The Irish Crown Jewels, Separated

amazing merch. I've seen fake merch around the internet, but the only actual merch that is like real for the show is on a website called d f t b a dot com and it's linked in the episode description. And the third piece of housekeeping is so I wrote a book called Anatomy a Love Story, which is about a surgeon in nineteen century Scotland, and its sequel, Immortality

a Love Story, is coming out this February. Arry and pre orders are the most important thing that is in the book world right now, Like truly, I cannot express how every single book person in my life is like, please Dana, get pre orders and I'm like, I will try. I promise. So if you enjoy the storytelling on the show, or you think you would enjoy a sort of macabre story of you know, mayhem and surgery in nineteenth century Edinburgh and London in the sequel, check it out and

maybe preorder that is also linked in the bio. As always, just thank you so much for listening. At two pm on July six seven, one of the porters in Dublin Castle, a man named William Stivey, was simply trying to do his job. On a typical day, his job meant catering to the requests of various of officials whose offices were scattered throughout castle grounds. But on this day, William Stevey had been given a task well outside his usual duties

with a surprising lack of fanfare. Stevey had been handed a priceless royal artifact, a golden collar belonging to a former Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, and he was given in order to return it to its safe in the Bedford Tower Library. It was a task that typically would have been reserved solely for the very man who had given the porter of the task

Ireland's Ulster King of Arms, Sir Arthur Vickers. But on this particular afternoon Vickers had been buried up to his neck in paperwork, desperately trying to sort out the final details regarding the British King and Queen's visit to Dublin Castle later that week. He was the Ulster King of Arms, of position men to be the leading voice of all things heraldry and genealogy in Ireland, even if his job title technically required him to be the sole keeper of

the Order's priceless collection of jewels. He didn't have time to go walk halfway across the castle just to put a necklace back in its box, Which was how the humble Dublin Castle porter William Stivy found himself completely out of his depth, holding a priceless golden collar in one hand and the key to the safe holding the Irish Crown jewels in the other. You know, just a normal day at the office. Only when Stivey managed to make it to the safe in question, he suddenly faced a

much larger problem. He couldn't get it open. He was able to somehow fit the key into the safe intimidating metal hull but no matter what he did, the lock refused to turn it. Maybe the vault could sense Stivy's impostor syndrome from the way his clammy palms slipped against its surface with wasted effort, or maybe he had simply been given the wrong key, But regardless, his efforts remained in vain. But just as he was about to slink back to Vicker's office in defeat, Styvey heard someone else

approaching the library. The porter didn't know it at the time, but he would be asked to recount the following moments in Dublin Castle's Bedford Tower Library over and over for years to come by police, press and conspiracy theorists alike. For the footsteps that had sounded behind him belonged to none other than the Ulster King of Arms himself, Sir Arthur Vickers, And to Styvey's complete and total shock, he watched as Vickers approached the safe. Vicker didn't try to

turn the stuck key. Instead, he simply pulled the door open. For it turns out the lack had somehow been turned well before Stivey ever walked into the library that day. But what Stivy would be asked to remember most in the coming years of interrogators and inquiries was the look on Sir Arthur Vicker's face when he finally mustered up the strength to look inside the vault, only to discover that the Irish Crown jewels were gone. I'm Dani Schwartz,

and this is noble blood. Now, before we go any further into the story, I think it's important to address the confusion related to the term Irish crown jewels, for when there is no literal Irish crown, which begs the question how could there be any jewels for a crown that doesn't exist? Well, in order to answer this fully, I think it's worth going a little further back to briefly summarize Ireland's relationship with the United Kingdom, at least

as it stood in nineteen o seven. For the sake of this story, I am not going to delve too deeply into the incredibly tumultuous, nearly thousand year history between the two countries, but to give you a foothold in which to place yourself within this story, you should know in eighteen o one, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a union that was still holding strong in nineteen o seven when this story takes place.

Of course, quote holding strong is a relative term, especially considering Irish nationalists would be attempting to pass legislation advocating for home rule as early as nineteen twelve. Safe to say, as Ireland would officially become an independent country by nineteen twenty two, loyalties to the British crown in nineteen o seven we're growing shakier by the day in an increasingly independent Irish state, which leads us back to our initial question.

