View source for Irish Crown Jewels

{{Short description|State Jewels of Ireland}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}

[[Image:Irishcrownjewels.jpg|thumb|250px|Image of the Irish Crown Jewels, as published by the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] and the [[Dublin Metropolitan Police]] twice a week after the theft of the items was discovered in July 1907]]

The '''Jewels of the Order of St Patrick''', commonly called the '''Irish Crown Jewels''', were the heavily jewelled badge and star created in 1831 for the Grand Master of the [[Order of St Patrick]], an [[order of knighthood]] established in 1783 by [[George III]] to be an Irish equivalent of the English [[Order of the Garter]] and the Scottish [[Order of the Thistle]]. The office of Grand Master was held by the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]].

The jewels were stolen from [[Dublin Castle]] in 1907, along with the [[Collar (order)|collars]] of five knights of the order. The theft has never been solved, and the items have never been recovered.<ref name="AO">{{cite web |last1=Nosowitz |first1=Dan |title=The Greatest Unsolved Heist in Irish History |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/irish-crown-jewels-theft |website=Atlas Obscura – Stories |publisher=Atlas Obscura |access-date=5 November 2021 |date=4 November 2021}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Lord Dudley, Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick.jpg|thumb|right|The [[William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley|Earl of Dudley]] as Viceroy of Ireland and Grand Master of the Order of St Patrick]]
[[File:The 6th Marquess of Londonderry as viceroy of Ireland.jpg|thumb|The [[Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry|Marquess of Londonderry]] as Viceroy and Grand Master]]
The original regalia of the Grand Master were only slightly more opulent than the insignia of an ordinary member of the order; the king's 1783 ordinance said they were to be "of the same materials and fashion as those of Our Knights, save only those alterations which befit Our dignity".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9rFXAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA46 ''Statutes and Ordinances'' 1852, pp.46–47]</ref> The regalia were replaced in 1831 by new ones presented by [[William IV]] as part of a revision of the order's structure. They were delivered from London to Dublin on 15 March by the [[William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll|Earl of Erroll]] in a mahogany box together with a document titled "A Description of the Jewels of the Order of St. Patrick, made by command of His Majesty King William the Fourth, for the use of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and which are Crown Jewels."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9rFXAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA104 ''Statutes and Ordinances'' 1852, pp.104–105]</ref> They contained 394 precious stones taken from the [[English Crown Jewels]] of [[Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Queen Charlotte]] and the [[Order of the Bath]] star of her husband George III.<ref name="Riordan2001">{{cite journal|last=O'Riordan|first=Tomás|date=Winter 2001|title=The Theft of the Irish Crown Jewels, 1907|journal=History Ireland|volume=9|issue=4|url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/the-theft-of-the-irish-crown-jewels-1907/}}</ref> The jewels were assembled by [[Rundell & Bridge]]. On the badge, of [[St Patrick's blue]] enamel, the green [[shamrock]] was of [[emerald]]s and the red [[Saint Patrick's Saltire|saltire]] of [[ruby|rubies]]; the motto of the order was in [[Diamond color|pink diamond]]s and the encrustation was of Brazilian diamonds of the [[first water]].<ref name="Riordan2001"/><ref name="nationalarchives">{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%E2%80%9Ccrown-jewels%E2%80%9D-2007/ |title=The Theft of the Irish 'Crown Jewels' |work=Online exhibitions |date=2007 |access-date=15 June 2013 |publisher=[[National Archives of Ireland]] |location=Dublin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511165435/http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%E2%80%9Ccrown-jewels%E2%80%9D-2007/ |archive-date=11 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Notices issued after the theft described the jewels thus:
{{Blockquote
| A Diamond Star of the Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick composed of [[Brilliant (diamond cut)|brilliants]] (Brazilian stones) of the [[First water|purest water]], {{fraction|4|5|8}} by {{fraction|4|1|4}} inches, consisting of eight points, four greater and four lesser, issuing from a centre enclosing a cross of rubies and a [[trefoil]] of emeralds surrounding a sky blue enamel circle with words, "[[Quis Separabit]] [[1783|MDCCLXXXIII]]." in rose diamonds engraved on back. Value about £14,000. ({{Inflation|UK|14000|1907|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%E2%80%9Ccrown-jewels%E2%80%9D-2007/photo-gallery/dmp/ |title=DMP – poster 1 |year=2007 |orig-date=Original date 8 July 1907 |publisher=Dublin Metropolitan Police |access-date=15 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140206073814/http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%e2%80%9ccrown-jewels%e2%80%9d-2007/photo-gallery/dmp/ |archive-date=6 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
}}
{{Blockquote
|A Diamond Badge of the Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick set in silver containing a trefoil in emeralds on a ruby cross surrounded by a sky blue enamelled circle with "Quis Separabit MDCCLXXXIII." in rose diamonds surrounded by a wreath of trefoils in emeralds, the whole enclosed by a circle of large single Brazilian stones of the finest water, surmounted by a crowned harp in diamonds and loop, also in Brazilian stones. Total size of oval 3 by {{fraction|2|3|8}} inches; height {{fraction|5|5|8}} inches. Value £16,000. ({{Inflation|UK|16000|1907|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%E2%80%9Ccrown-jewels%E2%80%9D-2007/photo-gallery/dmp2/ |title=DMP – poster 2 |year=2007 |orig-date=Original date 8 July 1907 |publisher=Dublin Metropolitan Police |access-date=15 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019194512/http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%e2%80%9ccrown-jewels%e2%80%9d-2007/photo-gallery/dmp2/ |archive-date=19 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
}}

