Ireland was not immune to art thefts but from country houses not museums. Something stolen from one house was recovered in London, returned to its rightful place, and shortly afterwards stolen again not to be found so far.
Many of us will remember the Russborough heists not least because they happened so often. As Lord Kilbracken wrote in a letter to The Irish Times: “to paraphrase Oscar, to lose a Vermeer may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose it twice seems like carelessness”.
If I may digress, in February 1974 there was a break-in at Kenwood House in Hampstead and The Guitar Player by Vermeer stolen. It was recovered and the perpetrators never identified. However, an IRA ransom demand leads me to speculate that even if she did not participate, it gave Rose Dugdale the idea for a larger scale and more audacious robbery at Russborough in Co. Wicklow.
“On April 26, 1974, Dugdale and three male IRA members tied up 71-year-old Sir Alfred Beit and his wife, then targeted the paintings. Led by British heiress-turned-rebel Dr. Rose Dugdale, the gang stole 19 masterpieces (including works by Vermeer, Goya, and Rubens) valued at £8 million (more than £100 million today). They demanded a prisoner exchange, but the raid failed, and most works were recovered in County Cork.” (RTE)
“In 1986, the only Vermeer in private ownership was stolen from Russborough House. The painting, Lady Writing with her Maid, was valued at over $45 million. The heist was led by Martin Cahill, an infamous Irish thug nicknamed “The General”. Cahill’s gang stole 18 paintings, many of which were recovered years later across international locations, with the Vermeer recovered in 1993.” (Essential Vermeer)
“The mansion was broken into again in June 2001 (taking two paintings) and September 2002 (taking five paintings, including works by Rubens and Ruisdael). Law enforcement successfully tracked down and recovered the stolen works from these later raids as well.” (The Guardian)
Seventeen masterpieces from the Beit collection, including works by Goya, Velázquez, Gainsborough and the last Vermeer in private hands, The Lady Writing a Letter, were given to the National Gallery of Ireland in 1987 leading Homan Potterton, Director of the Gallery, to “acclaim it as one of the most magnificent gifts made to a museum anywhere”. Or you might say one of the most tempting targets for art thieves.