"My body to Ireland, my heart to Rome and my soul to heaven," the famous last words of Daniel O'Connell.
O'Connell, the man hailed in his time as The Liberator for his leading role in the Catholic emancipation movement of the late 19th century, died in Genoa while on a pilgrimage to Rome in May 1847.
Less known than O'Connell’s parting words is that his dying wishes of having his body buried in Ireland and his heart taken to Rome were indeed carried out.
Before his body was repatriated to Dublin for burial in Glasnevin Cemetery, his heart was removed, embalmed and donated to the Irish College in Rome.
However, his heart later vanished without trace, with its whereabouts still a mystery 180 years on from his death.
Historian and author John Crotty explains further.
"Certainly, his dying wishes were honoured," he said.
He added: "There was quite a fuss and a debate about where the best place for his heart was, but a quite fitting location was found, in that the Irish College had been set up in Rome at St Agata del Goti, or the Church of the Goths, so this was the place selected to hold the heart.
"They were very proud of this, it was quite clear that it was a prized possession for them. They used the words 'we’ve the privilege of preserving the great heart of the father of this country under our church'."
O'Connell’s heart was believed to have been reposing in a modest urn, before being placed behind a marble plaque fixed to the wall of the church to allow admirers to pay their respects.
However, in 1927, problems arose.
"There was great embarrassment, Italian blushes, apologies all round."
"O’Connell’s tomb was due to be moved and indeed the whole Irish College was due to be moved from the church of St Agatha," Mr Crotty explains.
"There were works going on next door, with the Bank of Italy encroaching on the space under the church.
"They decided to move and of course they would take the heart of O'Connell with them, they wouldn't leave behind this prized possession.
"But unfortunately, when they went to move the monument, the heart and urn were no longer there, there was nothing to be found - it was a disaster.
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"The rector of the church at the time told a story that the heart was actually being kept in the crypt of the church.
"The initial confusion and concern were probably allayed but tragically a search underneath the church revealed absolutely nothing - there was no sign of the urn that was supposed to be holding the heart of the liberator of Ireland.
"There was great embarrassment, Italian blushes, apologies all round."
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Almost 100 years later, the whereabouts of O'Connell’s heart remains unknown. However, there are a number of theories as to where it may have ended up.
Mr Crotty said: "The likely explanation is that when the Bank of Italy expanded into the area adjacent to the church, there’s no question they took part of the crypt as part of this expansion.
"There's a distinct possibility that the bank had inadvertently cordoned off an area where the urn would have been held.
"Probably more likely is that when these moving works were going on that the urn was moved as part of a reburial and excavation of other remains that they found underneath the church.
"All these remains were swept up and moved to a place called Campo Verano on the outskirts of Rome.
"There's a distinct possibility that the heart of Daniel O’Connell, if it's still at this point in the modest urn, was swept up and taken to Campo Verano and reinterred.
"At the very least the heart does sit in Rome as was his wish but in an unknown location."
However, other possibilities of where O'Connell’s heart may lie are not as promising.
There are unconfirmed records that the heart was removed from the modest urn and transferred to an ornate silver casket, which would have been highly valuable.
Mr Crotty said: "If you were a passing builder or someone working in the area, it is distinctly possible that theft has come into this. Of course, they wouldn’t have known the importance of it, they would have only seen a silver urn that had a very specific and clear value.
"So what a tragedy to think that the heart of O'Connell could have been swept up and taken and stolen - that what was inside was disposed and the urn itself sold for profit.
"But that is the worst-case scenario, the distinct hope has to be that it was swept up in the Campo Verano move or that it does remain underneath the chapel of the Goths still to this day as an unrecognised item in a modest urn that nobody would believe that something of such great importance could be sitting in."
In the Church of St Agata del Got today, a depiction of O’Connell’s heart is on permanent exhibition.
The plaster cast heart, titled 'The Lost Heart of Daniel O’Connell', was gifted to the church by Irish artist Claire Halpin, who was also left intrigued by the mystery surrounding the missing relic.
For Maurice O’Connell, the great-great-great-grandnephew of Daniel O’Connell, he would love to try and solve the near-century-old riddle, especially as today marks the 250th anniversary of the Liberator’s birth.
"It's a travesty if it was just left like that, I think with the 250th anniversary, if you're not going to search now, you're never going to do it so at least there's some impetus behind it," he said.
"I’m sure there's interest in Government to help the Daniel O'Connell story. But you’ve got to try and find it.
"If it was found I’d like to see it laid to rest on Abbey Island with his wife Mary, the big love of his life. It would be fantastic if the heart was reunited with her.
"I’d sort of assumed we'd never come to the bottom of this, but to reunite his heart with Mary would be very special," he added.
To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Daniel O'Connell, the RTÉ News Channel will carry live coverage of a State-led Commemorative event from Derrynane House, Co Kerry, at 2pm.
The special programme will be broadcast live on the RTÉ News Channel and on the RTÉ Player.
You can also watch Nationwide's full programme on Daniel O'Connell at 7pm on RTÉ One and later on the RTÉ Player.
