Order of St Patrick

The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a dormant British order of chivalry associated with Ireland.

The Order was created in 1783 by George III at the request of the then Lord-Lieutenant, Lord Buckingham. The regular creation of knights of Saint Patrick lasted until 1922, when most of Ireland became independent as the Irish Free State. While the Order technically still exists, no knight of St Patrick has been created since 1936, and the last surviving knight, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, died in 1974. The Queen, however, remains the Sovereign of the Order, and one officer, the Ulster King of Arms (now combined with Norroy King of Arms), also survives. St Patrick is patron of the order; its motto is Quis separabit?, Latin for "Who will separate [us]?": an allusion to the Vulgatetranslation of Romans 8:35, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

Most British orders of chivalry cover the entire kingdom, but the three most exalted ones each pertain to one constituent country only. The Order of St Patrick, which pertains to Ireland, is the most junior of these three in precedence and age. Its equivalent in England, The Most Noble Order of the Garter, is the oldest order of chivalry in the United Kingdom, dating to the middle fourteenth century. The Scottish equivalent is The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, dating in its modern form to 1687.

Early history
The order was founded in 1783, a year after the grant of substantial autonomy to Ireland, as a means of rewarding (or obtaining) political support in the Irish Parliament. The Order of the Bath, founded in 1725, was instituted for similar reasons. The statutes of the Order restricted membership to men who were both knights and gentlemen, the latter being defined as having three generations of "noblesse" (i.e. ancestors bearing coats of arms) on both their father's and mother's side. In practice, however, only Irish Peers (and occasional foreign princes with tenuous or no Irish connections) were ever appointed to the Order. The cross of St Patrick (a red saltire on a white background) was chosen as one of the symbols of the Order. A flag of this design was later incorporated into the Union Flag. Its association with St. Patrick or with Ireland prior to the foundation of the Order is unclear, however. One of the first knights was The 2nd Duke of Leinster, whose arms carry the same cross.

The Irish Crown Jewels

The Order of St Patrick earned international coverage when, in 1907, its insignia, known generally as the Irish Crown Jewels, were stolen from the Bedford Tower in Dublin Castle shortly before a visit by the Order's Sovereign, King Edward VII. Their whereabouts remain a mystery.