44-721: The Concerned Criminals Action Committee (CCAC) was a group formed by members of the Martin Cahill criminal gang in Dublin in the 1980s, as a foil to the Concerned Parents Against Drugs (CPAD) group. CPAD formed in February 1984, to address drug activity in the community through citizen patrols and checkpoints. Members of the CCAC stated that they were not organising in support of the drug trade, but rather because of concerns that CPAD
88-625: A Music Room complete a symmetrical arrangement. The ceilings of several rooms and the main stairhall feature elaborate stucco work attributed to the Swiss-Italian stuccodores, Paolo and Filippo Lafrancini. Russborough has housed two fine art collections, begun with the Milltown estate, whose collection was donated to the National Gallery of Ireland by the widow of the sixth earl, Lady Geraldine Milltown in 1902. Sir Alfred and Clementine, Lady Beit,
132-714: A biographical film titled The General , starring Brendan Gleeson as Cahill. The film won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival . It was based on a book by Irish crime journalist Paul Williams , who was also the crime editor of the Irish tabloid the Sunday World . Boorman himself once had his home burgled by Cahill, who stole the gold record which Boorman had won for the Deliverance soundtrack. This incident
176-543: A considerable sum in exchange for Cahill's assassination. Even though Frances Cahill's memoir, Martin Cahill, My Father , alleges the General detested and steered clear of drug trafficking , his brother Peter was imprisoned for heroin trafficking. After a Roman Catholic requiem mass , Martin Cahill was buried in consecrated ground at Mount Jerome Cemetery . In 2001, his gravestone was vandalised and broken in two. Following
220-591: A cousin of the Mitford sisters , bought the house in 1952 where he housed his own family's collection, started by his uncle, Alfred Beit , comprising works by many great artists, including Goya , Vermeer , Peter Paul Rubens and Thomas Gainsborough . Sir Alfred and Lady Beit established the Alfred Beit Foundation as a registered charity in 1976 to safeguard the house and collections for future generations. In 1987, they donated seventeen of their finest paintings to
264-510: A diabetic. Cahill was married to Frances Lawless with whom he fathered five children. However, it is also believed that Cahill had, with Frances' approval, a mistress in his wife's younger sister Tina Lawless, with whom Cahill is believed to have fathered a further four children. This polygamous arrangement was depicted in the 1998 biopic of Cahill's life, The General . In 1998 John Boorman (who had lived in Ireland for nearly 20 years) directed
308-530: A local shop. Upon reaching a road junction (where Oxford Road meets Charleston Road) he was repeatedly shot in the face and upper torso and died almost instantly. The gunman, who was armed with a .357 Magnum revolver, jumped on a motorbike, and disappeared from the scene. There are a number of theories about who killed Martin Cahill and why. Within hours of Cahill's death, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility in
352-753: A press release. The reasons cited were Cahill's alleged involvement with a Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The UVF unit in question had recently attempted a bomb attack on a south Dublin Irish pub which was hosting a Sinn Féin fund-raiser on 21 May 1994. The UVF operatives had been prevented from entering by pub doorman and Volunteer in the Provisional IRA's Dublin Brigade Martin Doherty , who they instead shot dead. The IRA further alleged that Cahill had been involved in selling
396-581: A truly lavish interior. It remained in the possession of the Earls of Milltown until the sixth earl. On the death of his widow in 1914 it passed to a nephew, Edmund Turton , who rarely stayed there. On Turton's death in 1929, his widow sold the house to Captain Denis Bowes Daly in 1931. Between 1937 and 1940, the Liffey valley in front of the house was flooded in order to create Poulaphouca Reservoir , also known as
440-405: Is a 2 km maze, craft courtyard of artisan studios and The National Bird of Prey Centre. On 7 February 2010, a fire severely damaged the west wing and caused part of the roof to collapse. No art was damaged, having been removed along with furniture to allow for restorations to the west wing. Initial examinations of the damage suggested an electrical fault from wiring in the roof may have sparked
484-511: Is a classical Palladian villa made up of a central block containing the principal rooms and two wings housing the servants and stable blocks to the east and west. Castle enhanced his core design with a wealth of features. The Greek orders are observed in the Doric columns of the colonnades and the Corinthian columns that flank the main entrance, supporting a fused portico enriched with swags of flowers. At
