THE TOP IRISH GANGSTERS IN THE U.S.

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]The Irish mob never existed as a unified entity. It was always made up of disparate gangs that lacked a centralized structure, unlike, for example, the Italians. However, the Irish played a prominent role in the criminal history of the United States throughout both the 19th and 20th centuries. Moreover, they held leading positions in the criminal world for a long time thanks to their close ties to politics. Today, we present the stories of the most prominent figures from this ethnic society in the United States.

[00:00:32]Meet the Irish mob on the other side of the law.

[00:00:39]John Morrissey arrived in New York City at 18 years old in 1849 from the upstate town of Troy. Back home, he had a criminal record and experience in gang activities. So, in his new surroundings, he continued along the same path, only this time under the wing of local boss Isaiah Rynders. Morrissey started out by greeting ships carrying Irish immigrants at the pier. He directed them to the soup kitchens and boarding houses controlled by Rynders, and in exchange for food and shelter, the new arrivals later voted for the preferred politicians. Alongside his work for Rynders, Morrissey began participating in fistfights. Broadly speaking, these could be called boxing tournaments, but boxing was banned at the time, and the fights took place without gloves and continued until one fighter lost consciousness or gave up. So, the differences from the modern sport are quite striking. It was during one such fight that Morrissey earned his famous nickname, Old Smoke. His opponent pinned him against hot coals. His clothes began to smoke, and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. But Morrissey didn't let on, broke free, and won the fight. The peak of Morrissey's career was a 37-round fight in 1853 against Yankee Sullivan, after which he received the unofficial title of US champion. After his triumph, he married Sarah Smith. She was a Protestant from a [music] respectable family and couldn't stand the rough world of fighting. And when their only child died during childbirth, she finally persuaded her husband to give up the ring. Morrissey listened and left, but not for a monastery, of course. He invested his earnings in the gambling business, opening several establishments. One of them on Barclay Street became a fashionable spot among politicians and the wealthy. Another, more modest one, was located near Paradise Square in the Five Points neighborhood. The guys from the Dead Rabbits gang liked to hang out there.

[00:02:34]Morrissey got along well with both groups. However, Morrissey was unable to live a quiet life. In 1854, he had a conflict with William Poole, nicknamed Bill the Butcher. This is the same character portrayed in Martin Scorsese's film, Gangs of New York. The issue was that Poole was a Protestant, while Morrissey was an Irish Catholic. The former disliked the latter, and a conflict erupted over this, resulting in Morrissey's men shooting Poole after a series of skirmishes. The court acquitted Morrissey, and for the Irish of New York, he became a hero who had defeated the city's chief xenophobe.

[00:03:12]However, a more significant victory for Morrissey was that his financial investments paid off. He opened a gambling house in the resort town of Saratoga Springs, which attracted more and more vacationers [music] every year.

[00:03:24]The town grew wealthy, and Morrissey grew wealthy along with it. He even tried to break into high society, hanging out with tycoons like Cornelius Vanderbilt, but they never accepted him.

[00:03:35]Vanderbilt, they say, even slipped him some bogus stock market advice, and Morrissey lost a fortune. And when he tried to buy a house in an upscale neighborhood, the wealthy simply snapped up all the options, preventing him from getting a foot in the door. To the elite, he remained nothing more than an Irish upstart. Morrissey also tried his hand at politics. He had connections in Tammany Hall, the stronghold of New York Democrats, which helped him get elected to Congress. However, when the Tammany boss was jailed for corruption, he ratted out Morrissey as the mastermind behind election rigging, and his political career collapsed. Morrissey turned to the bottle in his grief, and he began to develop dementia as a result of the countless blows he had taken in the ring. In 1877, John Morrissey died of pneumonia.

