On the afternoon of July 6 , 1907 , an office courier atDublin Castlemade an unsettling breakthrough in one of the internet site ’s towers . He had been instructed to posit a horse ’s gold apprehension inside a secure containing the Irish Crown Jewels , a collection of dazzling insignia . But when the courier , William Stivey , went to start the door of the safe , he find it was already unbolted .
Stivey rushed to inform Sir Arthur Vicars , who presided over the Office of Arms , a small bureau that , among other duties , was responsible for the sustentation of the precious stone . Vicars possessed the only two keys to the safe . One , which he had temporarily give to Stivey , wasnormally kept in his pocketor on a chain of mountains around his cervix . The other was hidden at his house in Dublin . Vicars enjoin Stivey that he was certain he had interlock the safe after last open it . He race to the office ’s program library , where the dependable was located , and peer inside . The Crown Jewels — along withhis own mother ’s baseball field , which he had stashed in the good — were gone .
The steal jewel have never been found , and their disappearance remains one ofIreland ’s most tantalizing mysteries . In the months follow thetheft , astonishing revelations emerged about surety severance at Dublin Castle and shifty characters with links to the Office of Arms . The British king was accused of covering up detail of the crime . The brother of a famous explorer was named as a suspect . And at the heart of the scandal were salacious allegations — first whisper , then shouted — about a orphic , gay political party panorama within the castle rampart .
“ There is more to play for here than just the theft of the jewels,”Myles Dungan , generator ofThe Stealing of the Irish Crown Jewels : An Unsolved Crime , tells Mental Floss . “ There are repute at risk . ”
A Reward for Loyalty to the Crown
A grand complex in the center of the city , Dublin Castle was , for some 700 year , the seat of English and British principle in Ireland . The turn of the twentieth one C was a relatively “ quiescent ” geological period in Irish history , according to Dungan , but the push for an independent domestic government wasunderway , set nationalists in opponent tounionistsloyal to the Crown . It was against this simmering political mood that the gem — an long-suffering symbol of compound rule in Ireland — disappeared from the castle .
Unlike their English twin , the Irish Crown Jewels were not used in coronations , but were alternatively the insignia of the Order of St. Patrick , founded in 1783toreward Irish nobles and office - holderswith prestigious knighthood . The jewels comprised several horse ’ collars and a wizard and badge adorned with Brazilian diamonds , shamrocks made of emerald , and crimson crown of thorns . In 1907 , the jewels werevaluedat more than £ 30,000 ; today , according toDublin Castle , they would be deserving “ several million euro . ”
vicar , who held the centuries - sure-enough title “ Ulster King of coat of arms , ” was in the first place responsible for tracing aristocratic genealogies and superintend heraldry in Ireland . A donnish fellow , he relished this niche body of work , but was less enthused about caring for the Crown Jewels — another important part of his caper . He was at time bewilderingly high-handed about the insignia ’s security system , an attitude that would come to frequent him until the last of his life sentence .
An Inside Job?
The trouble arguably started when the Office of limb moved to Modern accommodations in Dublin Castle ’s Bedford Tower . A strong elbow room was built to domiciliate the Crown Jewels , but in a ridiculous bout of events , prole found that the safe holding the insignia did n’t meet through the door . In consultation with the castle ’s Board of Works , Vicars decide to put the secure in the subroutine library , a high - dealings space that also run as the Office of Arms ’s waiting elbow room . He never set out around to acquiring a small safe , even after revising the Order ’s legislative act to specify that the gem should be relocated to the strong elbow room .
The insignia were last seen on June 11 , 1907 , when Vicars took them out of the safe to show them to a visitor . Then came a series of alarming incidents that pointed to nefarious goings - on at the Office of Arms .
On June 28 , Vicars ’s key to the front room access of the tower went missing ; it wouldreappeartwo years after the theft was discovered . On the daybreak of July 3 , the position cleaner , Mrs. Farrell , go far at employment to see the door already unlocked . “ Did she ? ” Vicars reportedlyrespondedupon being inform of this concerning growing . He similarly failed to act when , three days later , Mrs. Farrell noticed that the strong way ’s KO’d room access had been left ajar .