When not being worn or cleaned, the insignia of the Grand Master and those of deceased knights were in the custody of the [[Ulster King of Arms]], the senior Irish [[officer of arms|herald]], and kept in a [[bank vault]].<ref name="dublincastle">{{cite web|url=http://www.dublincastle.ie/HistoryEducation/History/Chapter12TheIllustriousOrderofStPatrick/|title=Chapter 12: The Illustrious Order of St. Patrick|work=History of Dublin Castle|publisher=[[Office of Public Works]]|access-date=14 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511112016/http://www.dublincastle.ie/HistoryEducation/History/Chapter12TheIllustriousOrderofStPatrick/|archive-date=11 May 2013}}</ref> The description "Crown Jewels" was officially applied to the star and badge regalia in a 1905 revision of the order's statutes.  The label "Irish Crown Jewels" was publicised by newspapers after their theft.<ref name="Galloway1983">{{cite book |last=Galloway |first=Peter |title=The Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick: 1783 – 1983 |year=1983 |publisher=Phillimore |isbn=9780850335088}}</ref>

==Theft==
[[File:Arthur Vicars.jpg|thumb|right|Sir Arthur Vicars]]
In 1903, the Office of Arms, the Ulster King of Arms's office within the [[Dublin Castle]] complex, was transferred from the Bermingham Tower to the Bedford or Clock Tower. The jewels were transferred to a new [[safe]], which was to be placed in the newly constructed [[strongroom]]. The new safe was too large for the doorway to the strongroom, and [[Sir Arthur Vicars]], the Ulster King of Arms, instead had it placed in his library.<ref name="AO"/> Seven latch keys to the door of the Office of Arms were held by Vicars and his staff, and two keys to the safe containing the regalia were both in the custody of Vicars. Vicars was known to get drunk on overnight duty and he once awoke to find the jewels around his neck. It is not known whether this was a prank or practice for the actual theft.