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#1733104941436528-497: Is depicted in the film. Ken Stott starred as Cahill in a 1999 BBC drama, Vicious Circle written by Kieran Prendiville The 2003 film Veronica Guerin implies that John Gilligan ordered Cahill's murder. In the film Gilligan and Traynor are not portrayed as Cahill's subordinates. Instead, Gilligan appears as a rival mob boss and Traynor as a lower-level associate. The film Ordinary Decent Criminal , starring Kevin Spacey ,
572-475: Is loosely based on Cahill's life. In 2004, a book written by Matthew Hart was released entitled The Irish Game: A True Story of Crime and Art , which depicted the story of the Russborough House heist in 1986 and Cahill's involvement. Cahill's eldest daughter, Frances Cahill, released a book in 2008 entitled Martin Cahill, My Father . Russborough House Russborough House is a stately house near
616-462: Is still reflected in the remnants of the extensive lawn and terraces with a shaped pond in the middle to the north of the house. Meanwhile, to the south there is a more naturalistic prospect with rolling fields, serpentine lakes and mature woodland. It remains an almost intact example of an Irish demesne from this period, with features such as the Walled Garden, the ice-house and the lime kiln. There
660-515: The Blessington Lakes in County Wicklow , Republic of Ireland . Located between the towns of Blessington and Ballymore Eustace , it is an outstanding example of Palladian architecture , designed by Richard Cassels (also commonly known as Richard Castle) for Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown and built between 1741 and 1755. With a frontage measuring 210 m (690 ft), it may be
704-553: The Dublin slum clearances . Martin was sent to a Christian Brothers School (CBS) on the same road where he lived but was soon playing truant and committing frequent burglaries with his brothers. At 15, he attempted to join the Royal Navy , but was rejected, allegedly after offering to break into houses for them and because he had a criminal record. At age 16, he was convicted of two burglaries and sentenced to an industrial school run by
748-517: The Oblates of Mary Immaculate at Daingean , County Offaly . After his release, he met and married Frances Lawless, a girl from Rathmines , where his family was living. With his brothers, he continued to commit multiple burglaries in the affluent neighbourhoods nearby, at one point even robbing the Garda Síochána depot for confiscated firearms. The Cahill brothers soon turned to armed robbery, and by
792-419: The 1750s and had remained in the house for most of the last 260 years. In addition it exhibits one of the finest private collections of 18th-century silver and porcelain in Ireland, including significant pieces by Meissen and Sèvres . The Russborough demesne extends to 200 acres, with a number of walks, gardens and original 18th century features. From the start, the estate was laid out to a formal design. This
836-517: The 1996 murder of journalist Veronica Guerin , the Dáil set up the Criminal Assets Bureau , to seize assets of those who were both convicted of crimes, and also seemingly had no obvious means of income. The CAB was set up to focus mainly on high-profile drug dealers but had an open approach to all convicted criminals. Cahill denied that he was ever involved in drug dealing; however, his brother Peter
880-565: The Blessington Lakes. Sir Alfred Beit bought Russborough in 1952 from Captain Daly to house his art collection and in 1976 established the Alfred Beit Foundation, a registered charity, to manage the property. Described as Ireland's most beautiful Georgian house, the foundation opened the historic mansion and its collections to the Irish public in 1978. Beit died in 1994 and Lady Beit remained in residence until her own death in 2005. Russborough
924-634: The Gardaí believe that Traynor and Gilligan approached the IRA and accused Cahill of importing heroin , a drug that the IRA despised and were trying to prevent from being sold in Dublin. Reputedly this, and Cahill's past dealings with the Ulster loyalists , gave the Provisional IRA reason to order his assassination. A further incentive was provided by Gilligan and Traynor, from whom the Provisionals allegedly demanded and received
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#1733104941436968-453: The Lacey family by shooting Kavanagh in the leg. Kavanagh was then to call the Irish newspapers from his hospital bed, and claim he was a victim of the Lacey kidnapping gang. However, the plan failed, and the gang were arrested. With all gang members from the Lacey kidnapping released on bail, on 18 August 1994, Cahill left the house at which he had been staying at Swan Grove and began driving to
