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| Sir Arthur Vicars |
Sir Arthur Vicars, KCVO was an English-born genealogist and heraldic expert who spent his adult life in Ireland. He was appointed Ulster King of Arms in 1893, but was removed from the post in 1908 following the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in the previous year. He was killed by the IRA in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence.
Antiquarian and Expert in Heraldry
Arthur Edward Vicars was born on 27 July 1862 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and was the youngest child of Colonel William Henry Vicars of the 61st Regiment of Foot and his wife Jane (originally Gun-Cunninghame). This was his mother's second marriage, the first being to Pierce O'Mahony by whom she had two sons. Arthur was very attached to his Irish half-brothers and spent much time at their residences. On completing his education at Magdalen College School, Oxford and Bromsgrove School he moved permanently to Ireland.He quickly developed an expertise in genealogical and heraldic matters and made several attempts to be employed by the Irish heraldic administration of Ulster King of Arms, even offering to work for no pay.
In 1891 he was one of the founder members of the County Kildare Archaeological Society, and remained its honorary secretary until his death.
He first attempted to find a post in the Office of Arms when in 1892 he applied unsuccessfully for the post of Athlone Pursuivant on the death of the incumbent, Bernard Louis Burke. In a letter dated 2 October 1892 Vicars's half-brother Peirce Mahony wrote that Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms, was dying and urged him: "You should move at once." Burke died in December 1892, and Vicars was appointed to the office by Letters Patent dated 2 February 1893. In 1896 Arthur Vicars was knighted, in 1900 he was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) and in 1903 he was elevated to Knight Commander of the order (KCVO). He was also a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a trustee of the National Library of Ireland.
In 1897 Vicars published An Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland 1536 -1810, a listing of all persons in wills proved in that period. This work became very valuable to genealogists after the destruction of the source material for the book in 1922 when the Public Record Office at the Four Courts was destroyed at the start of the Irish Civil War.
Theft of the Irish Crown Jewels
The Irish Crown Jewels. This image was published by the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police twice a week after the theft of the jewels was discovered.
Vicars' career was very distinguished until 1907 when it was hit by the scandal of the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels. As Registrar of the Order of St Patrick, Vicars had custody of the insignia of the order, also known as the "crown jewels". They were found to be missing on 6 July, and a Crown Jewel Commission was established in January 1908 to investigate the disappearance. Vicars, and his barrister Tim Healy, refused to attend the commission's hearings. The commission's findings were published on 25 January 1908, and Vicars was dismissed as Ulster five days later.
On 23 November 1912, the Daily Mail published serious false allegations against Vicars. The substance of the article was that Vicars had allowed a woman reported to be his mistress to obtain a copy to the key to the safe and that she had fled to Paris with the jewels. In July 1913 Vicars successfully sued the paper for libel, who admitted that the story was completely baseless and that the woman in question did not exist. Vicars was awarded damages of £5,000.
Vicars left Dublin and moved to Kilmorna, near Listowel, County Kerry, the former seat of one of his half-brothers. He married Gertrude Wright in Ballymore, County Wicklow on 4 July 1917. He continued to protest his innocence until his death, even including bitter references to the affair in his will. It is a widely held belief that one of Vicars assistants at the Castle, Francis Shackleton (brother of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton) was responsible for the theft, and that Vicars was set up to take the blame after Shackleton threatened to expose a high ranking homosexual ring within the Castle.
Murder
In May 1920 up to a hundred armed men broke into Kilmorna House and held Vicars at gunpoint while they attempted to break into the house's strongroom. On 14 April 1921, he was taken from Kilmorna House, which was set alight, and shot dead in front of his wife. According to the communique issued from Dublin Castle, thirty armed men took him from his bed and shot him, leaving a placard around his neck denouncing him as an informer. On 27 April, as an official reprisal, four shops were destroyed by Crown Forces in the town of Listowel. The proclamation given under Martial law and ordering their demolition also stated:For any outrage carried out in future against the lives or property of loyalist officials, reprisals will be taken against selected persons known to have rebel sympathies, although their implication has not been proved.
Vicars was buried in Leckhampton, Gloucestershire on 20 April. His wife died in Somerset in 1946.
