Gardai have recovered the five paintings stolen from Russborough House, Co Wicklow in September.The paintings are part of the Beit collection which is valued at over €40 million.
The five paintings were discovered during a planned search of a house in Clondalkin yesterday evening. They were concealed in the attic of the house. Preliminary examination of the paintings indicates that they are in good condition.
Three people have been arrested - two women and one man. They are currently being detained in Garda Stations in Dublin.
September's break-in at the estate near Blessington was the fourth time security has been breached.
Two of the pictures, Rubens's Portrait of A Dominican Monk, and Adrien Van Ostade's The Adoration of the Shepherds( The Nativity), both of which were painted on panels, were removed from their frames for ease of escape.
The other three works, Venus Supplicating Jupiter, a sketch by Rubens; Calm Seaby Wilem Van Dervelde the Younger; and The Corn Fieldby Jacob Van Ruisdael, all of which were on canvas, were taken in their frames.
Lady Beit and her late husband, Sir Alfred Beit, a former British MP, bought Russborough in 1952 and placed it and its contents under a public trust. More than 40 paintings from their collection, which is insured for an estimated €40 million but is said to be priceless, were stolen in raids in 1974, 1986 and 2001.
Many were subsequently recovered in Ireland, England and Turkey. Only last week, two of the paintings stolen from the house last year were recovered by officers from the Arts and Antiquities Unit of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.