The regalia were last worn by the Lord Lieutenant, the [[John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair|Earl of Aberdeen]], on 15 March 1907, at a function to mark [[Saint Patrick's Day]]. They were last known to be in the safe on 11 June, when Vicars showed them to a visitor to his office. The jewels were discovered to be missing on 6 July 1907, four days before the start of a visit by King [[Edward VII]] and [[Alexandra of Denmark|Queen Alexandra]] to the [[Irish International Exhibition]]; [[Bernard FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Castletown|Lord Castletown]] was set to be invested into the order during the visit. The theft is reported to have angered the king, but the visit went ahead.<ref>Legge 1913, p.55</ref> However, the investiture ceremony was cancelled.<ref name="dublincastle" /> Some family jewels inherited by Vicars and valued at £1,500 ({{Inflation|UK|1500|1907|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}} were also stolen,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=The mystery of the missing Crown Jewels |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/the-mystery-of-the-missing-crown-jewels-1.1055099 |newspaper=The Irish Times  |date=26 March 2002|access-date=2 March 2021}}</ref> along with the [[Collar (Order of Knighthood)|collar]]s of five members of the order: four living (the [[James Edward William Theobald Butler, 3rd Marquess of Ormonde|Marquess of Ormonde]] and the Earls of [[William Ulick Tristram St Lawrence, 4th Earl of Howth|Howth]], [[Lowry Cole, 4th Earl of Enniskillen|Enniskillen]], and [[Dermot Bourke, 7th Earl of Mayo|Mayo]]) and one deceased (the [[Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork|Earl of Cork]]).<ref name="csorp18119"/> These were valued at £1,050 ({{Inflation|UK|1050|1907|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}){{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%E2%80%9Ccrown-jewels%E2%80%9D-2007/photo-gallery/dmp3/|title=DMP – poster 3|year=2007|orig-date=Original date 8 July 1907 |publisher=National Archives of Ireland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019201511/http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%e2%80%9ccrown-jewels%e2%80%9d-2007/photo-gallery/dmp3/|archive-date=19 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Investigation===
[[File: Irish Crown Jewels.jpg|thumb|right|Dublin Police notice of theft of crown jewels]]
A police investigation was conducted by the [[Dublin Metropolitan Police]].<ref name="csorp18119">{{cite report|url=http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%E2%80%9Ccrown-jewels%E2%80%9D-2007/photo-gallery/8-a/|title=Superintendent John Lowe's report – page 1|id=CSORP/1913/18119 – page 1|publisher=National Archives of Ireland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019202215/http://www.nationalarchives.ie/digital-resources/online-exhibitions/the-theft-of-the-irish-%e2%80%9ccrown-jewels%e2%80%9d-2007/photo-gallery/8-a/|archive-date=19 October 2013|url-status=dead}} With links to subsequent pages.</ref> Posters issued by the force depicted and described the missing jewels. Detective Chief Inspector John Kane of [[Scotland Yard]] arrived on 12 July to assist.<ref name="nationalarchives"/> His report, never released, is said to have named the culprit and to have been suppressed by the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]].<ref name="nationalarchives"/> Vicars refused to resign his position, and similarly refused to appear at a Viceregal Commission under Judge [[James Johnston Shaw]] into the theft held from 10 January 1908. Vicars argued for a public [[Royal Commission]] instead, which would have had power to [[subpoena]] [[witness]]es.<ref name="AO"/> He publicly accused his second in command, Francis (Frank) Shackleton, Dublin Herald of Arms, of the theft. Kane explicitly denied to the Commission that Shackleton, brother of the explorer [[Ernest Shackleton]], was involved. Shackleton was exonerated in the commission's report, and Vicars was found to have "not exercise[d] due vigilance or proper care as the custodian of the regalia." Vicars was compelled to resign, as were all the staff in his personal employ.