When the disappearance of the gem came to igniter later that good afternoon , Vicars finally muster up the Dublin Metropolitan Police . Investigators concluded that the locks to the front doorway , secure elbow room , and safe hadnotbeen storm , indicating that the thief had the original keys or well - made transcript . Chief Inspector John Kane of Scotland Yard was call in in to aid work the crime , which he trust was an inside job .
The Other Shackleton
Suspicion soonfell on Francis Shackleton , the young sidekick of famous Antarctic explorerErnest Shackleton . The Shackletons were a middle - course of instruction Irish folk living in England , where sorcerous Francis rose in aristocratic circles , relish friendships with the likes of the ninth Duke of Argyll , brother - in - law of nature of King Edward VII . In 1905 , Vicars offer Shackleton the position of “ Dublin Herald ” in the Office of coat of arms ; it was an amateur , largely honorary title .
“ He ’s on a path where , if he ’s a upright male child — which he wasn’t — he will likely get a knighthood or something , ” Dungan say .
Shackleton had been endeavor to make his fortune through demesne hypothesis in Mexico , but police discovered that his finances were tense — a plausible motif for stealing the gem . He also lived with Vicars during his visits to Dublin , which would have made it relatively easy for him to slip aside with one of Vicars ’s good keys and procure a copy .
But building a case against Shackleton proved baffling . For one , he had an alibi ; he had leave Dublin for England on June 11 and return after the theft was discovered . That did n’t govern out the possibility that Shackleton had orchestrated the criminal offence with the help of an accomplice , but investigator may have beenreluctantto press Shackleton on this theory . At a metre when sex roleplay between menwere illegal in Britain , Shackleton ’s homosexuality was anopen secret ; law may have reverence he ’d divulge shocking information about prominent aristocrats in his compass — like his friend the Duke of Argyll , who was alsorumored to be gay , or the duke ’s close friend , the sculptorLord Ronald Gower .
“ His life in London was totally documented by Scotland Yard , ” Brian Lacey , author ofTerrible Queer Creatures : Homosexuality in Irish History , tells Mental Floss . If Shackleton had nothing left to miss , he might shed the tea to save himself from pursuance .
There were other sensitive matters to consider . In his book , Dungan write that police discovered Vicars was in the habit of host “ soirées ” at the castle , with “ some of Dublin ’s leading homosexuals ” among his guests . The son of the Lord Lieutenant , who comprise the queen in Ireland , reportedly attended these parties — another aristocrat with potentially detrimental connective to the heist . The king ’s writing table was made mindful of “ scandalous conduct ” at the castle , allot to Dungan , and some have theorise that Edward VIIstepped into prevent any scurrilous revelations from becoming public .
A report written by Inspector Kane upon the close of his investigation afterwards vanish — perhaps because it control mention of “ other material going on in the Office of Arms , ” Dungan says . But someone had to pay for the theft of the jewels , which had caused considerable overplus to the administration . Vicars was ask to resign , but he refused , postulate a public inquiry . The Lord Lieutenant rather assembled a viceregal charge in January 1908 , whichsat in private , had no authority to compel witnesses to give grounds , and was primarily concerned with determining whether Vicars “ exercised due wakefulness … as the custodian ” of the jewels . Not without justification , Vicars was line up negligent and fire from his post . But the legal proceeding were essentially a “ whitewash , ” more implicated with scapegoating Vicars than uncovering the facts of the crime , write historian Sean J. Murphy .
“Abominations” Exposed
Officials may have skip that heaping incrimination on Vicars would put the debacle at Dublin Castle to rest , and they were successful in keeping anywhiff of a gay scandalout of the Irish closet . But across the pond , shocking allegation were percolate . On July 4 , 1908 , a damnatory headline blare across the front page ofThe Gaelic American , an Irish American newspaper : “ ABOMINATIONS OF DUBLIN CASTLE EXPOSED . ”
Thearticleproceeded to name Shackleton as “ either the stealer or a party to the theft of the jewels . ” Since his appointment to the Office of Arms , the while contended , “ rumors began to circulate in Dublin that there were nightly orgies at the Castle , in which several big Government officials were mixed up . ” Those “ whispered stories , ” the article asserted , were genuine , but had been “ hush up ” under the direction of Edward VII .
