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One of the most notable Ulster King of Arms was Sir Arthur Vicars, left, who held the post from 1893   until 1908 when he was forced to resign in disgrace due to his part in the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels. The story begins with a report in the London Times of 8 July 1907 that the "Crown Jewels and other Insignia of the Order of St Patrick", popularly known as "The Irish Crown Jewels" had disappeared from a safe in Dublin Castle, Ireland. Inside a safe in the Office of Arms in Dublin Castle were kept the regalia of the Grand Master of the Order of St Patrick.   The jewels formed a star with eight points, and a...

The noted heraldic writer Arthur Charles Fox-Davies in his Heraldry Explained ( 1925 ) noted that “ In Ireland there still exists the unique opportunity of obtaining a confirmation of arms upon mere proof of user …… The present regulation is that user must be proved for at least three generations, and be proved also to have existed for one hundred years.” Sir Bernard Burke,image below, who held the office of Ulster King of Arms for nearly 40 years ( 1854 – 1892 ), in the introduction to his Burke’s General Armoury mentions that the confirmation was accompanied by the addition of some slight heraldic difference mark. In Ireland the system of heraldic funerals prevailed as in England but with...