===Rumours and theories===
In 1908, the Irish journalist [[Bulmer Hobson]] published an account of the theft in a radical American newspaper, ''The Gaelic American'', using information he had received from Vicars' half-brother [[Pierce Charles de Lacy O'Mahony|Pierce O'Mahony]]. It stated that the culprits were Shackleton and a military officer, [[Richard William Howard Gorges|Richard Gorges]]. The two men allegedly obtained access to the safe by plying Vicars with whiskey until he fell unconscious, at which point they removed the key from his pocket. Once the jewels had been extricated, Shackleton transported them to [[Amsterdam]], where he sold them for £20,000. Hobson claimed that the men escaped prosecution due to Shackleton threatening to expose the "discreditable doings" of various high-ranking personages with whom he was acquainted. Hobson repeated the allegations in a formal statement to officials in 1955, and in his autobiography.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Ireland Yesterday and Tomorrow|last = Hobson|first = Bulmer|publisher = Tralee|year = 1968 |pages=85–88}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1089.pdf|title=W.S. 1089: Statement of Mr. Bulmer Hobson|date=1955|publisher=Irish Military Archives|access-date=10 December 2023}}</ref>

Officials were aware of the homosexuality of Shackleton, Gorges, and Vicars<ref>Cafferky, John; Hannafin, Kevin, ''Scandal & Betrayal: Shackleton and the Irish Crown Jewels'', pp72, 225, passim.</ref> and the claim that the investigation was compromised to avoid a greater scandal, such as the [[John Saul (prostitute)|Dublin Castle homosexual scandals of 1884]], was also made by Vicars, including in his will. The Lord Lieutenant's son, Lord Haddo, had been a participant in the parties at the castle, and King Edward VII's allegedly bisexual brother-in-law the [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|Duke of Argyll]] was known to Frank Shackleton, through a friendship with the prominent social figure [[Lord Ronald Gower]].<ref>Jordaan, Peter, ''A Secret Between Gentlemen (vol 1): Lord Battersea's Hidden Scandal And The Lives It Changed Forever'', Alchemie Books 2023, p663</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = Princes Under The Volcano|last = Trevelyan|first = Raleigh|publisher = William Morrow & Company|year = 1978|pages = 337–8}}</ref>

Of the persons alleged to be involved in the theft:
* Sir Arthur Vicars was killed by the [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|IRA]] in [[County Kerry]] in April 1921.
* Frank Shackleton defrauded [[Lord Ronald Gower]] of his fortune between 1910 and 1913. Shackleton was eventually prosecuted and imprisoned, but only for defrauding a spinster friend of Gower, even though it was for a far smaller sum. It has been surmised this legal oddity was due to the British Government's desire not to provoke Shackleton unduly, or probe Gower, over fear prominent names might be voiced.<ref>Jordaan, Peter, ''A Secret Between Gentlemen: Suspects, Strays and Guests'', Alchemie Books 2023, p92.</ref> Upon release from prison, Shackleton changed his name to Mellor and became an antiques dealer in [[Chichester]], England, until his death on 24 June 1941, aged 64.
* Richard Gorges shot and killed Detective Constable Arthur Young July 14 1915, and served 10 years of a 12-year sentence. In May 1941, Gorges was arrested and again sent to [[gaol]] for obtaining clothes from [[Simpsons of Piccadilly]] with a worthless cheque. In January 1944 he was killed after being run over by a train in the [[London Underground]].

Only a short time after the theft, accusations began to be made, most especially by overseas press, that proper investigation of the theft was being suppressed by the British Government to protect prominent names. This led to such claims regularly being made in Parliament by Irish MPs for several years.<ref>Jordaan, Peter, ''A Secret Between Gentlemen: Lord Battersea's Hidden Scandal And The Lives It Changed Forever'', Alchemie Books, 2023, pp 636–672.</ref>