The composition was publish anonymously , but it is known to have been written byBulmer Hobson , a journalist and influential member of theIrish Republican Brotherhood , which seek to set up an self-governing republican government activity . Hobson does not name his source , but later revealed that the data came fromPierce O’Mahony , a nationalist politician and Vicars ’s half - chum . Hobson ’s objectives in publishing the exposé were undoubtedly political .
“ What he really was try on to show was that the British were evil and wicked , ” Lacey says .
Lacey thus suspects that the “ nightly orgies ” Hobson describes with a stunning flourish were more likely “ comparatively overnice drinks parties , in which [ Edgar Guest ] may have tent it up a bit . ” But Dungan is more inclined to accept Hobson ’s allegation .
“ I do n’t believe they ’re outlandish at all , ” he says , “ because it would n’t have been the first time . ”
A History of Scandal
In fact , the larceny of the Crown Jewels marked thethirdgay tilt in two decades that embroil luxuriously - rank member of the British organization . In the early eighties , allegations made by an Irish nationalistic daybook run to the exposure of a “ internet of gay menwho were dynamic in the metropolis ’s gay underground , ” writes historiographer Brian Crowley — among them the director of police detective with the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Secretary of the General Post Office of Ireland . TheDublin Castle Scandal — so called because it implicate Crown employee in Ireland — was stick to by another salacious event in London . get laid as theCleveland Street Scandal , the affair get down in 1889 , when constabulary discovered that a age bracket of “ telegraphy son ” from the post office were work at a manful brothel catering to aristocratic men .
These incident were the author of gravid “ public anxiety ” and may explain why official were eager to hide even distant aristocratic connector to the theft of the Crown Jewels , according to Lacey . “ Any investigation that would reveal God - knows - what … would unfold up a can of worms which moderate flop up to the monarchy itself , ” he says . “ That could n’t be permit . ”
Because no one was ever arrest for stealing the jewels , theories about the heist have simmered over the retiring 115 years . Was it a nationalist plot of ground , hatched to embarrass the Crown ? Or perhaps unionists steal the insignia todisrupt the pushfor an autonomous Irish government ? mistrust has also been cast on Francis Bennett Goldney , a former city manager of Canterbury who , like Shackleton , book an honorary position at the Office of Arms . Goldney , it turns out , wasa stealer ; after his death , it emerged that he hadstolen ancient chartersbelonging to the City of Canterbury and a painting belong to a duke .
But many believe that Johnny Cash - strapped Francis Shackleton remains the most plausible culprit , and in all likelihood enlisted an accomplice to break into the safe . That confederate may have been Captain Richard Gorges , a military human beings with a notorious reputation ; he was known to be jolly and was reportedlyprone to furiousness , eventually going to prison for killing a police officer . oesophagus was acquainted with Shackleton , whose own propensity for reprehensible conduct became clear in the years after the jewels go miss . In 1913 , having declared failure , he wasconvicted of fiscal fraudand sentenced to 15 months ' hard childbed .
Vicars — sadly regardless , but rule out as a suspect by constabulary — also meet a sorry death . After being go off from the Office of Arms , he tried to found his own genealogical practice in London , but was not successful and moved back to Ireland . In 1921 , a ring claim to be affiliated with the IRAshot Vicars to deathoutside his household . To the end of his days , he remained deeply embittered over his discussion during the Crown Jewels scandal .
“ I might have had more to toss out of had it not been for the horrid way in which I was treat by the Irish [ authorities ] over the loss of the Irish Crown Jewels , ” he wrote in his will , exact Shackleton was the true culprit . “ My whole life and work was ruined by this cruel ill luck . ”
