The Irish Game: A True Story of Crime and Art

Famous paintings. A notorious thief. Cunning cops. And a troubled Irish history.

In the annals of fine art theft, no case has matched—for sheer criminal panache—the heist at Russborough in 1986. The Irish police knew right away that the mastermind was a brazen Dublin gangster named Martin Cahill. Yet the great plunder—including a Goya and a Vermeer—remained at large for years until the challenge of disposing of such famous works forced Cahill to reach outside the mob and into the international arena. When he did, his pursuers were waiting.

With the storytelling skill of a novelist and the nose of a detective, Matthew Hart follows the twists and turns of this celebrated case.

“For those who might associate museums and lofty works of art with elitism and stuffiness, Hart reveals a far more compelling world filled with desperation and betrayal.”
—Nick Owchar, The Los Angeles Times

“What makes this book so enjoyable is the author's deftness and restraint with what was a big splashy story.”
—Katherine Powers, The Boston Globe