There was a theory that the jewels were stolen by political activists who were in the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]].<ref name="Riordan2001" /> In the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in August 1907, [[Pat O'Brien (Irish politician)|Pat O'Brien]], [[Members of Parliament|MP]], blamed "loyal and patriotic [[Unionism in Ireland|Unionist]] criminals".<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1907/aug/13/the-theft-of-the-irish-crown-jewels HC Deb 13 August 1907 vol 180 cc1065-6]</ref> [[George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair|Lord Haddo]], the son of the Lord Lieutenant, was alleged by some newspapers to have been involved in the theft;<ref>Legge 1913, pp. xv, 62–63</ref> [[Augustine Birrell]], the [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]], stated in the Commons that Haddo had been in [[Great Britain]] throughout the time period within which the theft took place.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1908/apr/01/the-theft-of-the-dublin-crown-jewels HC Deb 01 April 1908 vol 187 cc509-10]</ref> In 1912 and 1913, [[Laurence Ginnell]] suggested that the police investigation had established the identity of the thief, that his report had been suppressed to avoid scandal,<ref name="hc1913v47c1189">[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1913/jan/28/crown-jewels-ireland HC Deb 28 January 1913 vol 47 cc1189-90]</ref> and that the jewels were "at present within the reach of the Irish Government awaiting the invention of some plausible method of restoring them without getting entangled in the Criminal Law".<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1913/jan/23/crown-jewels-ireland HC Deb 23 January 1913 vol 47 cc589-90]</ref> In an [[adjournment debate]] in 1912 he alleged:<ref name="hc1912v44c2751">[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1912/dec/06/irish-crown-jewels HC Deb 06 December 1912 vol 44 cc2751-2]</ref>

{{blockquote|The proposition I ask to be allowed to make is this: The police charged with collecting evidence in connection with the disappearance of the Crown Jewels from Dublin Castle in 1907 collected evidence inseparable from it of criminal debauchery and [[sodomy]] being committed in the castle by officials, Army officers, and a couple of nondescripts of such position that their conviction and exposure would have led to an upheaval from which the Chief Secretary shrank. In order to prevent that he suspended the operation of the Criminal Law, and appointed a whitewashing commission with the result for which it was appointed.}}

His speech was curtailed when a [[quorum]] of forty MPs was not present in the chamber.<ref name="hc1912v44c2751" /> He elaborated the following week on the alleged depravity of "two of the characters", namely army captain [[Richard William Howard Gorges|Richard Gorges]] ("a reckless bully, a robber, a murderer, a bugger, and a sod") and Shackleton ("One of [Gorges'] chums in the castle, and a participant in the debauchery").<ref name="hc19121220"/> Birrell denied any cover-up and urged Ginnell to give to the police any evidence he had relating to the theft or any sexual crime.<ref name="hc19121220">[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1912/dec/20/crown-jewels-dublin HC Deb 20 December 1912 vol 45 cc1955-62]</ref> [[Walter Vavasour Faber]] also asked about a cover-up;<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1913/feb/13/crown-jewels-dublin HC Deb 13 February 1913 vol 48 cc1159-61]</ref> Edward Legge supported this theory.<ref>Legge 1913, pp. 64–65</ref>

On 23 November 1912, the ''London Mail'' alleged that Vicars had allowed a woman reported to be his mistress to obtain a copy of the key to the safe and that she had fled to Paris with the jewels. In July 1913, Vicars sued the paper for [[libel]]; it admitted that the story was completely baseless and that the woman in question did not exist; Vicars was awarded [[damages]] of £5,000.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Irish Crown Jewels|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=MEX19130829.2.25|access-date=29 August 2015|volume=XLVII|issue=20|publisher=Marlborough Express|date=29 August 1913}}</ref> Vicars left nothing in his will to his half-brother Pierce O'Mahony, on the grounds that O'Mahony had repudiated a promise to recompense Vicars for the loss of income caused by his resignation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/crown_jewels/VicarsWill/1/will.html|title=Will of Sir Arthur Vicars|publisher=National Archives of Ireland, Principal Registry|page=4|date=20 March 1922}}</ref>

