Stolen Dunsany painting bought for national collection

One of the paintings stolen in the 1990 art robbery at Dunsany Castle has been bought for the national collection.

Jack B Yeats 'Bachelors Walk, In Memory' has been purchased for the National Gallery of Ireland .

The painting is of an incident in Dublin city centre in 1914 in which a crowd of demonstrators were fired on by the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, killing four and injuring 35 others.

Yeats visited the scene the following day and made a sketch on the spot which he used to produce the oil painting.

The panting was one of those take in January 1990 when a criminal gang broke into Dunsany Castle made off with a haul of precious pieces of art.

The haul was valued at £1 million (although some experts claimed the paintings might attract £2m if sold on the open market) and was one of the most sensational news stores of that year.

The robbery sparked an investigation both at home and abroad with the audacity of the thieves and the value of their booty said to have “stunned the art world.”

Immediately after the robbery, the gardaí said they had received “excellent assistance” and asked for anyone with information to come forward. It was believed the so-called ‘General’ Martin Cahill and his gang were behind the robbery.

Among the valuable paintings taken included two by Jack B Yeats - 'Bachelor Walk: In Memory' and 'Singing The Dark Rosaleen'.

Also taken were three by Dutch painter Anthony van Dyck and a 12-inch high silver troika - a jewel-encrusted copy of the coach of Queen Catherine the Great - and a Rococo jar with a blue and white pattern worth about £12,000.

The theft sparked an investigation that went far and wide. “Air and seaports have been on full alert since Friday and Interpol is assisting the Gardai in case the stolen art works are smuggled out of the country,” the Meath Chronicle reported.

Lady Sheila Dunsany, who was alone at the house at the time was a renowned art collector. She died in 1999.

The break-in was only discovered when farm manager, Tony Potterton “brought Lord Dunsany a cup of coffee and opened up the mansion.”

The gardai believed a “professional gang,” clearly not short of expertise on art works, were involved in the robbery as the paintings stolen were picked out from a large selection in the castle.

The paintings were subsequently recovered.

The Yeats painting was later given to the National Gallery on long-term loan but has now been purchased for the people of Ireland.

In a statement, Arts Minister Catherine Martin said: "The National Gallery of Ireland and the people of Ireland were very fortunate to have the extraordinary work by Jack B Yeats 'Bachelor's Walk, In Memory' on loan for public display.

"I am delighted that this remarkable and beautiful painting has now been acquired by the Gallery to be forever in the national collection and that we and the generations to come will always be able to enjoy this work.

"I was pleased to provide support on behalf of the Government for this acquisition and I offer my congratulations and thanks to the Board and staff at the National Gallery who, along with their supporters, made this important acquisition possible," she added.