[00:04:23]Michael Cassius McDonald was born in 1839 in Niagara Falls to a family of Irish immigrants who lived in a poor neighborhood in constantly [music] faced anti-Catholic intolerance. As a teenager, he ran away from home and got a job on the railroad selling various goods to passengers. Around 1857, the 18-year-old McDonald ended up in New Orleans. There, he was impressed by the posh gambling houses, riverboat casinos, and wealthy gamblers in expensive suits.

[00:04:51]McDonald realized he wanted to do something bigger than selling goods on the railroad. However, he chose Chicago, not New Orleans, as the base for his operations. McDonald made his first real money here during the American Civil War. He struck deals with deserters, persuading them to re-enlist, and they split the money McDonald was owed as a recruiter. Whether they would desert again after getting paid didn't concern Mike at all. When the war ended, McDonald turned to gambling, opening his first establishment in 1867. By 1873, he had amassed enough funds to create one of Chicago's most luxurious gambling venues. It was a four-story building on the corner of Clark and Monroe streets, known simply as The Store. It featured a bar, a fine-dining restaurant, a hotel, and a massive hall with dozens of gambling tables. In addition, Mike had quite a few smaller establishments throughout the city, but most importantly, he managed to create a sort of city-wide gambling syndicate that included nearly all illegal gambling operators. Mike achieved this because once he [music] started making money from gambling, he gradually began to corrupt the lower-level city officials.

[00:05:59]And having secured political protection, he was able to expand and earn even more, and then corrupt someone higher up, gradually working his way to the very top. With this cover and his own Irish tough guys, he began to bring other gambling establishment owners under his control, forcing them to pay a cut. If anyone refused, they faced regular police raids and threats from Michael's men. Those who agreed received political protection. In this way, McDonald effectively became the city's ruler. Among Chicago's gangsters, only he and Al Capone held this title. By the mid-1880s, he was a multimillionaire.

[00:06:36]Mike brought mayors to power, had his own newspaper, his construction firms received city contracts, and his [music] people sat on the city council.

[00:06:44]Everything began to change in 1887. That was when a scandal involving the renovation of the Cook County Courthouse came to light. McDonald had bribed the commissioners to award the contract to his firm. When the work was finished, McDonald [music] billed $128,000.

[00:07:00]He received part of the money, but an investigation began. It turned out that the expensive liquid his firm used to treat the building was simply a mixture of chalk and water. Mike's accomplices either went to prison or fled the country. McDonald was not prosecuted [music] and was even allowed to keep the $67,000 he had already received, but he had to go into hiding as the political climate began to shift against him. In the early 1890s, he tried to make a comeback by helping Carter Harrison run for mayor, but Harrison was assassinated, and his last chance to return to the top was lost. McDonald never again held the power he had in the 1880s.

[00:07:38]Later, he decided to retire altogether, and his gambling syndicate was divided among several people. We covered this in more detail in our video about Al Capone.

[00:07:52]David Hennessy was born in 1858. His father served in the New Orleans police force and died under strange circumstances. In a bar, a Confederate sympathizer accosted him, calling him a stinking Irishman, and later shot him in the back. David was 9 years old at the time.

[00:08:09]The family was left without a single source of income, and his father's former commander got the boy a job as a messenger at the police station. At 18, while still a simple patrolman, Hennessy distinguished himself by single-handedly catching two robbers, beating them up, and dragging [music] them to the station. As soon as he turned 21, the minimum age for a detective, he was immediately promoted. On July 5th, 1881, Hennessy pulled off the case that made him famous. Together with his cousin Mike, he arrested Giuseppe Esposito, a Sicilian outlaw wanted in Italy for murder and kidnapping. Esposito had been in hiding for several months, but Hennessy tracked him down. The arrest made headlines in the newspapers around [music] the world, and he became a national hero. Riding the wave of his success, Hennessy assumed he would be made chief of detectives, but the police board appointed Thomas Devereaux to the position instead. A feud broke out between them, which ended in a shootout.

