logo
Inflatable Jesus, Christmas tree and a keyboard among thousands of items lost on Irish Rail

Inflatable Jesus, Christmas tree and a keyboard among thousands of items lost on Irish Rail

Irish Examiner6 days ago
Two ukuleles, a bag of spuds, a Christmas tree, and an inflatable Jesus were among the items lost and found on Irish Rail services last year.
The rail operator said it logged thousands of individual lost items, including common belongings like mobile phones, earphones, wallets, books, and clothes.
But there were also more unusual entries, including a 'cup with smelly stuff inside,' a dog lead, and a brown fur coat.
Several children were left without precious toys, including a soft dinosaur, a cuddly cat, and a Spiderman stuffed toy.
Some items were relatively expensive. One person lost two bottles of Tom Ford aftershave and a bottle of brandy.
Other high-value belongings included a Marc Jacobs purse, a diamond and gemstone ring, and gold earrings.
Some weren't quite as valuable, such as the 'fake Gucci handbag' retrieved on one service.
Another passenger lost a violin, one mislaid a Yamaha keyboard, while two forgot to take their ukuleles home.
ID cards from international visitors were also found, including a US driver's licence, a Hungarian ID card, and a Spanish passport.
Other identification documents included an Irish Prison Service card, an Office of Government Procurement ID, and a University College Cork staff card.
Sports equipment was frequently recovered, including boxing gloves, a bicycle, a badminton case, and rackets.
Some of the more curious items included a 'large brown envelope,' though it wasn't clear whether it contained cash.
Religious items were also logged, such as a Holy Bible, an inflatable Jesus, and a wooden set of rosary beads.
There were also more sinister discoveries, including a flick-knife, a bag of knives, and a book on the history of witchcraft.
Even medical devices were among the lost property. A sleep apnoea machine was left behind on a Cork service, and an insulin stick was found on another.
A spokesman for Irish Rail said lost and found items are a daily part of rail travel and public transport everywhere.
He said: 'While there are few amongst us who haven't left an umbrella or glasses or similar behind us, we often find more significant and higher value items too, both monetary and sentimental.'
The spokesman added that all items are collected and held for at least 30 days, and customers can contact Irish Rail through its website or relevant train station to recover lost belongings.
Read More
Irish food and alcohol prices among highest in Eurozone, with basic groceries far above EU average
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Former Irish sports figure accused of historical sex abuse offences served book of evidence and sent forward for trial
Former Irish sports figure accused of historical sex abuse offences served book of evidence and sent forward for trial

The Irish Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Irish Sun

Former Irish sports figure accused of historical sex abuse offences served book of evidence and sent forward for trial

A FORMER Irish sports figure accused of historical sex abuse offences was served with a book of evidence and sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court. The man, who cannot be named due to the nature of the charges, is in his seventies and Advertisement 2 Judge Michele Finan granted a return for trial order Credit: HANDOUT PR IMAGE Judge Michele Finan at He told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions consented to being sent forward on indictment on the 79 charges in the book of evidence served by They include 78 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape. The offences allegedly occurred at various locations in Co Dublin, including Dún Laoghaire, Killiney, and Blackrock, between 1971 and 1981. Advertisement Read more in News At the time, the girls were minors aged between eight and fifteen. The man was extradited from the Judge Finan notified the man that he must inform the prosecution within 14 days if he intends to use an alibi in his trial. She also ordered investigating gardaí to provide copies of interview videos to the defence and told the accused that his lawyer would explain it to him later. Advertisement Most read in Irish News The man, who has not yet entered a plea, was remanded in continuing custody pending trial with no bail application made. Legal aid has been granted, with the defence stating that he is not working and has no assets. DATE YET TO BE SET The judge noted that there was no Garda objection, and she agreed to a request by his solicitor, Tracy Horan, that it would include senior and junior counsel representation. The date for his next hearing before the Central Criminal Court has yet to be set but will be held the next legal term, commencing in October. Advertisement Dressed in a grey tracksuit and black runners, the man sat silently in a wheelchair and spoke only to consult with his solicitor, who asked that he get dental attention in custody, because he still had no dentures and "is not able to eat solid foods". Following extradition proceedings at the request of the Irish authorities, he was arrested at Terminal 2, Dublin Airport on the morning of July 22. CHARGES FACED Gardaí charged him on the instruction of the DPP. He faces 41 counts of indecent assault and one for attempted rape of one of the complainants, 34 counts of indecent assault of another female, two counts of indecent assault of another complainant, and one charge of indecent assault of the fourth. Advertisement The offences are contrary to Common Law. At his first hearing, a few hours after his arrest, the defence solicitor had informed the judge that her client required medical assistance in custody because he had no dentures or hearing aid, as they had not been brought over from the United States. The judge had noted this information and agreed to add that he should urgently get dentures and a hearing aid in custody. When the proceedings resumed today, she heard that the man still had no dentures and recommended that he get the appropriate treatment. Advertisement 2 A former Irish sports figure accused of historical sex abuse has been sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court Credit: Crispin Rodwell - The Sun Dublin

