Customs officers have seized 10.5 million contraband cigarettes worth and estimated €4.7 million at Dublin Port.
A Customs spokeswoman said the cigarettes were found hidden in a container marked ‘furniture'.
She said the 6.8 million Mayfair and 3.7 million Benson & Hedges cigarettes represent a potential loss to the exchequer of €3.5 million.
There were no arrests reported.
The Irish Tobacco Manufacturers' Advisory Committee (Itmac) said the losses to the Exchequer through smuggling – estimated at over €500 million a year - could not be ignored.
"The level of illegal trade in cigarettes in Ireland is alarming," it said in a statement.
"Tobacco smuggling revolves around organised criminal gangs, operating on an international scale. This illegal trade is resulting in job losses within the legitimate retail sector and bringing crime to communities all over the country."
Retailers Against Smuggling spokesman Benny Gilsenan said Ireland was seen as a "soft touch" by international criminals. "Until the Government start to hand out appropriate sentences then Ireland is going to continue to be a target for the illegal cigarette trade."