[00:09:06]In October 1881, Devereaux, Hennessy, [music] and his cousin found themselves in the same place. A scuffle broke out, and Devereaux shot Hennessy's cousin, hitting him in the jaw. Hennessy himself proved to be a better shot and killed Devereaux with his first shot. Hennessy was arrested, tried, and acquitted. The jury ruled it self-defense, but the police chief demanded his dismissal anyway. David was left without a job, but he didn't give up. He opened his own detective agency, and a couple of years later, the city council granted them police powers. In effect, Hennessy became the second in command in the city's law enforcement system. And in 1888, when Joseph Shakespeare was elected mayor, Hennessy was finally appointed chief of police in New Orleans. But as it turned out, he wasn't such an honest cop after all. In the 1890s, a war was raging in the city between the Italian Matranga and Provenzano clans for control of the port. And Hennessy, being their business partner, sided with Provenzano. It was likely for this reason that Matranga's killed him on the night of October 15th, 1890, as Hennessy was returning home.

[00:10:12]Having been shot six times, he pulled out his pistol, staggered a few yards, and fell. A friend who ran up asked who had fired the shots. Hennessy whispered, "Dagos." A derogatory nickname for Italians. By noon, he was dead.

[00:10:27]News of the police chief's murder spread instantly. The mayor ordered the arrest of all Italian males between ages of 12 and 55.

[00:10:36]The newspapers turned Hennessy into a martyr. No one mentioned Devereux's [music] murder, his friendship with Provenzano, or the brothel they ran together. 19 people were arrested, and nine were put on trial, but there was no evidence other than the dying man's whisper. The jury acquitted everyone.

[00:10:53]Then the city erupted. A huge crowd, more than 20,000 people, stormed the prison.

[00:10:59]The Italians were dragged out and killed right in the courtyard. And the mayor said of [music] this event, "It is regrettable, but necessary."

[00:11:11]Owen Madden was born on December 25th, 1891, in Liverpool to a family of destitute Irish immigrants. In 1903, his father died, and 12-year-old Owen was sent to live with his aunt in New York in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, a very dangerous part of Manhattan at the time. There, he quickly joined the Gopher gang. By the age of 18, the police had dubbed him "the killer." His first murder occurred at age 14, when an Italian merchant died after being beaten by Madden. At 15, he shot a man in front of witnesses, but by the time of the trial, they had all disappeared or refused to testify. However, in 1914, after yet another murder, Madden was finally put behind bars. He was released only in January 1923. He was 31 years old, and the world had changed drastically during his time in prison.

[00:12:04]Large gangs that roamed in packs and settled scores through fights had faded into the background. They were replaced by groups whose primary goal was to make money. Prohibition was in full swing.

[00:12:15]Union racketeering was gaining momentum, and gambling was experiencing a resurgence. Madden, to his credit, immediately realized that things wouldn't work the way they used to, and began adapting to the new conditions.

[00:12:27]Owen, or Owney as he was known, started out with a small gang, stealing trucks loaded with alcohol, and then selling it to bars. An old acquaintance, Bill Dwyer, helped him break into the big leagues.

[00:12:40]In the video about Frank Costello, we discussed Dwyer's network in detail. For now, we'll just note that he was one of the biggest bootleggers of the Prohibition era. He helped Madden get into the bootlegging business, and Owney, in turn, acted as Dwyer's enforcer, protecting his business from encroachments by other gangsters.

[00:12:58]Researchers would later call their alliance the combine. They both transported tons of goods across the border and produced them within the United States. For example, they owned the Phoenix Cereal Beverage Brewery.

[00:13:11]Later, Madden successfully expanded into the nightclub business by opening the famous Cotton Club, as well as into New York political life, befriending Democrat Jimmy Hines, whom he used to funnel bribes to police officers, judges, and prosecutors. The Prohibition was coming to an end. Madden began facing pressure from all sides. The authorities wanted to put him behind bars, and the growing Italian Mafia was also closing in on him.

