One of the most intriguing melodramas in Irish policing history has been given something of an epilogue with the return to Dublin Castle of the safe that contained the Irish crown jewels until their theft in 1907.
The regalia of the Order of St Patrick - the so-called "crown jewels" - were reported missing just four days before the State visit of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on July 10th, 1907. Despite a thorough investigation the gems' fate has remained a mystery.
On the face of it, they were housed in the safest place in Ireland - Dublin Castle, bastion of British power. They were kept in a safe to which only one man had the key: the genealogist Sir Arthur Vicars who, as head of the Office of Arms in the castle, was the jewels' official keeper.
Alas, the safe was anything but.
In April 1903, the Office of Arms had moved to new premises in the Bedford Tower, complete with an impressive strong room for the storage of State valuables. When the builders tried to install the safe containing the jewels, however, it was found that the strong-room's two-ton steel door was too small to allow the squat, square safe inside.
Instead it was shoved into a room which was used as a research library and as a waiting room for visitors. There, some time between June 11th and July 6th, the jewels vanished.
The Dublin Metropolitan Police had the safe removed to Kevin Street station and there it has remained for 100 years. However, with the refurbishment of the station under way, the safe was last month transferred to the Garda Museum at the Record Tower in Dublin Castle.
It is on display from 9am-5pm Monday-Friday and by appointment at weekends.
