The Robberies:
Russborough Art Thefts
Unfortunately Russborough has been associated with a number of art thefts since Sir Alfred Beit brought his wonderful art collection to Russborough in the 1950’s. Sir Alfred, in fact , purchased Russborough in 1952 specifically to house the Beit Collection of paintings.
Since Russborough was opened to the public for guided tours in 1978 over 1 million people have visited Russborough to view the house , its contents and in particular its wonderful paintings.
There have, in fact, been four art thefts over the years.
In 1974 some 12 paintings were stolen during a robbery when Sir Alfred & Lady Beit were assaulted. The raid was undertaken by elements of the IRA and primarily organised by Rose Dugdale both to raise money and to obtain the release of her boyfriend from jail. All of the paintings were later recovered in County Cork.
In 1986 there was a further burglary involving Dublin based criminals organised by Martin Cahill ‘The General’. Some 18 paintings in total were stolen and all but 2 smaller paintings were recovered over the years from places as far afield as Ireland , Holland , England and Turkey.
In 2001 & in 2002 there were two further art thefts involving fewer  and less valuable paintings. All of these paintings have now been recovered.
Today, the most valuable ‘Beit’ paintings are exhibited in the National Gallery of Ireland where they are more secure and in temperature controlled rooms that are more fitting to great works of art. For example the invaluable Vermeer , Goya & Gainsborough paintings from the ‘Beit’ collection are now all exhibited in the National Gallery . However the generosity of Sir Alfred Beit in donating these paintings to the state is reflected in the fact that the National Galery has a ‘Beit’ wing specifically named after Sir Alfred.
Russborough itself still contains a substantial collection of paintings which although of considerably less valuable than the great ‘masters’ are of great interest to the thousands of annual visitors from Ireland and abroad. Indeed the paintings now on exhibition at Russborough are much more appropriate to a magnificent country house & estate such as Russborough. Combined with the stunning architecture and magnificent setting of Russborough, overlooking the Blessington lakes & Wicklow mountains, visitors to the house comment how beautifully it is maintained and how lavishly furnished. Fine furniture, tapestries, carpets , porcelain & silver readily complement the numerous ‘Beit’ painitngs that remain in Russborough to this day.
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