[00:13:37]Owney decided not to tempt fate, and simply left New York for Hot Springs, Arkansas.

[00:13:42]The small town was notorious for its corrupt authorities, and was known as a haven for all sorts of gangsters and con artists. Madden was right at home here.

[00:13:51]He opened another nightclub, and got involved in the local gambling scene. He spent the rest of his life in this town, far from the turmoil of the big cities, passing away in 1965.

[00:14:05]Vincent Coll was born in 1909 in the Irish village of Gweedore, and arrived in New York as an infant. His childhood was difficult. The family lived in poverty in the Bronx. Five of his brothers and sisters died. His father ran away. And when Vincent was seven, his mother died of pneumonia.

[00:14:22]He and his brother ended up in a reform school on Staten Island, known for its harsh discipline, from which Vincent constantly ran away.

[00:14:31]In 1926, 17-year-old Coll was spotted by Owney Madden, who helped him join Dutch Schultz's gang. Schultz was a major bootlegger, and later the chief operator of an illegal lottery in New York.

[00:14:44]However, Vincent soon grew dissatisfied with the salary Schultz paid him, and began planning robberies on the side.

[00:14:51]Dutch didn't like this. A conflict arose, and Coll left Schultz to form his own gang.

[00:14:57]But the tensions didn't go away, and a war broke out between the gangs. Coll killed several of Schultz's men, and Schultz retaliated [music] by killing Vincent's brother. From there, things snowballed. To fund the war, Coll began kidnapping gangsters and demanding ransoms from their partners, which turned many gangsters against him. One of them was Owney [music] Madden, who had brought Coll into the big leagues.

[00:15:20]However, Vincent's madness did not end there. He shot one of Schultz's men while he was handing out change to children. As a result, five children were wounded. One of them, 5-year-old Michael Vengalli, died on the way to the hospital.

[00:15:33]Vincent went on the run, but in October 1931, he was eventually arrested. At the trial, the main witness turned out to have a criminal record and mental health issues, which allowed the defense attorney to secure Coll's acquittal.

[00:15:47]Meanwhile, the feud with Schultz continued all this time. And on February 1st, 1932, hitmen stormed the apartment where Coll's men were gathered, and shot everyone there. Vincent was lucky not to be there, but Madden and Schultz had already devised a plan to eliminate him by bribing one of his men. On the night of February 8th, 1932, Madden called Coll and told him to call back from a payphone at a bakery on 23rd Street.

[00:16:13]Coll went out with his bodyguard. While he was talking on the phone, a car pulled up outside the bakery. A man in a long coat got out, went inside, [music] nodded to the bodyguard, and the bodyguard instantly ran into the street.

[00:16:26]The man pulled out a submachine gun, walked [music] up to the booth, and fired two bursts at it.

[00:16:31]It was all over in a matter of seconds.

[00:16:34]Vincent Coll was dead.

[00:16:40]Joseph Ryan was born on May 11th, 1884, [music] on Long Island to a family of Irish immigrants. When he was nine, his parents died within a few months of each other, and he ended up in an orphanage.

[00:16:52]He was later adopted, and went to live with his adoptive mother in Manhattan near Hell's Kitchen. In 1912, he got a job as a dock worker at a pier in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Four years later, he joined the International Longshoremen's Association, ILA, and eventually became the financial secretary of the local chapter. Years later, Ryan had risen to become president of the ILA, and in 1943, despite protests, he was appointed president [music] for life.

[00:17:22]Ryan maintained his power in the union through force, intimidating and eliminating anyone who opposed him. He used his influence to engage in mutually beneficial deals with politicians. He provided them with votes, and they offered him patronage. And for union racketeering, extorting money from everyone who needed the services of dock workers, as well as from the dock workers themselves. For more details on how union racketeering works, check out our video on Louis Buchalter. Ryan's system began to crumble after the murder of longshoreman Andy Hintz in 1947.

