A daring late-night break in, millions of dollars of art stolen, one of the biggest art heists in all of Ireland.

Who could be responsible for such a daring and dastardly deed? None other than the infamous gangster and thug, Martin Cahill, or the General as people called him. What could be more of a treasure hunt then this? Rising up in the slums of Dublin, Martin Cahill was a gangster who wanted to be much more, a Robin Hood too his people from the slums he came from. He robbed houses left and right, taunted Garda, and even planted a bomb under the head forensics man’s car. He was ruthless, but the people loved him where he came from.

So, it’s not surprise that he wanted to do a big job, something that would taunt the Garda even more, a world class art heist. He and his lads waited outside Russborough House, which the IRA had robbed years before. They set the alarm off and went into the woods to wait it out. The Garda investigated and found nothing wrong, so headed back to the station. When the second alarm went off, they figured it was one a false alarm and ignored it.

Seeing the Garda did not come back, Martin and his gang broke in for real this time. This time stealing 14 or so famous paintings. They went into the Wicklow mountains and buried them. Of course, these paintings were too famous, so there was no way to really pawn them off. All the paintings were recovered except two that are still probably buried up in those mountains. They never were able to pin the crime n Martin for this though.

Martin was famous for hiding his face from the media, putting his hand over it or pulling a hood down low. He continued to do minor crimes and taunt the Garda. As far as the General goes, his time was limited.  He was shot dead in his car returning a movie to the rental place eight years later, possibly for pissing the IRA off.

The Russborough house is really gorgeous, filled with some of the stolen art, and much much more. In the basement they have a film and photo display of how folks lived in the house during its good old years. Really amazing place.

The General

The General Movie

Russborough House

I am still sticking to my theme but felt like to really illustrate this point the General himself had to make an appearance.

To check out more of my art and portfolio go to MichaelBencik.com