If Ireland's metaphorical crown was really just an extension of the British monarchy, how were their jewels for a crown that didn't exist in the first place. The simple answer is there weren't, at least not in terms of how we traditionally think of crown jewels in actuality. What we have come to refer to colloquially as the Irish crown jewels was really a star and badge created for the sole purpose of representing the most illustrious Order of Saint Patrick,

which was the English monarchy. Made Irish equivalent to England's Order of the Garter or Scotland's Order of the Thistle esta published in seventy three by King George the Third. The Order of Saint Patrick was created to honor those irishmen who exhibited extraordinary loyalty to the Crown. It was an honor that had the added benefit of quelling rises

in Irish patriotism. Lord Charlemont, one of the founding knights of the Order, is quoted as saying, quote, it is a fact often experienced that the offer of a glittering bauble has a greater influence in subduing patriotic integrity end quote. The stones on the glittering baubles in question came from the English Crown Jewels of Queen Charlotte as well as King George the Third star from the Order of Bath, but they were refitted to better embody the Order of

Saint Patrick. The star and badge had a cumulative three hundred and ninety four stones spread between them. At the center of each lied a three four whale, which was a shape closer to that of a clover than the girl scout cookie, and that was composed entirely of emeralds sitting inside of a ruby cross set above a light blue enamel background. The star had eight points stoned almost entirely with Brazilian diamonds, said to be of the purest water.

But similar to the badge, in an arc around the emerald treefoil in rose colored diamonds was written the motto of the order qui separabi or who can separate us, a quote which could have been tempting fate considering exactly what happened next. Now, when you think of someone plotting to steal something as valuable as the Irish Crown jewels, there's an expectation that some level of competency or maybe even genius would be necessary to carry out such a feat.

Immediately my mind goes to some turn of the twenty century version of Oceans eleven, with George Clooney and Brad Pitt in bowler hats and time pieces attached to their waistcoats, sitting around a candle lit table covered in intricate blueprints

of Bedford Tower. But in the case of the Irish Crown Jewels, the success of the theft most likely wasn't due to an abundance of schematics or hours of meticulous planning, but rather a series of increasing lapses and security that led to someone finding just the right moment in which

to pluck the jewels out from under everyone's noses. Per the statutes of the Order, custody of the insignia was left to be cared for by whoever was the reigning Ulster King of Arms, who in seven happened to be the same man who was too busy to walk a

golden collar back to its safe, Sir Arthur Vickers. Vickers had been given the title back in eighteen ninety three and had overseen the care of the jewels in Dublin Castle's Birmingham Tower until nineteen o three, when it was decided Vickers and the jewels would be relocated to a

new office across castle grounds in Bedford Tower. In preparation for the move, Dublin Castle officials were tasked with building a new strong room within Bedford Tower that would be able to house the safe containing the jewels, which would have been great if they had stopped to measure the size of the safe before constructing the only door to

the room. Unfortunately, they had apparently never heard the high school shop class adage measure twice cut once, and they had instead built a strong room with a door too small to fit the safe meant to go inside of it.

This meant Vickers was forced to decide to either knock the wall down to his freshly constructed wrong room, put the safe inside, then subsequently rebuild the wall, or simply find somewhere else to store the safe, and, in a move that should surprise absolutely no one at this point in the story, Vicars chose the ladder, deciding to house the safe in the Bedford Tower library instead until another

suitable location could be decided. It should also surprise no one that no such location was ever decided, meaning the safe holding the Irish Crown Jewels was essentially out in the open for anyone with access to Dublin Castle to stumble upon. But even with the vault relatively open location, it was still acting as another barrier that should have

served as adequate protection for the jewels. The only two keys to the safe were in Vicar's possession, one which he kept in a desk in his home and the other which he kept on his person at all times. Well apart from the one instance in May of seven when a housekeeper found one of his keys and had to mail it back to his office, or, of course, that fateful day just two months later, when he gave his personal copy to the porter, William st Ivey, to

save himself a trip across the castle grounds. Surely those were the only two exceptions to the impenetrable security in Bedford Tower. Ultimately, the litany of security breaches in Dublin Castle were so extreme it was weeks after the last confirmed sighting of the Irish Crown Jewels on June eleven before Vickers would finally open the safe in Bedford Tower Library and realize just how much trouble he was in now.

