Martin Cahill
Martin Cahill | |
---|---|
Born | Dublin, Ireland | 23 May 1949
Died | 18 August 1994 | (aged 45)
Cause of death | Assassination by the Provisional IRA |
Nationality | Irish |
Other names | The General |
Spouse | Frances |
Children | 5 |
Conviction(s) | Armed robbery |
Martin Cahill (23 May 1949 – 18 August 1994)[1] was an Irish crime boss from Dublin. He masterminded a series of burglaries and armed robberies, and was shot and killed while out on bail for kidnapping charges. The Provisional Irish Republican Army took responsibility for Cahill's murder but no one was ever arrested or formally charged.
The media referred to him by the sobriquet "The General". The name was also used by the media to discuss Cahill's activities while avoiding legal problems with libel. Cahill took particular care to hide his face from the media — he would spread the fingers of one hand and cover his face.
Early life
He was born in a slum district in Grenville Street in
Career
At age 16, he was convicted of two burglaries and sentenced to an
With his brothers, he continued to commit multiple burglaries in the affluent neighbourhoods nearby, at one point even robbing the Garda Síochána depot for confiscated firearms. The Cahill brothers soon turned to armed robbery, and by the early 1970s Gardaí at the Dublin Central Detective Unit (CDU) had identified the Cahill brothers as major criminals, when they teamed up with the notorious Dunne gang in Crumlin to rob security vans conveying cash from banks.
Rise to prominence
In 1978, Dublin Corporation began preparing to demolish Hollyfield Buildings. Cahill, then serving a four-year suspended prison sentence, fought through the courts to prevent his neighbourhood's destruction. Even after the tenements were demolished, he continued to live in a pitched tent on the site. Finally, Lord Mayor of Dublin Ben Briscoe paid a visit to Cahill's tent and persuaded him to move into a new house in a more upscale district of Rathmines.[4]
Cahill and his gang stole gold and diamonds with a value of over IR£2 million (€2.55 million; €6.35 million in 2021, adjusted for inflation) from O'Connor's jewellers in
Tango squad
Fearing the increasing role that forensic science could play in detecting his robberies, in May 1982 Cahill had a bomb placed under the car of chief forensic scientist, James O'Donovan, partly disabling him.
In February 1988, a
As a result, the Gardaí set up a Special Surveillance Unit (SSU), nicknamed "Tango Squad", to specifically target and monitor Cahill's gang on a permanent, 24/7 basis. Cahill was given the callsign Tango-1.[7] The SSU also placed a direct presence on the estate at Cowper Downs, positioning a surveillance unit in the home of developer John Sisk, whose house backed onto Cahill's. Following the arrest of two of Cahill's associates in an attempted robbery, and resentful of the large Garda presence near his home, Cahill retaliated by ordering his men to slash the tyres of 197 cars on the night of 26 February 1988 (including 90 belonging to his neighbours in Cowper Downs). Cahill returned home to find his own Mercedes-Benz smashed.[7][8]
Lacey kidnapping
In early 1993,
On 1 November 1993, Cahill's gang seized Lacey and his wife outside his home in Blackrock.[10] Whilst they were held at Lacey's home, Kavanagh was brought in and tied up, telling the family that he had been abducted two weeks before. On 2 November, Kavanagh drove Lacey to College Green to collect the ransom money, with Lacey eventually withdrawing IR£300,000 from an accessible cash machine.[10] After the cash had been handed over to the gang, Kavanagh told Gardaí that the pair had been kidnapped and forced to take part in a robbery.[9]
With a ransom note requesting payment of €10 million in cash, the Gardaí began investigating. They quickly found that Kavanagh had claimed child allowance during his two-week "capture", and so arrested him. Cahill then planned with Kavanagh to "raid" Kavanagh's home, and show intent to kill the Lacey family by shooting Kavanagh in the leg. Kavanagh was then to call the Irish newspapers from his hospital bed, and claim he was a victim of the Lacey kidnapping gang.