[00:17:56]Before his death, Hintz reported one of Ryan's men, John Dunn.

[00:18:00]As a result, Dunn and his accomplice were sentenced to death. Before his execution, Dunn hinted that he might turn in the big boss, a very influential man with political connections who was protecting the criminals. But the deal fell through. Dunn was unable to provide evidence, and on July 7th, 1949, he was executed in the electric chair. Ryan's system survived, but it had been exposed.

[00:18:25]Catholic priest John Corridan took [music] an interest in this case. He befriended the dock workers, learned the truth about what was happening on the waterfront, and helped journalists write exposés.

[00:18:36]Then, in the early 1950s, public hearings began to investigate crime in the port, and it turned out that up to 30% of union leaders had criminal records, and financial reports were missing from more than half of the local branches. It was Ryan's turn [music] to testify. He admitted to hiring criminals, but denied personal corruption. However, it turned out that he had spent $50,000 from the union fund on repairs for his Cadillac, expensive dinners, and personal cruise to Guatemala.

[00:19:05]He tried to brush it off, saying that if a teller steals, they don't put the bank president on trial. But the joke didn't land. In September 1953, the American Federation of Labor expelled the ILA from [music] its ranks. To save face, Ryan was forced to resign. A year later, a court found him guilty of accepting bribes, [music] and sentenced him to 6 months in jail.

[00:19:26]He quietly served his time, and disappeared from public life.

[00:19:30]Ryan's story made such an impression on his contemporaries that it formed the basis for the famous film On the Waterfront, starring Marlon Brando, which was released just as the former union boss was serving a sentence.

[00:19:47]James Coonan was born on December 21st, 1946.

[00:19:51]His parents were certified public accountants and well-off. So, Jimmy's attraction to a life of crime stemmed not from poverty, but from his character. At 16, he got into such a violent fight with a neighbor that he sent the man to the hospital and ended up in a juvenile detention center.

[00:20:08]Kooning dropped out of school at 17 and quickly hit it off with local gangsters, forming his own crew and coming into conflict with local boss Mickey Spillane.

[00:20:17]It's believed that Spillane once kidnapped Kooning's father, an accountant, for ransom and severely beat him. Jimmy and his older brother never forgave him for that. However, aside from revenge, one can't rule out simple gang turf wars.

[00:20:32]In any case, by the mid-1960s, a small war had broken out in Hell's Kitchen. In March 1966, Kooning's men shot and killed one of Spillane's men. Spillane's men responded with a show of force. And then, a scene worthy of a Western unfolded. Kooning took up a position on the roof with a machine gun and sprayed bullets at Spillane and his men as they walked down a dark street to play cards. Spillane and his crew had no choice but to hit the ground and wait until the shooter ran out of ammunition. As soon as the shooting stopped, Spillane and his friends simply got up and went on their way without a single injury. In April 1966, Kooning's brother shot a bartender and went to prison. Upset, Jimmy went with his friends to a bar where his accomplice mistook two random patrons for hired killers. The group took the unfortunate to Queens and cold-bloodedly shot them near the cemetery. However, one of them survived and testified.

[00:21:28]Kooning was sentenced to 5 to 10 years and sent to Sing Sing. He was released in the early 1970s, tried to work legally for appearance's sake, but quickly returned to a life of crime. He also teamed up with Mickey [music] Featherstone, a Vietnam veteran who doctors diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. Featherstone would eventually become Kooning's right-hand man and effectively the second in command of the gang. By 1976, Spillane had fled Hell's Kitchen to Queens to escape the Italian Mafia. Kooning took his place, becoming the boss of the Westies gang and establishing a rapport with the Gambino family. James served his sentence alongside Roy DeMeo's crew.

[00:22:07]Alongside Roy DeMeo's crew member Danny Grillo, and through DeMeo, secured the support of the [music] family boss.