The 117-year mystery of Ireland's missing crown jewels – Sherlock Holmes author help, graveyard digs & inside man theory
The 117-year mystery of Ireland's missing crown jewels – Sherlock Holmes author help, graveyard digs & inside man theory

The Irish Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Irish Sun

The 117-year mystery of Ireland's missing crown jewels – Sherlock Holmes author help, graveyard digs & inside man theory

ON a July morning in 1907 a messenger boy was returning a piece of jewellery to a safe in Dublin Castle. But to his shock when he arrived, the door was already unlocked and the Irish Crown Jewels, the most precious items in the country, were missing. Advertisement 5 The items were stolen from their safe in the Bedford Tower in Dublin Castle Credit: Getty Images - Getty 5 A reward poster offering £1,000 for the return of the jewels, worth over €170,000 today The Irish Crown Jewels were the ceremonial regalia of the Order of St Patrick, a chivalric order established in the 18th century for Anglo-Irish nobility. On 6 July, 1907, just four days before The set, which consisted of a jewel-encrusted badge and a star, would be valued at several million euros today. Advertisement On the surface, this might sound like any other famous jewel robbery. But, Ireland's version of Ocean's Eleven holds more twists and frankly bizarre moments than even the best Hollywood blockbuster. It all starts with the man responsible for the safekeeping of the jewels - Arthur Vicars. Vicars was the Contemporaries described him as being eccentric and as having a drinking problem. However, he was well-connected within Anglo-Irish society. Advertisement Vicars was surprisingly lax in his role as custodian of the jewels. Historian and broadcaster, Myles Dungan, explains: "The jewels were discovered to be missing completely and utterly by accident. It wasn't that somebody said, 'We'd better go and get that badge and star for Aberdeen so that he can wear it', and then they discovered it. "They discovered it because one of the gold collars, had been cleaned by weirs of Grafton Street, and was being brought back to be put in the safe." 'HISTORY OF SCANDALS' Vicars would host parties in the office of arms, which were often attended by various aristocrats. Many believed Vicars was homosexual. Advertisement And rumours swirled that these lavish parties were actually sex parties or orgies. Myles said: "There was a history of these kind of scandals in Dublin Castle in the 1880s. The Parliamentary Newspaper of the United Ireland had exposed the Director of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Secretary of the Post Office as homosexual. "Then you sort of fast forward by about 25 years, and Vicars was supposed to have hosted these parties." EASILY DRUNK Regardless of what went on at these parties, Vicars was undoubtedly reckless in his duties. Myles explained: "He got drunk very, very easily. I mean, a couple of glasses of port and he was anybody's. Advertisement "The story goes that he used to keep a key to the safe on himself at all times, and that one night party-goers had taken the key, and taken the jewels out, and promenaded around his office with the jewels in sort of a drunken stupor." He added: "There was also a claim that one of the people who was involved in these parties, a man called Lord Haddo, had just for a lark, stolen the jewels, and then replaced them the following day." RIDICULOUS BEHAVIOUR Vicars was so accustomed to these antics that he brushed off multiple reports of suspicious activity in the week leading up to the robbery. The Wednesday before the robbery, an office cleaner named Mrs Farrell had arrived at 7am and discovered that the front door of the office of arms was open. The following Saturday, she returned again to find the front door open, but this time, the strongroom was also unlocked, with the keys still left in the door. Advertisement Both incidents were reported to Vicars, who, according to Myles, "took no notice of it at all". "The jewels were discovered to be missing completely and utterly by accident. It wasn't that somebody said, 'We'd better go and get that badge and star for Aberdeen so that he can wear it', and then they discovered it." Myles Dungan Historian and broadcaster Funnily enough, the safe containing the jewels wasn't even in the strongroom when this occurred. Myles explained: "Regulations were introduced in the early 1900s, and the rule was that the jewels were to be deposited in the strongroom of the Office of Arms in the Bedford Tower in Dublin Castle. "The problem was that when the Board of Works, the ancestors of the OPW, and anybody who follows the Leinster House bike saga would not be surprised by this, when they came to put the safe into the strong room, they discovered that it was too big." Instead, the safe was left unguarded in the library of the Office of Arms. Advertisement PSYCHICS ENLISTED The robbery of the jewels represented a monumental scandal for both Vicars and Dublin Castle. An investigation was quickly launched in an attempt to identify the culprit. However, like every other part of this story, it was rather absurd. Vicars was immediately fingered as a top suspect in the case, due to his possession of the keys and his strained reputation. Desperate to prove his innocence and recover the jewels, Vicars enlisted the help of a number of supposed psychics. The psychics told him that the jewels were buried in a graveyard, so Vicars proceeded to dig up several graveyards fitting the description given. Advertisement AIDED BY AUTHOER To his disappointment, nothing was found. The author of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, even offered his services, as he was a distant cousin of Vicars. Doyle, however, was not a detective; he was a doctor and proved to be utterly useless when it came to actual detective work. Vicars would later come to blame Francis Shackleton, brother of the famous Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, for the robbery. Shackleton worked under Vicars at Dublin Castle and was known for having a lavish lifestyle despite being heavily in debt. Advertisement AN INSIDE JOB? He was also later convicted of financial fraud in 1913, in a separate case. Shackleton, however, had an alibi. He was out of the country the day of the robbery. Myles, however, explains that Shackleton may still have had a role to play in the robbery, as an inside man. He said: "The main suspect in that sense is Shackleton, and Shackleton was the inside man. The outside man was somebody who may or may not have been his lover, who was a man called Captain Gorges. "So the assumption is that Gorges actually, because Shackleton shared a house with Vickers, had access to all the keys. And that he created or he made copies of the keys for Gorges, and that Gorges then did the actual deed, he actually stole the jewels." Advertisement "There was also a claim that one of the people who was involved in these parties, a man called Lord Haddo, had just for a lark, stolen the jewels, and then replaced them the following day." Myles Dungan Despite such speculation, the investigation ultimately stalled due to a lack of credible evidence. Some believe the case was deliberately covered up by the crown after the investigation revealed a "ring of debauchery" at work within Dublin Castle. IT MIGHT BE ON YOUR FINGER As for the jewels, some speculate that they are still hidden or even secretly in the possession of the royal family. More likely, however, the jewels were broken down and sold off individually after the robbery. Myles explains: "The supposition is that the jewels that were stolen were smuggled out of the country to the Netherlands and were broken up. Advertisement "I mean, it's always going to be a mystery. It's always going to be susceptible to any conspiracy theory you want." Myles Dungan Historian and broadcaster "It's worth saying that you know any of your readers who have a diamond engagement ring could feasibly, depending on the age of the diamond, actually be wearing a small part of the Irish Crown Jewels; I strongly suspect lots of people are." Vicars held on in his position for some time after the robbery, refusing to take blame for the loss of the jewels. Feeling scapegoated, he even requested a royal commission trial so he could defend his character. Eventually, however, he was found to have been negligent and fired. He would never fully recover from the scandal and in 1921, after returning to his home in County Advertisement UNSOLVED MYSTERY It's been 117 years since the jewels went missing, and experts are nowhere near close to solving the mystery. It is likely we will never know what truly happened that day, but according to Myles, that's what makes the story so interesting. Myles said: "I mean, it's always going to be a mystery. It's always going to be susceptible to any conspiracy theory you want." He jokingly added: "You know what I think? I think the crown jewels were stolen by aliens. Yeah. I think they were brought to New Mexico, and I think the US government basically is hiding the crown jewels because they were stolen by aliens" To learn more about the robbery, Myles Dungan's The Stealing of the Irish Crown Jewels is available for purchase online. 5 An image of The Irish Crown Jewels published by the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police after the theft was discovered. Advertisement 5 Myles Dungan has released a book on the robbery Credit: Myles Dungan 5 The Stealing of the Irish Crown Jewels details all the bizarre aspects of the crime Credit: Myles Dungan