After Frank Shackleton was imprisoned in 1914 for passing a [[cheque]] stolen from a spinster,<ref name="dublincastle" /><ref name="paperspast_AS19130308">{{cite news|url=http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AS19130308.2.108.5&dliv=&e=--1913---1914--10--1-byDA---0surrey+shipping+arrivals--|title=The Case of Francis Shackleton|date=8 March 1913|work=Auckland Star|page=13|access-date=14 June 2013}}</ref> [[Edward Turnour, 6th Earl Winterton|Earl Winterton]] asked for the [[judicial inquiry]] demanded by Vicars.<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1914/feb/19/crown-jewels-dublin HC Deb 19 February 1914 vol 58 cc1113-4]</ref>

A 1927 memo of the [[Executive Council of the Irish Free State]], released in the 1970s, stated that [[W. T. Cosgrave]] "understands that the Castle jewels are for sale and that they could be got for £2,000 or £3,000."<ref name="Riordan2001" /> However, it has been suggested that this is a misunderstanding, the memorandum having resulted from a communication to Cosgrave from a Dublin jeweller, James Weldon, who had been theoretically offered the jewels by a man fitting the description of Frank Shackleton, but in 1908.<ref name="Miles Dungan 2002, p61">Miles Dungan, 'A Gem Of A Robbery', ''Sunday Tribune'', 14 April 2002, p61</ref>
[[File:Captain Gorges.JPG|thumb|Captain Richard Howard Gorges at his trial 1915]]

In 1965, ''Vicious Circle: The Case of the Missing Irish Crown Jewels'' was published. While not ascribing definitive responsibility for the theft,<ref name="Miles Dungan 2002, p61"/> it was the most detailed account to that date. In 2002, another published account, ''Scandal & Betrayal: Shackleton And The Irish Crown Jewels'' suggested the theft was a Unionist plot to embarrass [[Liberal Government 1905–1915|the Liberal government]]. A reviewer called it "speculation and allegation dressed up as history".<ref name="Miles Dungan 2002, p61"/> A 2003 study, ''The Stealing Of The Irish Crown Jewels'', stated that while Shackleton and Gorges may have been shielded from prosecution due to fears they would expose homosexuality in prominent figures, this was only speculation, and the police may simply not have had enough evidence against them.<ref>Dungan, Myes, ''The Stealing Of The Irish Crown Jewels - an unsolved crime,'', Town House, Dublin 2003, p342</ref> In 2023, ''A Secret Between Gentlemen'' further detailed the British Government's suppression of the case, and its hesitancy in prosecuting Shackleton in 1913 over his defrauding of Gower's fortune.<ref>Jordaan, Peter, ''A Secret Between Gentlemen'', Alchemie Books, 2023, Vol 1, pp636-672; Vol 2, pp84-92</ref> It served to strengthen Bulmer Hobson's allegation over the reason for the Government's behaviour in 1908.

Folklore within the [[Genealogical Office]] of the [[Republic of Ireland]], the successor to the Office of Arms, was that the jewels were never removed from the Clock Tower, but were merely hidden. In 1983, when the Genealogical Office vacated its structurally unsound premises inside the Clock Tower, Donal Begley, the then-[[Chief Herald of Ireland]] supervised the removal of walls and floorboards, in case the jewels were found, but they were not.<ref>Hood 2002 pp.232–233</ref>

===Fictional accounts===
A 1967 book suggests that the 1908 [[Sherlock Holmes]] story "[[The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans]]" was inspired by the theft; author [[Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]] was a friend of Vicars, and the fictional Valentine Walters, who steals the Plans but is caught by Holmes, has similarities with Francis Shackleton.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bamford |first1=Francis |last2=Bankes |first2=Viola |title=Vicious Circle: The Case of the Missing Irish Crown Jewels |url=https://archive.org/details/viciouscirclecas00bamf |url-access=registration |year=1967 |publisher=Horizon Press}}</ref>

''Jewels'', a Bob Perrin novel based on the theft, was published in 1977.<ref name="Perrin1977">{{cite book|last=Perrin|first=Robert|title=Jewels|year=1977|publisher=Pan Books|isbn=9780330255875}}</ref>

''The Case of the Crown Jewels'' by [[Donald Serrell Thomas]], a Sherlock Holmes story based on the theft, was published in 1997.

