Felix McKenna, retired head of the CAB who spent his career pursuing the crime bosses (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Seamus ‘Shavo’ Hogan, pictured with his own excrement smeared across his face while being questioned about the Paddy Shanahan murder in 1994.
Seanie ‘Fixer’ Fitzgerald, an associate of the General and John Traynor (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Tommy Savage, drug-trafficker, armed robber and former member of Saor Eire and the INLA.
Mickey Boyle: Garda mugshots from the early 1980s of the armed robber, kidnapper, extortionist and gangland hitman.
Mickey Weldon.
Paddy Shanahan.
PJ ‘the Psycho’ Judge.
John ‘the Coach’ Traynor.
Pensioner and convicted drug-dealer Jimmy Edgeworth, who was involved in organized crime for over forty years (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Johnny Doran, associate of Frank Ward and George Mitchell (‘the Penguin’) (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Frank Ward, armed robber.
Retired Assistant Commissioner Tony Hickey, who spent forty years on the frontline against organized crime.
Retired Assistant Commissioner Martin Donnellan, who confronted Saor Eire and armed robber Frank Ward.
Eamon Kelly (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch.
John Gilligan in his Factory John years.
John Gilligan with Geraldine in the 1970s.
John Gilligan, Brian Meehan and Peter Mitchell with Frances Meehan (Brian’s mother) at Sandals resort in St Lucia, 1996.
John Gilligan pumping iron.
Peter Mitchell with his wife Sonya Walsh on the balcony of his luxury hideout in Spain (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Patrick Eugene ‘Dutchie’ Holland, armed robber and gangland assassin.
Brian ‘the Tosser’ Meehan, who was convicted of the murder of Veronica Guerin.
Paul Ward, Gilligan gang member.
Veronica Guerin with husband Graham Turley and their son Cathal. Her bid to expose the truth about John Gilligan led to her murder.
The Veronica Guerin murder scene.
Simon Rahman, Gilligan’s main supplier in Amsterdam.
George ‘the Penguin’ Mitchell.
Paddy Mitchell, brother of George Mitchell.
John Noonan, Sinn Féin and IRA member who was a founder of the CPAD and later exposed for connections with drug-trafficker Martin ‘Marlo’ Hyland (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Austin Higgins, who was shot dead by Gardaí in Athy in 1990.
INLA terrorist Dessie O’Hare – ‘the Border Fox’. Killer, armed robber and kidnapper.
INLA member Fergal Toal, convicted of murder and kidnapping.
Danny Hamill, INLA.
Paddy McSweeney, a leading member of the Munster Mafia (© Padraig O’Reilly).
John McCarthy (‘Father Hash’), a convicted drug-dealer and member of the Munster Mafia (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Jeremiah ‘Judd’ Scanlan, a member of the Munster Mafia. Found dead in his home in Cork (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Alan Buckley, the antiques dealer who worked as an organizer with the Munster Mafia and George ‘the Penguin’ Mitchell (© Padraig O’Reilly).
John ‘the Manager’ Noonan, who organized a huge £150 million hash shipment for the Munster Mafia, George Mitchell and a British crime syndicate in 1995.
John McGrail, a convicted armed robber and member of the Penguin’s gang.
Derek ‘Maradona’ Dunne, the League of Ireland footballer and heroin-dealer, shot dead in Amsterdam in 2000.
Peter Bolger, a convicted fraudster and the Penguin’s bagman (© Padraig O’Reilly).
State Solicitor Barry Galvin (left) and Chief Superintendent Tony Quilter pictured in Cork, 2009 (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Kevin Carty, the former Chief Superintendent and Assistant Commissioner who targeted the Munster Mafia and the Penguin’s organization.
Austin McNally, the former Chief Superintendent who targeted the Penguin’s organization.
Detective Sergeant Pat Walsh, who was one of the top undercover operators in the Gardaí.
Former Commissioner Pat Byrne, who was appointed a few weeks after the murder of Veronica Guerin in 1996.
John O’Mahoney, Assistant Commissioner of the Gardaí and former head of the Criminal Assets Bureau (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Retired Garda Commissioner and inaugural head of the CAB, Fachtna Murphy (© Padraig O’Reilly).
William ‘Jock’ Corbally, who was tortured to death by PJ ‘the Psycho’ Judge and his associates in 1996.
Declan ‘Decie’ Griffin, a drug-dealer and police informant who helped set Jock Corbally up for murder. Later shot dead in a Dublin pub (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Mark Dwyer, a drug-dealer who was involved in the murder of Jock Corbally.
‘Cotton Eye’ Joe Delaney, a drug-dealer and associate of PJ Judge who tortured and murdered Mark Dwyer in December 1996.
Detective Jerry McCabe, who was shot dead three weeks before the assassination of Veronica Guerin.
Jerry McCabe’s squad car.
Kevin Walsh from Limerick, the leader of the IRA gang responsible for shooting Detective Jerry McCabe to death (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Dicky O’Neill, the Provo boss who is still wanted for the killing of Jerry McCabe.
Gerry Roche, the IRA man still wanted in connection with the murder of Jerry McCabe. Roche, who was also a former INLA member, provided explosives to Martin Cahill to blow up State forensic scientist Dr James Donovan.
Eddie Ryan, whose murder ultimately kicked off gang war in Limerick in 2000.
Roy Collins, RIP. Shot at Roxboro shopping centre, Limerick, on 9 April 2009.
Steve Collins with a picture of his murdered son, Roy (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Kieran Keane, who murdered Eddie Ryan and was himself executed by the McCarthy/ Dundons in 2003.