Earlier in the story, I mentioned the Dublin Castle porter who had the misfortune of happening upon one of the most infamous thefts in all of Ireland's history. But in reality, Stivey's inability to open the Irish Crown Jewels safe was not the first red flag to appear in Bedford Tower that day. No, the first red flag was spotted three days earlier by one of the castle's cleaners, a woman named Mrs Farrell, who found the entrance to the strong

room left completely unlocked. Unlike the safe, the strong room had seven keys spread amongst various officials in Dublin Castle, but under no circumstance should it ever have been left unlocked and unattended. Naturally, Mrs Farrell reported the unlocked door to Vickers, but her concerns were promptly dismissed. Official reports have Vickars being quoted as saying, quote, is that so when told about the strong room on the third of July. Not exactly the reaction of shock and horror you'd expect

from ireland Ulster King of Arms. But he was in the midst of preparing for the King and Queen's arrival in Dublin just over a week later, so maybe he was just busy. But when on the morning of July six, Mrs Farrell came back to Vicker's office to report that the strong room door had yet again been left unlocked, there was next to no rational explanation as to why

Vickers would dismiss her again. Another breach insecurity in less than a week, let alone the same week the King and Queen were set to arrive, should have set off alarm bells throughout the castle, and yet Vickars once again ignored the report, deciding instead to go about his day until at to PM when he sent the porter William's

Divy to return the golden collar to the safe. Vickers would follow him shortly after and find the safes contents vanished, save for the light blue ribbon which had once been attached to the insignia, everything else missing. When the authorities were finally called and the Irish Crown Jewels were officially reported missing, it didn't take long to parse out that

the theft had been an inside job. There was no evidence of fourth century into Dublin Castle, and the safe had no visible marks that indicated it had been tampered with or altered in any way, meaning that only one of the two existing keys, or perhaps an exact copy made by someone with access to them, was used in order to access the jewels. The theft itself had happened so quietly it had taken authorities maybe even weeks, to

notice they were missing in the first place. The security in Bedford Tower may have been lacking, but the lack of physical evidence left behind suggested to authorities that the criminal knew exactly what they were doing, and suddenly the pool of suspects narrowed down from all the theoretical Brad Pitts and bowler hats across Dublin to three main suspects, each of them having, through one way or another, some

connection to the goings on inside Dublin Castle. The first suspect is probably one you have most likely put together for yourself, Ireland Ulster, King of Arms himself, Sir Arthur Vickers. Given the initial evidence provided, Vickers no doubt, seems like the obvious choice. He had the easiest access to the jewels and apparently cavalier relationship with the keys, and an inherent lack of urgency when provided with information concerning breaches

and security. But even in the face of all the evidence mounted against him, Vickers was unwavering in his declaration of innocence. He was negligent, maybe, but not guilty. In addition to the missing star and badge, a box containing personal jewels from Vicker's mother had also been taken from this safe. This of course invites further questions as to why Vickers felt it was at all appropriate to keep his personal jewels in a vault containing that of official

royal artifacts. But regardless of vickers own collection, being kept inside the safe does begin to poke holes in argument advocating his guilt as far as motives go, Vickars may have had ease of access, but he had no known debts, no reason he would need the jewels in that specific moment, and considering he had held his position as Ulster King of Arms for over a decade at this point, why

would he steal the jewels now? Which leads us to our second suspect, an associate of Vickars named Francis Bennett Goldney. Goldney was the Mayor of Canterbury as well as Vickers appointed Athlone Pursuant, which is a title basically equating him to a junior Officer of Arms for the Order of St. Patrick. However, what is particularly interesting about Goldney as a suspect isn't his ties to the Order itself, but his specific interest

in antiquities. In addition to his duties as Mayor, Goldney had acted as honorary curator for the Royal Museum and Art Gallery in Canterbury, his love of historical artifacts most likely carrying over into his interest in the Order of St. Patrick. In fact, Goldney had all but begged Vicars for the position as outlan persuing finally being given the job in February nine seven not even six months before the theft

would eventually occur. Now, if Goldeney's a new position under Vickers and an accompanying love for antiquities was the sole evidence against him, I would be inclined to move on

to the next suspect. However, the true nature of Goldney's suspicion really only came to light after his death, for it was only after his untimely passing from a car accident in nineteen eighteen that authorities would find Goldney's love of antiquity had at some point crossed the line from history enthusiast to pack rat, as they discovered a collection

of stolen artifacts littered around his home. The Irish Crown jewels were not found in his possession, but that isn't to say he may not have pawned them off or sold off the stones individually. At the time, Goldney was brought in for questioning, but he was recorded as not being in Dublin in the month window from when the jewels had last been seen to when they had been discovered missing in July seven, and therefore he was let go. So that brings us to our third and possibly most

controversial suspect. The Dublin Herald Francis Shackleton in While the other suspects no doubt had close proximity with the jewels, Shackleton had one thing that both the other suspects lacked, a clear motive. In nineteen o seven, Shackleton was known to have been in dire financial straits. He had borrowed money from both Vicars and Goldney, as well as additional money lenders throughout the United Kingdom, and he had yet