[00:22:14]DeMeo also helped Kooning deal with Mickey Spillane to prevent him from trying to reclaim Hell's Kitchen. Mickey was killed by DeMeo's men in 1977.

[00:22:23]That same year, Kooning decided to kill two birds with one stone. Get rid of a large debt and take over someone else's business. His creditor was the notorious loan shark Charles Ruby Stein, who was a partner of the Genovese family. Kooning brought him to his club where, together with Grillo, he killed Stein and then dumped his body in the river. Thus, Kooning got rid of his debts and competitors in literally 1 month, becoming the top crime boss of Hell's Kitchen.

[00:22:51]However, as in most stories on our channel, there was one loose thread, and his name was Mickey Featherstone.

[00:22:57]He was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen. Before becoming a gangster, he served in Vietnam, from which he returned with combat skills and a rather unstable psyche. In the late 1970s, [music] as mentioned earlier, he became Kooning's right-hand man. In November 1978, in a bar on the Upper West Side, Kooning shot and killed a small-time criminal for no reason. The murder was so ill-conceived that the police quickly [music] tracked him down. Featherstone also ended up under arrest. Thanks to their lawyers, both were acquitted.

[00:23:28]Featherstone was also tried for another murder and acquitted again. But in the end, [music] he was imprisoned for counterfeiting money, a federal crime punishable by up to 15 years. He took a plea deal and received a reduced sentence. In a Wisconsin prison, far from home, Featherstone underwent therapy [music] and seriously considered turning his back on a life of crime.

[00:23:51]In July 1983, he was released and reunited with his wife and children, determined to start an honest life.

[00:23:58]While Mickey was in prison, his family barely made ends meet [music] as Kooning gave them practically no money. This bred resentment, which only intensified when Mickey asked Kooning to lend him $40,000 for a house and was refused. This finally convinced Featherstone that choosing a lawful life was the right [music] decision. However, it didn't last long. An honest job turned out to be boring [music] and didn't pay much.

[00:24:25]And on top of that, Mickey started using cocaine.

[00:24:28]So, he resigned himself to Kooning's nature and returned to the gang. As it turned out, Mickey wasn't the only one who disliked Kooning.

[00:24:36]The guys in the gang felt he spent too much time with the Italians, and many of the deals he made with them didn't generate any income for the rest of the gang. Thus, a conspiracy took shape within the gang, and Featherstone became the leader of those who wanted [music] to kill Kooning. By March 1985, the conspirators had devised several plans, but they did not manage to carry them out. Featherstone himself was the first to be betrayed. For many years, members of Kooning's gang had wanted to kill Michael Holly, whom they believed was involved in the death of their comrade.

[00:25:08]On April [music] 25th, 1985, Holly was fatally shot in broad daylight near the convention center. The shooter turned out to be a young gangster, but for the murder, he wore a wig and a fake mustache to resemble Featherstone. On top of that, the killers used a rented van from the very same company where Mickey had worked when he was starting his life on the straight and narrow. The next morning, Featherstone was arrested.

[00:25:31]Witnesses identified him. Once in prison, he realized his own people had set him up. The trial began in March 1986, and Featherstone was found guilty.

[00:25:41]He faced a sentence [music] ranging from 25 years to life.

[00:25:45]Then, fleeing, he had nothing to lose.

[00:25:47]He agreed to cooperate with the government and testify against the members of his gang. While Mickey was in prison, his wife gathered evidence of her husband's innocence. She met with the gang members and recorded their conversations.

[00:25:59]>> [music] >> The most important one took place with the shooter himself. Tormented by his conscience, the shooter confessed that he was the one wearing the wig and pulling the trigger. She recorded everything, and the evidence she gathered helped Featherstone secure an acquittal in the Michael Holly case.