1012-674: The National Gallery of Ireland. Russborough opened to the public as a museum and visitor attraction in 1978. Among the Collection's treasures still in Russborough are an outstanding array of eighteenth-century French and English furniture, many important paintings from the 17th to 20th centuries, including paintings by Jean-Baptiste Oudry , Adriaen van Ostade and Claude-Joseph Vernet . Four Vernet paintings entitled 'Morning', 'Midday', 'Sunset', and 'Night' were actually painted for Russborough in
1056-514: The arrest of two of Cahill's associates in an attempted robbery, and resentful of the large Garda presence near his home, Cahill retaliated by ordering his men to slash the tyres of 197 cars on the night of 26 February 1988 (including 90 belonging to his neighbours in Cowper Downs). Cahill returned home to find his own Mercedes-Benz smashed. In early 1993, John "The Coach" Traynor , met his boss Cahill, to provide him with inside information about
1100-472: The bank's vaults. On 1 November 1993, Cahill's gang seized Lacey and his wife outside his home in Blackrock . Whilst they were held at Lacey's home, Kavanagh was brought in and tied up, telling the family that he had been abducted two weeks before. On 2 November, Kavanagh drove Lacey to College Green to collect the ransom money, with Lacey eventually withdrawing IR£300,000 from an accessible cash machine. After
1144-575: The bottom of the flight of granite steps the visitor is greeted by a pair of heraldic lions, bearers of the Leeson arms. Russborough's central block contains seven principal rooms on the ground floor with the largest, the Entrance Hall at centre of the south front, and the main reception room, the Saloon placed directly to its north. The other five rooms, originally comprising two Drawing Rooms, two Dining Rooms, and
1188-575: The car of chief forensic scientist, James O'Donovan , partly disabling him. In February 1988, a Today Tonight report identified Cahill as the man behind the O'Donovan bomb plot, the 1986 Russborough House robbery and the robbery of O'Connors jewellery depot. As a result, PD leader Dessie O'Malley raised in the Dáil the revelations that Cahill owned such expensive property in Cowper Downs , despite having never worked, remarking that Cahill must have needed
1232-431: The cash had been handed over to the gang, Kavanagh told Gardaí that the pair had been kidnapped and forced to take part in a robbery. With a ransom note requesting payment of IR£10 million in cash, the Gardaí began investigating. They quickly found that Kavanagh had claimed child allowance during his two-week "capture", and so arrested him. Cahill then planned with Kavanagh to "raid" Kavanagh's home, and show intent to kill
1276-633: The early 1970s Gardaí at the Dublin Central Detective Unit (CDU) had identified the Cahill brothers as major criminals, when they teamed up with the notorious Dunne gang in Crumlin to rob security vans conveying cash from banks. In 1978, Dublin Corporation began preparing to demolish Hollyfield Buildings . Cahill, then serving a four-year suspended prison sentence, fought through the courts to prevent his neighbourhood's destruction. Even after
1320-506: The extra wall space to "hang his artwork by the Dutch masters." As a result, the Gardaí set up a Special Surveillance Unit (SSU), nicknamed "Tango Squad", to specifically target and monitor Cahill's gang on a permanent, 24/7 basis. Cahill was given the callsign Tango-1. The SSU also placed a direct presence on the estate at Cowper Downs, positioning a surveillance unit in the home of developer John Sisk, whose house backed onto Cahill's. Following
1364-461: The fire. Portions of the Russborough collection have been stolen four times . These include thefts in: 1974 by an IRA gang including British heiress Rose Dugdale ; in 1986 by Martin Cahill (nicknamed "The General"); in 2001, and in 2002 by Martin Cahill's associate Martin Foley. Two paintings, Gainsborough's Madame Bacelli and Vermeer's Lady writing a Letter with her Maid , the latter probably
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1408-532: The inner workings of the National Irish Bank (NIB) head office and branch at College Green , Dublin. Traynor told Cahill that the bank regularly held more than IR£10 million in cash in the building. The plan was to abduct NIB CEO Jim Lacey, his wife and four children and take them to an isolated hiding place. There, they would be held with fellow gang member Jo Jo Kavanagh , acting as a "hostage", who would frighten Lacey into handing over every penny stored in
1452-464: The jeweller was subsequently forced to close, with the loss of more than one hundred jobs. He was also involved in stealing some of the world's most valuable paintings from Russborough House (1986) and extorting restaurants and hot dog vendors in Dublin's nightclub district. Fearing the increasing role that forensic science could play in detecting his robberies, in May 1982 Cahill had a bomb placed under