Gerard Dundon, searched by cops outside his home in Limerick City (© Padraig O’Reilly).
John Dundon.
Wayne Dundon, searched by cops outside his home in Limerick City (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Members of the Regional Support Unit during a raid at Gerard Dundon’s house on Hyde Road, Limerick City (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Christy Keane pictured while doing time in Portlaoise Prison.
Brian Collopy, Limerick (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Martin Foley (‘the Viper’, left) and the late Derek Hutch.
Brian O’Keefe, the Crumlin drug-dealer who shot Martin Foley in 1995.
Shane Coates (left) and Stephen Sugg, the notorious Westies.
Bernard ‘Verb’ Sugg, a member of the Westies.
Pascal Boland, murdered by the Westies.
Todd O’Loughlin, the retired Detective Inspector who investigated the Veronica Guerin murder, the Westies and the emergence of the new gangs (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Martin ‘Marlo’ Hyland.
Michael Brady, murdered on the orders of Marlo Hyland and PJ Judge in 1996 (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Anthony Campbell, the innocent apprentice plumber killed in the assassination of Martin ‘Marlo’ Hyland.
Baiba Saulite, who was murdered by Martin ‘Marlo’ Hyland’s gang.
Lebanese criminal Hassan Hassan at Dublin Airport, flying to Beirut after his release from Portlaoise Prison on 20 March 2010 (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Eamon ‘the Don’ Dunne, the gang member who organized the murder of his boss Marlo Hyland and who was himself executed by his own men in 2010.
Close friend of the Don, Brian O’Reilly (left), who survived a gun attack in 2010, with Dessie O’Hare at a gangland funeral (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Christy Gilroy, the hit man and heroin addict who carried out a double murder for the Don. Gilroy was also murdered on the Don’s orders.
John Daly, the notorious Finglas gangster who phoned the Liveline programme from his prison cell. Murdered by the Don’s men.
‘Fat’ Freddi
e Thompson (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Brian Rattigan, who murdered former associate Declan Gavin in 2000. The murder sparked the infamous Crumlin/ Drimnagh blood feud which claimed over a dozen lives in less than ten years (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Mark Desmond, the Ballyfermot drug-dealer at the centre of the canal murders investigation in 2010.
Murdered gangland pals Aidan Byrne and Paddy Doyle.
Christy Kinahan being confronted by the author in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2009 (© Padraig O’Reilly).
John ‘the Colonel’ Cunningham, Christy Kinahan’s partner-in-crime.
Kevin Lynch at the wedding of Christy Kinahan Jr (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Jason Martin, the English criminal whose murder in Ballyfermot caused a new gang war between former friends.
Derek ‘Dee Dee’ O’Driscoll, the drug-dealer whose gang was involved in the double murder of brothers Kenneth and Paul Corbally.
Brothers Kenneth (left) and Paul Corbally from Ballyfermot, who were both murdered in a feud in 2010, pictured here with their father, Paddy Corbally, at the funeral of another gangster (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Jasvinder Singh Kamoo, Christy Kinahan’s business associate in Spain (© Padraig O’Reilly).
Peter ‘Fatso’ Mitchell pictured in Spain in 2008, where he had been in hiding and running a major drug-trafficking operation since the murder of Veronica Guerin.
Acknowledgements
As always my deepest thanks and gratitude go to the many people whose trust and assistance made this book possible. Badfellas is the toughest and largest book I have yet written. It covers such a vast area of time and events, from research built up over 24 years, that it would be impossible to thank all those who have generously helped me along the way. Others, from both sides of Gangland’s borders, would prefer to remain anonymous – for obvious reasons. They all know who they are.
Badfellas was inspired by a TV documentary series, Bad Fellas, which I wrote and narrated for RTÉ in 2009. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who so kindly, and bravely, told their stories and shared their knowledge and expertise. Some of their contributions are also used in the book to explain the complex history of organized crime.
My deepest thanks go to the series’ executive producer at Animo Productions, Adrian Lynch, the producer Mairead Whelan and the series producer/director, Emmy award-winner Gerry Gregg. I also had the honour of working with Mairead and Gerry on the TV series Dirty Money, which won a TV Now Award for best documentary series in 2008. I would also like to thank former Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne, the series consultant, who helped to pull this hugely complex story together.
My thanks and sincerest best wishes to my former colleagues at the now defunct Irish News of the World, who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, because of the criminal activity of others. It was a pleasure to have worked with them during the 16 months I was part of their team.
My thanks also go to my friend and colleague Padraig O’Reilly, who has worked closely with me for the past 24 years. Many of the pictures contained in Badfellas were the result of his courageous work. The picture editor for this book, Jon Lee, burned the candle well into the night for many nights as he put together a huge library of pictures. He did a brilliant job.
In particular my thanks as always to my extremely talented, and patient, editor Aoife Barrett of Barrett Editing, who has worked with me on this and three of my most recent books. Aoife’s expertise and long hours of hard work helped this book to happen. My thanks to all the staff at my new publisher, Penguin, and to Michael McLoughlin, who insisted I still had another book to write when I thought I didn’t. And of course my deepest gratitude to libel expert Kieran Kelly – ‘the Consigliere’ – of Fanning Kelly and Company for his work on Badfellas and most of my other books.
And lastly, as always, my love and gratitude to my long-suffering wife and children, Anne, Jake and Irena, for their endless affection, support and patience.
PENGUIN IRELAND
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
(a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
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First published 2011
Copyright © Paul Williams, 2011
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Photography © Paul Bradbury/OJO Images/Getty Images
All rights reserved
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book
ISBN: 978-0-14-197029-5
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