Man who repeatedly failed to provide fingerprints to facilitate deportation jailed for two months
Man who repeatedly failed to provide fingerprints to facilitate deportation jailed for two months

Irish Examiner

timean hour ago

  • Irish Examiner

Man who repeatedly failed to provide fingerprints to facilitate deportation jailed for two months

A man facing a deportation order has repeatedly failed to provide fingerprints to facilitate his deportation and on Tuesday he was jailed for two months. Defence solicitor Killian McCarthy said the man had been working and contributing to Irish society and did not understand why he was being deported. Judge Philip O'Leary said the defendant's deportation was not a matter that was before Cork District Court on Tuesday, and he was only dealing with the failure to provide fingerprints. Mr McCarthy said Oudach Mbarak, of Mandeville Lane, Waterford, was pleading guilty to that offence. The accused, who is in his 30s, appeared at Cork District Court by video link from prison. Inspector Ray Dunne said the accused man was requested at the Cork district courthouse on June 24 to complete an identification form and asked for his fingerprints to be taken to assist in obtaining a travel document required for the purpose of deportation. 'Mr Mbarak failed to cooperate and refused to supply the requested information on an ID form and did not consent to have his fingerprints taken,' Insp Dunne said. The inspector said this was the defendant's third conviction for the same offence. He failed to provide his fingerprints when required on May 8, and again on June 3. Both of these offences were dealt with together at Cork District Court on July 1 when he was given a two-month sentence for the second offence and the first count was taken into consideration. Judge Philip O'Leary said: 'This is his third time not giving fingerprints. It is not getting better. He will be getting a longer sentence.' Mr McCarthy said the accused pleaded guilty to the offence and he asked for the sentence to be backdated to the beginning of July when he went into custody. Judge O'Leary said he had been contemplating a three-month sentence. Instead of backdating this sentence he said instead he would impose a sentence of two months to commence on Tuesday. The charge under the Immigration Act 1999 is a count which states: 'On June 24 at Cork District Court, Anglesea Street, Cork, being a person in respect of whom a deportation order was signed on October 31 2024 under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and having been so required by a person authorised by the mnister, namely Garda Sinead McCarthy, did fail to affix your fingerprints to a document to facilitate your deportation from the State.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store