Crown jewels are a popular target for thieves, despite the fact that it's next to impossible to actually sell them to anyone after they're in your possession. That doesn't stop people from trying, though. In 1671, a man named Thomas Blood attempted to steal the British crown jewels, was caught, and then was punished with a full pardon and given Irish lands valued at 500 pounds a year, so it rather worked out for him. A couple of centuries after that, one or more thieves actually did steal the Irish crown jewels, so they didn't get a pardon and their own lands and might not have ever got rich off the acquisition, either.
The jewels were taken from Dublin Castle in 1907, and just to clarify, Irish Central says they were not royal jewels but the "star and badge regalia of the Sovereign and Grand Master of the Order of St Patrick." They were studded with emeralds, rubies, and Brazilian white diamonds, and today would be worth about $20 million.
There were several suspects, but the most likely was Francis Shackleton (the brother of Antarctica explorer Ernest Shackleton). Shackleton had the opportunity — he was the subordinate of Sir Arthur Vicars, who was the only guy with the keys to the safe and was quite often drunk and incoherent. But Shackleton was never charged with the crime, and to date no other suspect has ever been named.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9k2pnbm5fqbWmecyoqq1lla29prrSoq2eZZmpsq6%2FjJ6tnqpdqMGwuMSnZg%3D%3D