Kilmorna House
About 5 miles east of Listowel there once stood the great Kilmorna House. It was owned by the O’Mahoneys Kerry. George O’Mahoney was step brother to Arthur Vicars. Sir Arthur Vicars was in charge of the crown jewels when they were stolen. In 1912 when George O'Mahoney died. Kilmorna House and grounds passed on to Vicars’ sister. At once she offered Vicars the place, free of charge, for as long as he wished. Little did he know the tragedy which would follow his stay at Kilmorna House. Sir Arthur Vicars loved the house. It was everything that could be wanted by a man who adored high society. |
| Kilmorna House, Listowel, Kerry |
It stood on 600 acres of the beautiful countryside in the deep west of Ireland. Three lodge houses with painted roofs stood by stonewall entrances. These lodges are still standing and are occupied by local people today. Kilmorna House was built of brick, surfaced with smooth Kerry Stone and, for most of the year, ivy climbed up its high walls. On the west side of the house a walk of lime trees paraded down to the bank of the river Feale, rich in salmon and trout meandering and flowing through the estate. From the granite terraces to the house, the smooth lawns sloped gently down through shrubberies and flower beds. The estate stretched from Shanacool Cross to Gortaglanna Cross, to the bridge which divides Duagh parish from Knockanure. From Shanacool to Kilmorna Station there were plantations of beech, oak and yew trees.
At the age of 53, Sir Arthur, to the surprise of many, married Miss Gertrude Wright of Kilurry house near Castleisland.
There were over 100 local people employed directly or indirectly by Sir Arthur, who paid them wages above the average for this backward area of Ireland. The old people of Kilmorna today still remember the huge party that was organised for the local children by Sir Arthur at Christmas. He loved to ride about the neighbouring farms on horseback. He owned the only car in the district and, once or twice a week, he would drive to Listowel, handing out produce from the Kilmorna gardens and orchards to needy families, Protestant and Catholic alike. His wife kept tiny Yorkshire terriers and in the event of the death of one of these creatures, a funeral was arranged and the workmen were expected to dress in black and look solemn.
After the theft of the crown jewels, Sir Arthur, with bitter experience of the unreliability of safes, had built a strong room to house his wife's jewels, Kilmorna’s silver ornaments, valuable books and family paintings when he was away from the house. It was natural that wild stories spread through the countryside amongst uneducated peasant farmers. Could it be, asked some, that Sir Arthur really stole the crown jewels and had hidden them in Kilmorna’s strong room? It was thought that there may have been guns stored there also. The IRA considered him to be a spy and informer. Despite many warnings he refused to leave his beloved Kilmorna.
On Monday, 14 April 1921, Sir Arthur was still in bed at 10 o'clock when his wife rushed into the room to tell him that there were men with pistols in the house. He ordered the servants to save as many valuable things as possible. His manager, Michael Murphy, told him the men said that they had only come to burn the house and that no one would be harmed.
By this time the army was on its way from Listowel, alerted by a message from Kilmorna Railway Station. The soldiers wasted precious minutes in a chase that was fruitless. In those minutes, Sir Arthur stood under the guns of the three men from the North Kerry Flying Column, his back pressed against a beech tree. It was there at 10.30 that he was shot three times in the chest and neck and twice in the head. The house had been burnt down as the men had run through it with blankets soaked in petrol.
The army wondered what might remain in the smoking ruins of Kilmorna so they blew open the strong room to find nothing. It had been empty all the time..
The O’Mahoney’s of Kerry called in lawyers to formulate a claim for compensation against the British government, valuing Kilmorna House at around £15,000. From Listowel, people came to gaze at the great black ruin. Their children played with the dismembered pieces of suits of armour they found lying on the terrace. Some wandered amongst the tiny headstones of Lady Vicars’ canine cemetery but mostly they stood looking silently at the devastation before them.
All that remains today in Kilmorna is Parnell’s tree – an oak tree planted by Parnell in the 1880's. He said that he hoped that we would have Home Rule in Ireland before the magpies built their nests in the tree.
BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY (Ireland)
STATEMENT BY WITNESS - MICHAEL MURPHY
Valet to Sir Arthur Vicars, Kilmorna House, 1918-1921.
Subject
Shooting of Sir Arthur Vicars by I.R.A. and burning of Kilmorna House, 14th April 1921.
