapsulate national history, as with the
American Declaration of Independence. Some of these
treasures now reside in museums. Others, most
especially crowns and other royal regalia, are
regularly worn by heads of State. The regalia
variously referred to as the Irish Crown Jewels or the
State Jewels of Ireland, however, met a more unusual
and mysterious fate.
Properly called the jewels belonging to the Most
Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, they were created
to be presented to the National Order of Chivalry of
Ireland, the Order of Saint Patrick, for use by the
Viceroy or visiting Sovereigns. In 1830 the Crown
Jewellers, Rundell & Bridge, created the regalia
from jewels that had belonged to Queen Charlotte, the
consort of George III. These diamonds, rubies, and
other stones possibly included the rose diamond given
to the Queen by the Sultan of Turkey and the jewels
she received from Mogul Emperor Shah Alam.
The Honours of St. Patrick consisted of two
principal pieces--the star and the badge. The
eight-pointed star consisted mostly of Brazilian
diamonds. In the centre, a shamrock (or trefoil) of
emeralds shone from the heart of a ruby cross which
lay upon a background of blue enamel. Encircling this
central motif was the motto of the order, Quis
Separabit? (who can separate us?) and the date
MDCCLXXIII (1783) all in rose diamonds.
The badge was of similar splendour, with its
trefoil of emeralds on a ruby cross surrounded by a
blue enamel band bearing the motto and date in rose
diamonds, which was itself enclosed in an outer circle
of large Brazilian diamonds, the whole being
surrounded by a harp and loop framed in diamonds.
These creations joined some more traditional Irish
regalia--two silver maces and the Irish Sword of
State--which were carried before the Viceroy on State
occasions. All of these, with separate individual
collars and badges of members of the Order, were kept
in the strongroom of Dublin Castle under the custody
of the Ulster King of Arms, the Principal Herald of
Ireland, and his assistants.
British monarchs did not travel all that frequently
to Ireland. After King John, Richard II took an
interest in the Emerald Isle, visiting it twice. Then,
apart from the battles of the great rivals, uncle and
nephew James II and William III, the next State Visit
was that of George IV in 1821. The first monarch to
avail herself of the jewels created by Rundell &
Bridge was Queen Victoria, who came with Prince Albert
in 1849 and 1861. Thereafter, nearly 40 years passed
before the next royal visit--again by Victoria in
1900.
The jewels were also used on the occasion of the
investiture of the Prince of Wales, later to become
Edward VII, in the Order of St. Patrick in 1868. The
very next year the Church of Ireland was established,
and the religious ceremonies associated with such
investitures were thereafter curtailed. In 1903 King
Edward and Queen Alexandra made a formal visit to
Ireland, during which the jewels were used, and they
returned again informally in April 1904. During the
1903 visit the Ulster King of Arms, Sir Arthur Vicars,
was invested a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian
Order. He remained Ulster King of Arms (the principal
Herald in Ireland) from 1893 until 1908.
The routine, if relatively infrequent, appearances
of the Honours of St. Patrick came to an abrupt end,
however, in 1907, during a visit by King Edward and
Queen Alexandra. Prior to their arrival, for the
purpose of investing Lord Castletown with the Order of
St. Patrick, it was discovered that the jewels had
been stolen. The King became apoplectic with rage when
he found out that not only had they been stolen, but
they had apparently been missing for at least a month.
The jewels themselves were estimated to be worth
about £40,000 in 1907, but of course their symbolic
value was much greater. The public amazement over the
theft was nothing compared with the official
consternation. Nothing quite like it had happened
since Colonel Blood made off with the English Crown
Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671. From the very
beginning, the Vice-Regal Commission which
investigated the theft suspected that that it was an
inside job, because both the Irish police force and
the detective staff had their headquarters in Dublin
Castle. Arthur Vicars, who denied all complicity, was
made the official scapegoat, and was compelled to
resign in 1908.
The report stated that those concerned had showed
"a strange want of a sense of responsibility and
in fact deliberate carelessness not only for failing
to ensure that the priceless crown jewels were kept in
a suitably fitted strong room, but also because after
the jewels had disappeared there was a strange delay
in reporting their circumstances." The use of the
word "strange" in the report hardly seems
adequate to describe the unusual circumstances
surrounding the whole affair. Not only did it appear
that the theft had been an inside job, but also that
there was almost certainly an official cover-up
regarding the real culprit and the fate of the jewels.
State jewels had been stolen before, only to be
recovered, so for some time there was hope, even
expectation, that the Irish Crown Jewels would
reappear and the thieves be identified. But this never
happened, at least not formally. The unsolved mystery
coloured the King's personal attitude to Ireland for
the brief remainder of his reign. Finally, he
abandoned the investigation, disgusted, it is said,
with the inept detective system of Dublin.
Philip Magnus, writing about the theft in 1964,
noted that King Edward, though he remained profoundly
dissatisfied, was also thankful that worse scandal had
been avoided. What was this "worse scandal"?
Did King Edward actually know the identity of the
thief? There seems no doubt that the Official Report
was tampered with, for it contains significant
omissions.
Rumours persisted that the thief was a highly
placed person. Vicars' three assistants, all of whom
resigned, were: Pierce Mahony (the son of Vicars'
half-brother and therefore his own nephew) whom he had
made Cork Herald; Francis Bennett-Goldney, and Francis
or Frank Shackleton.