to make good on any of his dealings. Additionally, Shackleton was reportedly living with Vickers as his roommate, suddenly giving the incident in May nineteen o seven, when Vickers had to have his key returned to him by mail by his housekeeper a new sense of foreboding. However, despite the fact that both Goldney and Vicars heavily implied Shackleton's possible involvement in the theft their statements to the authorities, he

was never formally considered as a suspect. This was due to a few reasons, the first being similar to Goldney, that he was also not in Dublin in the month span in which the jewels could have been taken. The second had less to do with his alibi and more to do with his name, or rather his brothers. As it happened, Francis Shackleton was the brother of none other

than the famous Irish Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. It's likely that Ernest's ties to King Edward the seventh, as well as his notoriety in general, made authorities less likely to pursue Francis as a serious lead. It's at this point in the story that I'd like to take a brief break from analyzing the potential suspects and returned for a moment to the rumored night time activities that were happening

in Dublin Castle. By day, the castle was home to the office of the All Star King of Arms, the Dublin Metropolitan Police, as well as a catalog of other municipal offices. But by night, Dublin Castle was rumored to have been the backdrop for some of the most scandalous

parties in the United Kingdom. In nineteen o eight, a newspaper called The Gaelic American published an article titled Abominations of Dublin Castle Exposed, which would accuse several prominent government officials of participating in quote nightly orgies at the castle. It should be noted that the nightly orgies in question likely weren't as hyper sexualized as the language suggests, but rather meant to be indicative of the nature of the

relationships between the parties involved. At this point, homosexuality was still illegal in the United Kingdom, which meant that this article fanned the flames of the scandal already brewing around the events leading up to the theft of the Irish Crown jewels. The article is full of period typical homophobia, citing Dublin Castle as quote a nest of unnatural vice, but the undercurrent of the accusations remain as clear as day. This is how those who work for the Crown are

spending their time and resources. And while it may have once been easy to dismiss the article as petty gossip, especially since it was published anonymously, with the author stating their refusal to release the names of their sources for quote obvious reasons, in the years since, it has been impossible to ignore the kernel of truth that lay at

the center of the piece. It was an open secret in Dublin society that Francis Shackleton was gay, but the Crown was more than determined not to implicate other important figures who may have run in his same circles. When Shackleton was eventually brought in for questioning, right off the bat, he made sure to let his interrogators know exactly how much trouble he had gone to in order to be there, having returned from San Remo to cooperate with their investigation,

in other words, re establishing his alibi. He would then go on to name drop as many of his political counterparts as he could, mentioning a ridiculous rumor he had heard of him and Lord Haydo, the son of Lord Aberdeen, working together to steal the jewels, at which point the Solicitor General doing the investigation all but strapped duct tape over his mouth, telling Shackleton he quote need not mention that in the end, the who was not the target

of the Crown Jewels Commission's investigation, the how was a clear enough target for them to pin the blame. In January, the Commission found quote Sir Arthur Vickers did not act sercized due vigilant or proper care as the custodian of the regalia. Not long after that Vickers was forced to leave his post as the Ulster King of Arms, a punishment that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

In the years that followed, speculation as to the whereabouts of the Irish Crown jewels, as well as the thief behind the heist, only became more sensationalized as news of the suspects seemed to bring up more scandal by the day. As I mentioned earlier, Goldney's true nature as a suspect in the case only really came about after his death in nineteen eighteen, when he was discovered to have multiple

stolen antiquities in his possession. Shackleton, despite his previous luck of aiding criminal charges, was eventually arrested for fraud in nineteen thirteen. He would serve fifteen months in prison, then upon release, take up a new name and live out the rest of his life in relative of security. Following his forced resignation as the Ulster King of Arms, Vickers

moved from Dublin to kill Morna in County Kerry. He spent the rest of his life disputing claims of his guilt, even winning a libel case in nineteen thirteen against The Daily Mail. After they claimed he had given his supposed mistress a copy of the key to the safe and subsequently sent her and the jewels across the English Channel to lay low in Paris until he could come and retrieve them. Vickers was rewarded five thousand pounds in damage after it became clear that the mistress in question did

not in fact exist. Unfortunately, in ninety one, vickers home in Kilmourna was raided by a local ira A militia who shot and killed him, most likely for his ties to the Crown. To this day, the Irish Crown jewels have never been found, nor has the culprit ever been identified. However, in light of the evidence that has come forward in the century since the theft, most historians and true crime enthusiasts agree Shackleton was likely the mastermind behind the unsolved heyst.