However, the plan failed, and the gang were arrested.[9]
Assassination
With all gang members from the Lacey kidnapping released on bail, on 18 August 1994, Cahill left the house at which he had been staying at Swan Grove and began driving to a local shop.[11] Upon reaching a road junction (where Oxford Road meets Charleston Road) he was repeatedly shot in the face and upper torso and died almost instantly. The gunman, who was armed with a .357 Magnum revolver, jumped on a motorbike, and disappeared from the scene.
There are a number of theories about who killed Martin Cahill and why.
Within hours of Cahill's death, the
Another theory surfaced after the publication of
Even though Frances Cahill's memoir, Martin Cahill, My Father, alleges the General detested and steered clear of the
After a
CAB asset seizure
Following the 1996 murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, the Dáil set up the Criminal Assets Bureau, to seize assets of those who were both convicted of crimes, and also seemingly had no obvious means of income. The CAB was set up to focus mainly on high-profile drug dealers but had an open approach to all convicted criminals. Cahill denied that he was ever involved in drug dealing; however, his brother Peter was convicted of supplying heroin in the 1980s.[18]
In 1984, Cahill had bought his growing family a house on the Cowper Downs development, on the southside of Dublin, paying IR£80,000 cash despite having no paid formal employment since he left his first and only job in 1969. On 1 May 2005, under an agreement with his widow Frances, the CAB seized and subsequently sold the property.[7]
Personal life
Cahill was a diabetic. Cahill was married to Frances Lawless with whom he fathered five children. However, it is also believed that Cahill had, with Frances' approval, a
In popular culture
In 1998
Ken Stott starred as Cahill in a 1999 BBC drama, Vicious Circle written by Kieran Prendiville
The 2003 film
The film Ordinary Decent Criminal, starring Kevin Spacey, is loosely based on Cahill's life.
In 2004, a book written by Matthew Hart was released entitled The Irish Game: A True Story of Crime and Art, which depicted the story of the Russborough House heist in 1986 and Cahill's involvement.
Cahill's eldest daughter, Frances Cahill, released a book in 2008 entitled Martin Cahill, My Father.
Quotes
- "Reform school was my primary school, St. Patrick's Institution my secondary school, and Mountjoy my university—they taught me everything I know."[21]
- "Whatever it is you say I am, I am not. Whatever it is you want from me, I will give. Whatever it is you take from me, you can take. What is it you can do to me? The worst thing you can do is kill me, after that I won't care, I am still free."[22]
See also
- List of unsolved murders
Footnotes
- ^ "'Dedicated killer' who murdered The General". The Independent. Ireland. 6 November 1997. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-14-197029-5.
- ^ Paul Williams, "The General," page 21
- ^ Paul Williams, The General, pages 35–37.
- ^ Paul Williams, The General, pages 95–116
- ^ Paul Williams, The General, pages 201–210.
- ^ a b c d "Neighbours welcome end of living next door to malice". Tribune.ie. 1 May 2005. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ Burke, John. "Neighbours welcome end of living next door to malice". Retrieved 15 April 2015.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d "JO JO FALLS ON WOOF TIMES". Sunday World. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ^ a b Una McCaffrey (9 April 2011). "Ex-chief executive's past eventually catches up with him". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- ISBN 9781905494750.
- ^ "Remembering the Past: Brave Volunteer prevents mass murder". An Phoblacht. 21 May 2009. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ "A woman in the way of a drug baron's ambitions". Irish Independent. 3 February 2008.
- ^ "An Phoblacht/Republican News". Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
- ^ Paul Williams, "The General," pages 11–14, 273–280.
- ^ "An Phoblacht/Republican News". Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2009. The General – a grotesque myth
- ^ Irish Examiner[permanent dead link]
- ^ Kelly, John (2002). "Niece of crime boss Cahill using Net to promote Irish racial hate and". Sunday Mirror. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008.
- ^ Donaghy, Kathy (3 March 2005). "Cahill's unusual domestic set-up had curtains twitching in suburbia". Irish Independent. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Salon.com". Safe Haven. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
- ^ "The General" by Paul Williams.
- ISBN 9781905494750.