BBC Northern Ireland is revisiting a notorious antiques robbery through a new investigative podcast series.
In the latest Mystery Of … series, reporter Gordon Adair and producer Ophelia Byrne return to a dramatic crime that unfolded in Northern Ireland in 1990 during the height of the Troubles.
The Mystery Of… The Lord, The Art Theft And An Heir Lost At Sea, explores how four masked men targeted an elderly Lord inside his home and carried out a daring £1m antiques robbery.
The attackers reportedly restrained their victim before stealing a collection of valuable historical items, in what remains widely believed to be the largest antiques theft ever recorded in Northern Ireland.
After completing the robbery, the gang escaped using both a car and a van, leaving investigators searching for clues while authorities offered rewards for information connected to the stolen artefacts.
Despite extensive efforts, neither the suspects nor the antiques were recovered for several years, deepening public fascination with a crime that appeared to vanish without clear explanation or accountability.
The case took an even stranger turn the following year when the Lord’s son disappeared while travelling in Rhodes, creating further intrigue around the family and the unresolved investigation.
Before his disappearance, he was said to have sent a puzzling letter to Ireland containing a chart with unusual markings and a cryptic message that raised questions but provided few definitive answers.
Adair and Byrne examine why the case has remained unsolved and largely forgotten, while retracing the complicated trail that links organised crime, hidden networks and the global trade in stolen cultural artefacts.
Their investigation goes through connections involving paramilitary organisations and elements of the Dublin underworld, highlighting how art and antiques theft can fund wider criminal activity.
The podcast also explores the wider impact of crimes involving heritage objects, showing how such thefts can remove historically significant pieces from public access while benefiting illegal international markets.
By revisiting archived evidence and speaking to figures connected to the case, it’s hoped new light is on unanswered questions that have lingered for more than three decades.
The Mystery Of… The Lord, The Art Theft And An Heir Lost At Sea is available now on BBC Sounds.