1496-470: The longest house in Ireland. The interior contains fine ornate plasterwork on the ceilings by the Lafranchini brothers , who also collaborated with Castle on Carton House . Russborough contains an important private collection of European fine and decorative arts, including furniture, silver, porcelain and paintings. Russborough is open to visitors and is located on a 200-acre (81 ha) estate, with many of
1540-505: The media — he would spread the fingers of one hand and cover his face. He was born in a slum district in Grenville Street in Dublin 's north inner city, the second of twelve surviving children of Patrick Cahill, a lighthouse-keeper, and Agnes Sheehan. By the time he was in school, Martin and his older brother John were stealing food to supplement the family's income. In 1960, the family was moved to Captain's Road, Crumlin , as part of
1584-540: The most valuable painting of the collection, were stolen twice across the thefts, although each was subsequently recovered (the latter in 1993, the same year as the recovery of Goya's Portrait of Dona Antonia Zarate ). Russborough House was used as a setting in 2011 film Haywire , and the 2016 film Love & Friendship . The house was featured in Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Castle . The external view of
1628-496: The original 18th-century features still in place including the Walled Garden, the ice-house, the lime kiln and the serpentine lakes. There is a restaurant, shop and 2 km (1.2 mi) maze. The Leeson family originated in Northamptonshire and had moved to Ireland in the second half of the 17th century. A sizeable fortune made in brewing and property development in Dublin passed down to Joseph Leeson , who bought land at what
1672-415: The publication of Paul Williams ' The General , which claims to have insights from Garda cold case investigators who were still looking into Cahill's murder. Reputedly, two of Cahill's underlings, John Gilligan and John Traynor , had put together a massive hashish trafficking ring while paying protection money to the IRA and INLA. When Cahill allegedly tried to also extort protection money from them,
1716-597: The stolen Vermeer paintings from Russborough House to the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade led by Billy Wright , alias "King Rat". The Mid-Ulster Brigade then fenced the paintings for money, which they used to fund arms trafficking from South Africa under apartheid . This act allegedly sealed Cahill's fate, and put him at the top of an IRA hit list. In a later statement, the IRA said that it was Cahill's "involvement with and assistance to pro-British death squads which forced us to act". Another theory surfaced after
1760-548: The tenements were demolished, he continued to live in a pitched tent on the site. Finally, Lord Mayor of Dublin Ben Briscoe paid a visit to Cahill's tent and persuaded him to move into a new house in a more upscale district of Rathmines . Cahill and his gang stole gold and diamonds with a value of over IR£2 million (€2.55 million; €6.35 million in 2021, adjusted for inflation) from O'Connor's jewellers in Harolds Cross (1983);
1804-517: Was an Irish crime boss from Dublin . He masterminded a series of burglaries and armed robberies. He was shot and killed while out on bail for kidnapping charges. The Provisional Irish Republican Army took responsibility for Cahill's murder but no one was ever arrested or formally charged. The media referred to him by the sobriquet "The General". The name was also used by the media to discuss Cahill's activities while avoiding legal problems with libel. Cahill took particular care to hide his face from
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1848-445: Was convicted of supplying heroin in the 1980s. In 1984, Cahill had bought his growing family a house on the Cowper Downs development, on the southside of Dublin, paying IR£80,000 cash despite having no paid formal employment since he left his first and only job in 1969. On 1 May 2005, under an agreement with his widow Frances, the CAB seized and subsequently sold the property. Cahill was
1892-532: Was reporting other criminal activities to the Garda as well, and interfering with non-drug criminal activities. CPAD and CCAC held several meetings to discuss a peaceful resolution, but CPAD had been infiltrated by Irish Republican Army -linked persons interested in taking down the Cahill gang, and a period of violence and kidnappings ensued. Martin Cahill Martin Cahill (23 May 1949 – 18 August 1994)
1936-470: Was then Russelltown. He became an MP and was made Earl of Milltown in 1763. Russborough house was designed for Joseph Leeson by Richard Castle and built between 1741 and 1755. While the house was being built Joseph embarked on two Grand Tours to acquire a suitably impressive collection of paintings, sculpture and furnishings to adorn his new home. Back at the Russborough, Ireland's and Europe's finest artisans and craftspeople were appointed by Castle to create
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