The last of these seems the most likely culprit.
Brother of the famed Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest
Shackleton, Frank Shackleton was a charismatic
personality who lived by his wits and his charm,
ingratiating himself into the highest social circles.
But his real friends were not of the type "to
inspire confidence among the police or the
public." Frank Shackleton was a practising
homosexual at a time when such behaviour almost
frequently led to secrecy and blackmail. (There is
strong circumstantial evidence that all four of the
heralds indulged in "scandalous
stag-parties.") The consequent nervousness in
royal circles was understandable--one of the
associates and confidantes of Frank Shackleton was
none other than the Duke of Argyll, who was the King's
own brother-in-law. Shackleton was also in severe
financial difficulties.
While attending a luncheon party on 4th
July, 1907, Shackleton remarked that he would not be
at all surprised to learn that the Irish Crown Jewels
would one day be stolen. Two days later, the theft was
discovered.
Each of the heralds ultimately met with unpleasant,
and, in most cases, highly suspicious ends. Pierce
Mahony died in 1914, victim of what has been described
as "a very peculiar shooting accident."
Francis Bennett-Goldney died as the result of a motor
accident in 1918. Sir Arthur Vicars was assassinated
in 1921.
The prime suspect, Frank Shackleton, met with a
less dramatic, although no less disagreeable, fate.
Just two days after the death of King Edward in 1910,
Shackleton came to financial grief when one of the
companies in which he was involved failed. Three years
later, he was declared bankrupt and was imprisoned for
fraud. After his release he lived under a pseudonym
and died in obscurity in the inter-war years, exactly
when and where, like the rest of his life, being
shrouded in uncertainty.
No trace has ever been found of the Grand Master's
Diamond Star and Badge, the fine gold collars, or the
Mahoney family diamonds which Vicars also had in his
custody. In 1976, a file of the Irish government that
was opened to the public for the first time contained
the following intriguing memorandum, dated 1927:
'The President would not like them [the jewels] to
be used as a means of reviving the Order [of St.
Patrick] or to pass into any hands other than those of
the State . . . He understands that the Castle Jewels
are for sale and that they could be got for £2,000 or
£3,000. He would be prepared to recommend their
purchase for the same reason.'
The memorandum is signed by the Assistant Secretary
of the Executive Council, Michael McDunphy, and the
President referred to is William Cosgrave, President
of the Executive Council and Prime Minister of the
Irish State from 1922 to 1932.
This revelation opens up the tantalizing prospect
that the Irish Crown Jewels were still in existence in
1927 and may still exist today. Stories abound that
the jewels have found their way into private
collections in the United States--not unlikely in the
light of transatlantic traffic in such objects, both
legal and illegal.
Some have also suggested that the Irish Republican
Brotherhood, the forerunners of the IRA, engineered
the robbery as a political embarrassment to the
English. But this is purely speculation, and it seems
unlikely that, having successfully pulled off such a
coup, the Brotherhood would have kept it a secret.
On 10th July, 1982, the Irish Times
ran an article titled "The Theft of the Irish
Crown Jewels," which added some interesting facts
and speculation to the debate. The article mentions
that Lord Haddo, the son of the Viceroy, Lord
Aberdeen, was a frequent visitor to the Castle, and
quite possibly took part in the heralds' "nightly
orgies." He allegedly "stole" the
jewels on a previous occasion as a practical joke
against the easily intoxicated Vicars, although he
later returned them. The incident, apparently, did
nothing to persuade Vicars of the need for better
security.
The Irish Times article says that after the
theft, Shackleton and an accomplice, Captain Richard
Gorges, with whom he had served in the army in South
Africa, may have sold the jewels to a Dutch pawnbroker
for £5,000. It is also possible that, given their
association with people close to the throne,
Shackleton and Gorges were allowed to enjoy the
benefits of their crime as the price of their silence.
Interest in the theft continued. On 29th September,
1983, the Irish Times announced that the hunt
for the jewels was being renewed. The report claimed
that Irish detectives had been tipped off about the
possible whereabouts of the regalia by a man who
claimed that his family had been entrusted with this
secret. A spokesman for the Garda Siochana, the
Republican police force, said the man had provided
detailed information and that his claims were being
taken seriously. A huge search employing dogs and
sophisticated metal detectors began in the foothills
of the Dublin Mountains, some miles outside the city.
Its precise location was kept secret, as was the
identity of the informant. Unfortunately, nothing came
of the effort.
Should the jewels ever be found again, questions of
ownership would inevitably arise. Possible claims of
the British Government may have to be set against
those of the National Museum of Ireland, to say
nothing of the Ulster Museum. Who is the legal
successor to the Government of Ireland in 1907, when
the jewels were stolen and Edward VII was sovereign?
In name, at least, successive English kings
remained Head of State in Ireland until 1937. King
George V was the last sovereign to visit Dublin in
state, which he did with Queen Mary in 1911.
Interestingly, he himself wanted to continue the quest
for the stolen jewels, but he found that his father,
Edward VII, had issued a royal directive to Lord
Aberdeen that Vicars and his heralds were to be
dismissed from their offices, and a lid be placed on
the whole affair of the missing Crown Jewels to
prevent further scandal. Edward had since passed from
the scene, but the dictum he had imposed upon the
Government in Ireland continued to ensure that the
authorities officially ignored the case of the missing
jewels.
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