"The Crown Jewel Affair", a short story by [[Michael Scott (Irish author)|Michael Scott]], appeared in the 2016 anthology ''Echoes of Sherlock Holmes'', edited by [[Laurie R. King]] and [[Leslie S. Klinger]].

''Knave of Diamonds'', a [[Mary Russell (character)|Mary Russell]] novel by Laurie R. King, published in 2025, deals with the theft.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Hood |first1=Susan |title=Royal Roots, Republican Inheritance: The Survival of the Office of Arms |date=2002 |publisher=Woodfield Press in association with [[National Library of Ireland]] |location=Dublin |isbn=9780953429332 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title=Statutes and Ordinances of the Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick |date=1852 |publisher=George & John Grierson for [[Her Majesty's Stationery Office]] |location=Dublin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9rFXAAAAcAAJ |access-date=1 November 2019 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |last=Legge |first=Edward |title=More about King Edward |url=https://archive.org/details/moreaboutkingedw00leggrich |year=1913 |publisher=Small, Maynard |location=Boston}}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/op1255337-1001  |title=Report   |series=[[Command paper]]s |volume=Cd.3906 |access-date=31 October 2019 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |date=1908 |author=Viceregal Commission to investigate the circumstances of the loss of the regalia of the Order of Saint Patrick |publisher=HMSO }}
* {{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/op1255338-1001  |title=Appendix |series=[[Command paper]]s |volume=Cd.3936 |access-date=31 October 2019 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |date=1908 |author=Viceregal Commission to investigate the circumstances of the loss of the regalia of the Order of Saint Patrick |publisher=HMSO }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Bankes |first1=Viola |last2=Bamford |first2=Francis |title=Vicious Circle: The Case Of The Missing Irish Crown Jewels  |publisher=Max Parrish and Co. |place=London |date=1965 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Cafferky |first1=John |last2=Hannafin |first2=Kevin |title=Scandal & Betrayal: Shackleton And The Irish Crown Jewels  |publisher=The Collins Press |place=Cork |date=2002 |isbn=9781903464250}}
* {{cite book |last=Dungan |first=Myes |title=The Stealing Of The Irish Crown Jewels - an unsolved crime  |publisher=Town House |place=Dublin |date=2003 | isbn=9781860591822}}
* {{cite book |last=Jordaan |first=Peter |title=A Secret Between Gentlemen (vol 1): Lord Battersea's Hidden Scandal And The Lives It Changed Forever  |publisher=Alchemie Books |place=Sydney |date=2023 |isbn=9780645617870}} {{cite book |title=A Secret Between Gentlemen (vol 2): Suspects, Strays and Guests  |publisher=Alchemie Books |place=Sydney |date=2023 |isbn=9780645852745}}
* {{cite book |last=Galloway |first=Peter |title=The Most Illustrious Order: The Order of Saint Patrick and its Knights  |publisher=Unicorn Press |place=London |date=1999 |isbn=0-906290-23-6}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Irish Crown Jewels}}
* {{cite web |url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/irhismys/jewels.htm  |title=A Centenary Report on the Theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907 |work=Irish Historical Mysteries |first=Sean J |last=Murphy |date=29 April 2008 |publisher=Centre for Irish Genealogical and Historical Studies |location=Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland |access-date=14 June 2013 }}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/crown_jewels/  |title=The Theft of the Irish 'Crown Jewels' |work=Online exhibitions |date=2007 |access-date=1 November 2019 |publisher=[[National Archives of Ireland]] |location=Dublin}}

{{History of Dublin}}
{{Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom}}
{{Crown jewels by country}}

[[Category:1783 in Ireland]]
[[Category:1907 in Ireland]]
[[Category:Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Monarchy of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Monarchy of Ireland]]
[[Category:National symbols of Ireland]]
[[Category:Unsolved crimes in Ireland]]
[[Category:Individual thefts]]
[[Category:Robberies in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Jewel theft]]