I’m hatching a plan (which, if you consider the relatively few things that can be ‘hatched’, really isn’t so bad as it could be). The Annals of Inisfallen have returned to the Rebel County for the first time in over 400 years thanks to a loan from its current stewards at the University of Oxford. Now, if I’ve learned anything from the movies, it’s that hidden in every ancient manuscript is a secret code which, if properly deciphered, leads to untold levels of fortune and fame. ‘But aren’t you already massively wealthy and universally adored?’, I hear you ask. Well, reader, what can I say? It’s quite simply never enough.
Museum heists are growing increasingly common. Last year it was the Louvre, when some of the French Crown Jewels were stolen. Despite several arrests, the priceless artefacts have yet to be recovered. In the last month alone, a collection of Bronze Age gold objects from a museum in Villena in Spain was robbed, while a 200-carat platinum and diamond necklace was taken from Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts. Most of these robberies were motivated by the rising price of precious metals, particularly silver and gold. Nobody, as far as I can tell, has gone down the National Treasure/Da Vinci Code route just yet – that’s where I come in… ANCIENT ANNALS
But first some context. The Annals of Innisfallen is a nearly 1,000 year old manuscript which chronicles Irish life from 433 to 1450. Primarily written by monks at an abbey in Killarney, it was owned by 17th century Irish historian Sir James Ware for a time, before eventually being housed in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, where it has been for the last 250 years.
Full column in this week’s Print & Digital Edition.
