In the shadow of Brian Ború, High King of Ireland

There are calls for the Vatican to return the lost crown of Brian Ború, but while some historians question its existence, the legacy of the 'Emperor of the Irish' rests in a handful of often-disputed artefacts and sites

Brian Ború from 'The General History of Ireland', Dermot O'Connor's 1723 translation of Keating's 'Foras feasa ar Éirinn'. Picture: Wikimedia Commons

The lost crown of the High King of Ireland has been buried somewhere in a Vatican vault for almost 1,000 years.

It may sound like the plot of a children’s adventure movie, but Clare TD Cathal Crowe brought the claim out of the realm of myth and legend and into the workaday surrounds of Dáil Éireann this week. He submitted a parliamentary question calling on the Tánaiste to work with the Irish Ambassador to the Holy See to have legendary 11th century king Brian Ború’s crown returned by the Vatican.