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:

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‘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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