Irish Crown Jewels, Bedford Tower

On Saturday, July 6, 1907, Sir Arthur Vicars, the Ulster King of Arms, handed a collar and a bunch of keys to Stivey, the Office of Arms messenger, to carry down to the safe in the Library of the Bedford Tower. Vicars's own statement puts the time at about 2:30pm. Stivey told him the safe was unlocked.

The star and badge of the Irish Crown Jewels were gone, along with five gold collars and a case of diamonds that had belonged to Vicars's mother. Dublin Castle counts 394 jewels in the insignia, mostly from Queen Charlotte's jewelry. The last confirmed sighting was June 11, 1907, when Vicars showed them to J.C. Hodgson, Librarian to the Duke of Northumberland. The theft came to light four days before the royal party's July 10 visit.

The locks

The locks had not been forced. Locksmiths who examined them for the Viceregal Commission found "no trace whatever of tampering with the lock" and "not a scratch on the highly polished levers," and concluded the locks were opened by their own keys or keys identical with them.

Two keys fit the safe, and both were Vicars's. He carried one, and the other was kept at his home in Clonskeagh. Seven keys to the building existed. The safe itself stood in the Library on the ground floor, not in the strong room the statutes required, because it was too big to fit through the strong-room door. The Commission found that rule had never been followed from 1903, when the office moved into the tower, until the jewels disappeared.

The thief had also taken time. The diamond badge had been taken off its ribbon, and the ribbon and clasp had been placed in the center. Vicars said in a statement printed in the Commission's appendix that this could not have been done hurriedly, because it meant unscrewing a swivel and coaxing the ribbon off the hook. The National Archives of Ireland puts the job at about 10 minutes.

Three earlier details were noted afterward. On June 28, Vicars found his front-door latch-key missing; it reappeared on Monday, July 8. On Wednesday, July 3, the cleaner found the Bedford Tower's front door unlocked at 7am. On July 6, the cleaner found the strong-room door open, with the inner grille locked and its key in the lock. The Commission concluded the strong room must have been opened on the night of Friday, July 5.

The investigation

The Dublin Metropolitan Police and its detective staff both had their headquarters at Dublin Castle. Superintendent John Lowe and Detective Officer Owen Kerr went to the tower. On July 12, Detective Chief Inspector John Kane of Scotland Yard arrived to assist.

Kane wrote a report identifying the likely thief. The Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police refused to accept the identification, Kane returned to London, and the National Archives of Ireland records that the report is "no longer extant." Kane said in evidence that he had never found anything against Francis Shackleton. The archives read that to mean the missing report named someone else.

A reward of £1,000 was offered for the jewels and the thief, and the archives list it as unclaimed. By late August, according to the archives, King Edward VII was becoming impatient.

The Commission

A Viceregal Commission was appointed on January 6, 1908, with Judge James J. Shaw as chair and Robert F. Starkie and Chester Jones as members. It could not compel witnesses or take evidence on oath, and its report says it was "no part of our duty" to conduct a criminal investigation into the robbery. Vicars's counsel declared that Vicars could not take part under any circumstances and withdrew.

The report found that Vicars "did not exercise due vigilance or proper care as the custodian of the Regalia." On the keys it was narrower: "We cannot attribute negligence to Sir Arthur Vicars in the custody of his key of the Strong Room." On January 30, 1908, Vicars received a letter saying his role as Ulster King of Arms was at an end. He never resigned.

Conor Mulvagh, the University College Dublin historian, told The Irish Times in October 2025 that "it does seem clear that the case was hushed up," either "to cloak a deeper scandal or to protect some of the people involved."

Shackleton and the will

Francis Shackleton was the Dublin Herald and the brother of the explorer Ernest Shackleton. By the week of July 15, 1907, a friend had suggested to Vicars that Shackleton might be the thief. The National Archives of Ireland says Vicars took hold of the idea "in spite of there being no evidence whatever to support it." Vicars told Kane on August 30 that he believed Shackleton guilty. On September 20, he told Detective Kerr that the thief "treacherously took impressions of my keys when I was in my bath." The Commission's locksmiths said a key could not be made from a wax impression.

According to the archives, Shackleton was visiting friends in England during the robbery and returned to Dublin on Tuesday, July 9, leaving again on Sunday, July 14. The Commission said there was "no evidence whatever before us which would support the suggestion that he was the person who stole the Jewels." Shackleton traveled from San Remo to give evidence and "appeared to us to be a perfectly truthful and candid witness."

Vicars's will, dated May 14, 1920, says in part: "they shielded the real culprit & thief Francis R. Shackleton (brother of the Explorer who didn't reach the South Pole)." Justice Dodd ordered the passage struck from probate on March 20, 1922. It stayed sealed until the President of the High Court opened it on September 22, 1976.

The search since

A 1927 memo quoted by the National Archives of Ireland records that W.T. Cosgrave, President of the Executive Council, "understands that the Castle Jewels are for sale and that they could be got for £2000 or £3000." No action is recorded. Psychics had visions of the jewels that led to fruitless digs in graveyards, and Arthur Conan Doyle offered his help.

In 1983, a Garda search of the Dublin hills found nothing. In 1998, a claim that the jewels lay in the grounds of Kilmorna House, Vicars's country estate, drew press coverage; National Geographic, citing the historian Myles Dungan, calls it a hoax.

Only one object has come back. The mahogany jewel box was returned to the Office of Arms by post in 1928.

The ribbon. The badge had been unscrewed from its ribbon and the ribbon laid out. Vicars said that took care, and the National Archives of Ireland estimates about 10 minutes. Somebody had that long in the Library with the safe open.

The doors. The tower's front door was found unlocked on July 3, a latch-key vanished on June 28 and came back on July 8, and the strong-room grille was found locked with its key in the lock. The Commission dated the strong-room opening to the night of July 5.

The missing report. Kane was sent from Scotland Yard, wrote down a name, and went home when the Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police refused it. The report is "no longer extant." Kane also said he had never found evidence against Shackleton.

The wax impressions. Vicars told Detective Kerr the thief took impressions of his keys while he bathed. The Commission's locksmiths said a key could not be made from a wax impression.

The Commission's limits. It had no power to compel witnesses or take evidence on oath, and its report says a criminal investigation was not its duty. It looked at how the jewels were kept, not at who took them.

Dublin Castle is closed to the public until January 2027, while Ireland holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. No exact reopening day has been published.

Before the closure, the castle opened daily from 9:45am to 5:45pm, with last admission at 5:15pm, and closed December 25 to 27 and January 1. A self-guided ticket cost 8 euros for an adult, 6 euros for seniors and students, and 4 euros for ages 12 to 17. A guided tour cost 12 euros, 10 euros, and 6 euros for the same groups. Children under 12 were free. These are the pre-closure prices and may change when the castle reopens. Visitors typically spend about 30 minutes on a self-guided visit or about 1 hour on a guided tour.

The Bedford Tower is seen from the Upper Castle Yard. The castle's exhibition "Splendour and Scandal: The Office of Arms at Dublin Castle" has a room on the theft and is listed as included in the State Apartments ticket. Whether it will be on show after the reopening is not stated, and its reward poster is credited to the National Library of Ireland.