I was born at Kilmorna in the year 1888, and was sent to the local National School until I was 14 years of age. When I left school I got employment in the Post Office at Kilmorna until I was
15 years of age. I joined the R.I.C. in July l908 and left in November, 1914, when I joined the Irish Guards and served in France for four years part of which was under Lord Kerry, Colonel of the Regiment. One ofmy Company officers then was Captain Alexander who is flow Field Marshal Alexander. I was discharged in December 1918, and returned to Kilmorna. After returning to Kilmorna I was employed as companion and valet to Sir Arthur Vicars at Kilmorna House.
Sir Arthur Vicars, Knight Commander Victorian Order, was a step-brother of Pierce Mahony, Grangecon, County Wicklow, who was M.P. at one time and sat in the House of Commons. Vicars had been in charge of the Crown Jewels at Dublin Castle and at the same time was Ulster King-At-Arms. His home address at the time was 44, Wellington Road, Dublin. The Crown Jewels were stolen from Dublin Castle in the year 1910 and were never recovered with the result that Vicars was dismissed.
He and his wife, Lady Vicars, subsequently came to live as guests of his sister, Madam Jansz, who owned Kilmorna House. His sister had married a Pole.
After the death of his sister and of her husband in England some years later, Vicars and his wife continued to live at Kilmorna House right up to 1921 when he was shot dead by the I.R.A. outside the door one morning.
On the 14th April, 1921, a party of military from Listowel, under a Captain Watson, came on a fishing trip to Kilmorna. They fished in the River Feale which runs through the area. They did not visit the 'great house' as it was called, nor did they meet Vicars.
As they were returning to Listowel they were ambushed by a party of I.R.A. One soldier was killed, two were wounded. The I.R.A. had one man named Calvin killed. It would appear that the I.R.A. were of opinion that Vicars had entertained the military and had also warned them of the impending ambush. This, in my opinion, could not be correct, otherwise the Military would not have cycled into the ambush position.
I could not understand why Vicars was shot. He was a thorough gentleman who mixed freely with the tenants on the estate which comprised 650 acres.
On the morning of the shooting the I.R.A. visited the house, broke open the windows on the ground floor through which they entered the house. They took in with them cans of paraffin and petrol which they sprinkled all over the ground floor. Vicars and his wife were in bed, in separate rooms at the time at the top of the building. I had discovered that the house was on fire. I went into him and told him the house was on fire and was surrounded by armed men. I warned him to get up. He got up and dressed at once. In the meantime I went into Lady Vicars and warned her. She also go up and dressed.
Vicars went down stairs and left the house by the main entrance. He had gone about 150 yards from the door when he ran into a second party of I.R.A. who held him up and shot him dead on the spot. I had followed him close on his heels. He was not questioned in any way. While this was happening Lady Vicars and the household staff escaped through the back doors. That morning my life's savings and personal belongings, including medals and discharge papers, were destroyedin the blaze which enveloped the house so quickly that everything within was burned to ashes. If the attached photo of Kilmorna House is of any value for historical reasons I willingly present it to the Bureau. The news of the burning of the 'great house' and the shooting of Vicars was received with dismay throughout North Kerry. I do not believe he was a spy or got the benefit of a fair trial. That night I was arrested by the Tans. They held me while the subsequent inquiry lasted which was for a period of three weeks. At the inquiry I failed to identify anyone, saying I knew nothing of the men who had taken part in the shooting. I was then released.
From the time of my discharge from the Irish Guards I was associated with the I.R.A. and had a brother who was an active member of that body. After the Truce I joined the National Army with the rank of Captain. I was discharged in September, 1924.
Signed: Michael Murphy
(Michael Murphy 8th February 1955)
BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY (Ireland)
STATEMENT BY WITNESS - JAMES COSTELLO
Captain Duagh Company IRA
Subject
Execution of Sir Arthur Vicars by I.R.A. and burning of Kilmorna House, 14th April 1921.
Some hours after the formation of the column, as the men were about to be billeted for the night, I received information from a member of the Listowel I.R.A. that the Tans and military there were about to make a large scale round-up of the Duagh area. I immediately passed the news to the column, who left immediately for Stack's mountain. Early the following morning before most of the residents in the neighbourhood were out of bed, the Tans and military had arrived. A soldier or Tan was posted outside every house in the village.
After several raids during the day the enemy withdrew.
