Priceless treasure burgled

ALAN O'KEEFFE LORD Henry Mountcharles spoke of his "absolute devastation" last night following a robbery which deprived his family of irreplaceable heirlooms and historic treasures. He was at home in Beauparc House outside Navan on Friday night when a gang broke into the mansion and stole jewellery and family momentos which had been cherished by the family for up to 250 years. "It was a heavy situation and I'm just relieved that my wife and 13-year-old daughter weren't harmed as they weren't at home when it happened," he told the Sunday Independent . The items were stolen from a room while Lord Mountcharles was in the next room but he remained unaware of what was happening during the robbery. "It's very distressing. These items have been in my family for generations and they consisted of what survived the fire at Slane Castle in 1991. We had a very significant emotional attachment to some of the items," he said. The stolen items included a gold ring given by George IV of England to Lady Conyngham who was his last mistress. Lord Mountcharles is directly descended from her. The ring was inlaid with emeralds and had an engraving of a shamrock, rose, and thistle. A stolen gold snuff box was engraved with the date of Christmas Eve 1762 with an inscription that it was a gift from Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick and Luneberg, to Captain Henri Conyngham. A missing gold vesta holder bore the inscription that it was given by Emperor Napoleon III to the Earl of Mountcharles in 1855. Another gold snuff box had the inscription that it was a present from George IV to a very young Lord Mountcharles who was a page boy at his coronation in 1831. A stolen 18ct gold child's rattle was a present from George IV to Viscount Slane on his birth. A silver gilt 'freedom box' dated 1799 was presented by Drogheda Corporation to Earl Conyngham. Gardai searching for a gang estimate the stolen items are worth well over ?100,000. Also stolen were: a silver and enamel Garter badge; 18ct ladies gold key wound pocket watch, dated 1850; and two Ivory coach passes, dated 1821.