The 1822 Bottle Riot at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, which involved the throwing of a bottle at the Lord Lieutenant, was notable for the fact that the bottle in question did not break, but fell into the Viceregal box and – in an appropriately dramatic gesture – was raised and held up to the audience by the Lord Lieutenant himself.
It was also notable for the subsequent charges of conspiracy to murder and attempted murder brought against the bottle-throwers by the then Attorney-General William Conyngham Plunket (later Lord Chancellor Plunket) – which did not, however, result in any conviction.
According to the below report from the Freeman’s Journal of 23 July 1912, the infamous bottle itself was last heard of a half century later, wrapped in paper, in – of all places – the Law Library in the Four Courts!
Could it still be there?
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