It is obvious that their information was first class, as they were certainly aware of the presence of the large number of I.R.A. in the area on the previous night. The column managed to escape the round-up, and a night or two after were located in the vicinity of Stack's mountain when they were surrounded by military and Tans from Tralee, Listowel and other areas. The column, however, once again managed to elude their pursuers. This round-up occupied a day and a half. In the meantime I, as Company Captain in Duagh, with the help of members of Duagh Company succeeded in sending supplies to the column while they were located on the mountainside. For some time before the formation of the column the Company Quartermaster, Matt Finucane, had placed his house here in Duagh at the disposal of the I.R.A. It was from this house, which was a farmhouse, that the column were supplied on Stack's mountain. Later the column used the house as their headquarters, and right up to the Truce it was used to billet members for several days at a time. Shotguns, rifles and revolvers were supplied to the column from the house as required. It was also used for the receipt of dispatches from the Brigade 0/C, Paddy Cahill and others. I had sentries posted there for the twenty-four hours of the day right up to the Truce. Some time after its formation the column, while on its way from Newtownsandes via Kilmorna to Duagh, received word that a party of military who had been entertained that day by Sir Arthur Vicars were about to return to their barracks in Listowel. The column took up positions on the side of the road which the military would have to travel and waited. As they approached on bicycles, the column opened fire. The military were in extended formation and replied at once to the fire of the column. One man attached to the column whose name was Galvin was shot dead instantly.
The military fire was so intense that the column had to withdraw, leaving Galvin behind.
On several occasions before and after the formation of the column I took charge of raids on the mails carried on the Limerick to Tralee trains. These raids were carried out at Kilmorna railway station where the station-master, whose name was Colbert, was very friendly and always assisted the I.R.A. on these occasions. He had it arranged with the fireman of the train that the fireman would always wave a red flag as the train came into the station if there were military or Tans aboard. After seizing the mails they were censored and then placed in an empty house at Foildarrig, from where they were later collected by the local Post Office staff. On one occasion, through some misunderstanding, we were not warned that military were on the train. When the train on this occasion had come to a standstill at the station we spotted the military and rushed off the platform. They, however, had seen us. They rushed out of the train and opened fire all round as we retreated for cover and back to Duagh. A day or two after the attack on the military returning from Kilmorna House, which took place on the 7th April, 192l, I received an order from the Battalion 0/C, Paddy Joe McElligott, to burn down Kilmorna House and to arrest Sir Arthur Vicars and have him shot as he had been sentenced to death for being a spy and for assisting the enemy generally. I ordered certain members of the Duagh Company to procure paraffin oil and petrol for the purpose of burning down the house. I instructed them to leave the paraffin and petrol at a point near the house. When this was accomplished I ordered about 12 men of the company to report near the spot at 9 a.m. on the following morning.
At about 9.30 or 10 a.m. on the following morning I, with most of the men selected for the job, approached the "Great House" as it was called locally, and knocked on the door, which was opened by one of the servants - a man named Murphy - who informed us that Vicars was not at home. I said to Murphy "We have a job to do and we are going to do it". Murphy repeated that Vicars was not at home. We took his word for it and decided to put off the job until the following morning. On the following morning, 11th April, 1921, we again approached the "Great House" as before and knocked on the door. There was no answer. I then went over to a window to the right of the door, which I broke open. Having broken the window I called on James McDonagh, a member of the company, to get through the window and open the main door. McDonagh went through the window and opened the door, which was heavily barred by three strong iron stretchers across the door. When the door was opened our men entered in a body, most of them making for the strong room which was securely locked. They, however, blew open the door with a shot or two and, to their surprise, found only a few dumbells and a couple of dummy guns instead of revolvers, rifles or shotguns which they anticipated. While these men were examining the strong room others went on the hunt for Vicars, whom they found in an underground passage which led from the basement of the house for half a mile outside it. He was taken out to the lawn and questioned about various items of information which he had passed to the information. Eventually two of our men shot him dead on the lawn where he stood.
In the meantime other men in the company collected the household staff, which numbered about twelve, and took them out on the lawn. The paraffin and petrol were then sprinkled over the house and it was set alight. The house went up in a blaze at once, after which we withdrew. Most of the men were armed with revolvers, rifles or shotguns on the occasion, some of them being on guard duty around the house itself.
From then to the Truce things were Quiet except for the trenching and blocking of roads and the demolishing of bridges. One of the bridges demolished around this time was Smerla Bridge over the river Feale between Duagh and Listowel, which had to be demolished by pick and shovel.
After the Truce I joined a training camp near Duagh.
Signed James Costello (14th Feb 1955)
que interesante tema historico
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