[00:26:14]However, Mickey did not back out of his deal with the authorities afterward, which led to the dismantling of the gang. Jimmy Kooning and dozens of other gangsters were arrested. In March 1987, District Attorney Rudolph Giuliani filed charges against 10 gang members, including racketeering and 16 counts of murder. The prosecution's key witness was Mickey Featherstone. For 4 weeks, he testified, recounting crimes which he had participated [music] in or was aware of. All of the defendants were found guilty, and the Westies gang ceased to exist.

[00:26:52]In 1952, 8-year-old Pat Nee moved with his family from Ireland to South Boston.

[00:26:58]Across the street from their home was the Lighthouse Tavern, a gathering place for local mobsters. Pat would sit for hours watching what went on there. He later said he didn't stand a chance.

[00:27:09]He'd been hooked on that romance since childhood.

[00:27:12]>> [music] >> As a teenager, he started hanging out at the Lighthouse himself, running small errands for local bosses. Eventually, he was entrusted with the running illegal card games. That's how he became part of the Mullen gang. By that time, the Mullen gang was the dominant force [music] in the neighborhood. They fought with other gangs from time to time, and Pat took part in many skirmishes. But Pat's main [music] business was robbery.

[00:27:35]With his accomplices, they cleaned out the commercial piers along the waterfront almost every week.

[00:27:40]Televisions, crab meat, tuna, clothing, everything went into the hall and was sold to the fence operators in Boston and New [music] York. Once, they mistakenly stole a truckload of ladies' cosmetics and, unaware of its true value, simply gave it all away to local women. When the New York buyer found out, he nearly turned gray. The shipment was worth a fortune, but he was too late. The women of South Boston were already making the most of their freebies. By 1962, a major war between Irish gangs was looming in Boston. To the surprise of many, Pat chose the Vietnam War over this gang war and left for the front lines. He explained this by saying he didn't want to take part in a senseless bloodbath where Irishmen kill Irishmen, and the only real winner would be the Italian Mafia. Upon returning to Boston in October 1966, he tried to live an honest life, but he only lasted 3 months. After that, Pat decided to revive his gang of robbers.

[00:28:37]The problem was that he ended up getting dragged into the Irish gang wars he had tried to escape in Vietnam.

[00:28:43]During his absence, a war had [music] broken out in South Boston between the Mullens and the Killeen gang. A year earlier, members of the Killeen gang had mistakenly shot and killed Donny McGonagle, the brother of one of Pat's close friends in the Mullens gang. The Mullens retaliated by killing one of their enemies, and since then, Irish violence in the neighborhood had spiraled out of control, drawing in more and more people. The most remarkable thing about this cycle of violence was that Pat Nee had reportedly [music] tried to kill the notorious Whitey Bulger, who was then part of the Killeens. In 1969, Pat's brother was killed in a drunken brawl. He took revenge, was later acquitted in court for the attempted murder, and returned to the gang war, which lasted until 1972 when the leader of the Killeens was killed.

[00:29:29]After that, a truce was declared and the gangs merged into one under the leadership of Howie Winter. When Winter was convicted in 1979, Whitey Bulger took over the gang. By this time, Pat Nee had moved to the Charlestown neighborhood, where he was raising money and purchasing weapons for IRA rebels in Ireland. He raised money in particular through robberies and extortion of other gangsters. In 1984, together with Whitey Bulger, they attempted to smuggle 7 and 1/2 tons of AK-47s into Ireland, but were caught. After that, he went on the run until he was arrested in 1987.

[00:30:05]Pat was released in 1989 and turned [music] to robbing armored trucks. He was caught during one such robbery in 1990. He was released again in 2000 and just a year later began testifying against [music] his former accomplices, including Whitey Bulger. Pat Nee is still alive and walking free.

[00:30:24]Today, we told you about nine iconic Irish [music] gangsters. Of course, there are more. We even have separate videos on our channel about some of them, like Whitey Bulger. If you'd like a more detailed story about any of today's figures, [music] let us know in the comments. Also, let us know what other compilations you'd like to see. And who would you add to this video?