While he did have an alibi for the month period in which the jewels could have been taken, a known associate of Shackleton's, a man named Captain Richard H. Gorgeous, all but confessed to the crime. After being sentenced to time in prison following a completely unrelated manslaughter charge in

nineteen fifteen. He confirmed that he and Shackleton had conspired to steal the jewels, though interestingly, he said the idea for the heist was inspired by a practical joke set by one of the important political figures rumored to have frequented the Dublin Castle Orgies, Lord Haydo. Apparently, Lord Haydo had taken the jewels during a night of drunken revelry when Vickers was exceptionally intoxicated, and he subsequently sent them

back in the mail the next day. Normally this type of story the sounds like hollow bragging after a night of drinking, a funny prank that someone probably didn't actually do. But in Vicker's statements to the authorities after the initial theft, he had made a peculiar statement. Vickers told Detective cur quote, I would not be a bit surprised if the jewels would be returned to my house by parcel post tomorrow morning,

almost as if that thing had happened before. Of course, there are a fair amount of conspiracy theories as to exactly what happened to the Irish Crown jewels. In an article came out in a publication called The Carryman, claiming that a descendant of one of Vicker's valets had discovered exact only where the jewels were hidden near his former home in Kilmurna, but upon searching the location determined the

jewels had been taken by another party convenience. Others theorized that, in the growing political unrest in Ireland at the time, the jewels were taken by the Irish Republican Brotherhood as a political act against the Crown. However, there's little corroborated evidence to actually support that claim. In my opinion, the most interesting theory has to do with the nature of

the relationship between Vickers and Shackleton. Francis Shackleton's homosexuality was, as I said, in open secret, but many speculate that, in addition to living together as roommates, he and Vickars were in a romantic relationship of their own. Had they been that close, it would make sense that Shackleton would be able to make a copy of one of vickers

keys without a rousing too much suspicion. Ultimately, there is no doubt that negligence Vicars exhibited in his care for the jewels contributed to their disappearance, but at the end we will most likely never know who was actually responsible for the disappearance of the Irish Crown Jewels. In terms

of where the jewels maybe today. As undoubtedly cool as it would be for the pristine star and badge to just exist in an old jewelry box somewhere in a forgotten attic in Ireland, the likelihood that the gems are still attached to their original pieces are slim to none gorgeous. The man who claimed to have completed the heist with Shackleton told reporters that Shackleton had ordered him to flee with the jewels to Amsterdam and wait three months before

breaking them up to sell in parts. Most likely those three months were in case there was going to be a ransom offered in exchange for the return of the jewels. Whoever to take the Crown Jewels would have likely followed a similar line of thinking, choosing to separate the gems and sell them to be reset into smaller pieces so

as to remain less conspicuous. So while it's almost impossible that the Irish Crown Jewels remain intact somewhere waiting to be found, I like to think the gems have most likely found their way into new pieces of jewelry, and that maybe every once in a while those rose colored diamonds find themselves joined together by the handshakes or embraces of their wearers, so that the motto of the Order of St. Patrick, who can separate us can once again

ring true. That was the unsolved mystery of the Irish Crown Jewels, But stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear specifically how Sir Arthur Vickers defended his innocence in his later years. In the years after his forced resignation, Vickers never gave up his quest to prove his innocence

about his role in the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels. Eventually, the truth came out that it was actually his half brother who had leaked the information to the Gaelic American for their infamous article regarding Francis Shackleton and the several prominent government officials who participated in the raucous orgies in Dublin Castle. Vickers would hold a grudge about his dismissal

for the rest of his life. He even went so far as to state his displeasure with the Irish government in his own will in regards to his life's worth and possessions. He wrote, quote, I might have had more to dispose of had it not been for the outrageous way in which I was treated by the Irish government over the loss of the Irish Crown jewels, in which you know, fair point, but still wow, but even more

petty than that. And possibly my favorite little tidbit of information on Vicars that I dug up in research for this episode is that after his resignation quote, Vickers, in a fit of malice, retained the key to the strong room at the Office of Arms, forcing the newly appointed Ulster to break and enter to retrieve state regalia required at an official function end quote. At least at the end of the day, Vickers finally learned his lesson and learned how to lock the strong room door behind him

before leaving Dublin Castle for the final time. Noble Blood is a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Wortz. Additional writing and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Miura Hayward, Courtney Sunder and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by rema Il Kayali, with supervising producer Josh Thayne and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and

Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.