State papers: US researcher told Government about plans to find Robert Emmet's skull

Robert Emmet, who was executed on September 20, 1803, for his role in leading a revolt against British rule, was aged just 25 at the time of his death.

The Government was contacted in 1978 about the bizarre method to be used by a US researcher trying to trace the location of the skull of the Irish patriot, Robert Emmet.

The researcher, Ann Druffel from Pasadena in California, sought to clarify to the Government the technique she hoped to use amid concern that some media reports about her mission had been misrepresented.