The Irish Mob

I’ve just released a new 75-page mini-book: The Irish Mob Mini Book.
For anyone who’s followed my work, you know how much time I’ve spent digging into the real stories behind the Irish gangs of New York and beyond — from Hell’s Kitchen to the waterfront mobs, the Dead Rabbits, the Whyos, the Westies, and everyone in between.
This book is a tight, gritty, no-fluff look at the rise of the Irish Mob in America. Perfect for a coffee table book or as a gift to someone.
If you’re into true crime, NYC history, or the roots of organized crime, you’ll love this.
Grab a copy here: www.lulu.com/.../paperback/product-95je9k9.html...
Supporting this gives me a boost and helps me keep researching and writing new stories. Plus, it makes it all worthwhile.
Thank you so much for the support! 🍀

7 months ago | [YT] | 6

The Irish Mob

🕯️ Mob Fact — October 31, 1923

On this night, Wild Bill Lovett, leader of Brooklyn’s White Hand Gang, was found beaten and shot to death on the docks he once ruled.

The man who’d survived the Great War and a bloody gang war met his end where it all began — the waterfront.

⚓ Watch Bills story on The Irish Mob YouTube → https://youtu.be/PzKRJMSuJqA

#WildBillLovett #IrishMob #WhiteHandGang #BrooklynHistory #MobHistory #TrueCrime

8 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 2

The Irish Mob

***Coming Soon*** Something Ive been working on for a while

The Irish Mob Pocket Book is your guide to the legendary underworld of Irish-American crime. From 19th-century New York street gangs to Prohibition bootleggers, Danny Greene’s bombing war, and Whitey Bulger’s bloody reign in Boston

9 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

The Irish Mob

How it all happened on St. Valentine's Day in 1929

1 year ago | [YT] | 1

The Irish Mob

On this day - September 20 1926. The attack on the Hawthorne Hotel, Al Capone's headquarters by Hymie Weiss and the rest of the Northside Gang formerly led by Dean O'Banion

1 year ago | [YT] | 1

The Irish Mob

After Whitey Bulger had lured John McIntyre to a house, having discovered McIntyre had been co-operating with the law and led to the capture of 7 tons of weapons onboard the Valhalla.

McIntyre was chained to a chair in the basement and within two minutes confessed to Bulger that he had been co-operating. After an hour of being beaten, Bulger tried to strangle McIntyre with a rope, which was too thick. Bulger then asked McIntyre Do You Want One in the head, McIntyre replied "Yes Please"

1 year ago | [YT] | 4

The Irish Mob

On the morning of the 3rd of January 1923, a policeman on patrol around the Front Street area of the Brooklyn neighborhood proceeded on his rounds. He noticed the door of a building at 289. Front Street was open. He went to investigate. Upon his first observations, he saw bottles of alcohol all stacked up, in what seemed like a brewing operation.
Looking closer, he noticed a body on the floor. It was Wild Bill Lovett appearing to be lying dead. However, Lovett was not dead he had been shot three times in the chest. The policeman blew his whistle to get the attention of other police in the area. Soon the place was swarming with police and an ambulance for Lovett.
Three bullets had lodged in the left side of Lovett's chest, all of them missed the heart. Much to the doctor's surprise, Bill regained consciousness and began to mend. They were sure he was going to die from his wounds. When he recovered enough for the police to question him as to who shot him, he shook his head, saying "It's give and take in this game. When I get it, I take it and say nothing."

1 year ago | [YT] | 4

The Irish Mob

The James McBratney murder was a series of events that combined into one story but would have an impact on mob history. The common theory seems to be that McBratney was involved in the accidental killing of Emanuel Gambino, nephew of legendary mob boss Carlo Gambino however that may not have been the case. Its one of those stories that involved a lot of big names in Mafia history and would lead to John Gotti’s eventual rise to the top

There were many individuals involved with John Gotti’s rise and fall who have remained in the public’s mind Paul Castellano & Sammy “The Bull” Gravano to name a few. But there was one man who would have a major impact on Gotti’s rise to the top but remains relatively forgotten. James McBratney became a footnote to the Gotti story.

James McBratney was born in 1941 to Irish parents who had emigrated to the U.S. McBratney had been in trouble during his teenage years and eventually found his way into prison, convicted of armed robbery, where he would meet a lifelong friend and fellow Irishman “Crazy” Eddie Maloney.

After his release from prison, James McBratney continued his life of crime, gun-running, armed robbery and kidnapping. He joined up with, Eddie Maloney, Warren Schurman and Thomas Genovese among others.

The gang’s method was to kidnap mobster’s and hold them for ransom. Allegedly two brothers who were members of the Gambino Family would supply the addresses of mobsters for 10% of the ransom money. The gang would split into two groups, one who kidnapped the target and the other group would collect the ransom before the target was let go. Their first kidnapping earned them $150,000, it was so successful that they carried out a further 2 – 3 kidnappings in the space of two months.

The next kidnapping wouldnt go to plan, the target was to be a Gambino Family loanshark, Jerry Capeci who wrote some books on John Gotti names this person as “Junior”. On a bitter cold afternoon in December 1972, Eddie Maloney stuck a gun in Junior’s stomach and ordered him into a car. When the victim put up a fight, Maloney hit him over the head a couple times with his gun before shoving him into the back seat and taking off. Two witnesses saw what had happened and also got the license plate and reported it to one of their uncles who just happened to be connected.

The car that was used in the kidnapping had been rented under the name of the mother of an associate of McBratney, who’s apartment was also being used to hide “Junior”, but when some wiseguys showed up asking questions, the associate spill his guts to them and gave the names of McBratney, Schurman and Maloney. This caused James McBratney to panic as now the mob had his name and to make matters worse Schurman had failed to properly cover the eyes of “Junior”. In between they had only scored $21,000.

As they now had “Junior” in the car and driving around, McBratney and Schurman had been arguing, McBratney stopped the car for a moment, thats when “Junior” made a run for it, McBratney fired a few shots at him but missed. Now that the mob had the names of who they were looking for, it was suggested to McBratney that he should leave town for a while, something he refused to do instead he would carry an automatic gun with him for protection.

According to Jerry Capeci the so-called kidnapping and murder of Emanuel “Manny” Gambino was not a kidnapping at all. In fact, it was a robbery-murder by a gambler who owed Gambino $76,000 and lured him to a deserted Navy base in Monmouth County, NJ where he claimed to have money hidden. Instead, the gambler, Robert Senter, who was the uncle of a future DeMeo crew member and Lucchesse associate Anthony Senter, who owned a sports memorabilia store, shot Gambino in the head and killed him.

A week later, on May 25, 1972, after enlisting three thugs to carry out a kidnap scam, Senter demanded a ransom. Ultimately, Senter pleaded guilty, and gave up the names of his accomplices, and was sentenced to 15 years. His cohorts pleaded guilty to extortion charges, and received lesser prison terms. Warren Schurman and Richard Chaison were named as his accomplices, both of who had worked with James McBratney, McBratney’s name was never mentioned in any account.

In response to the murder of his nephew, Carlo Gambino put a contract for the murder of the gang’s ring leader, James McBratney. He handed the contract to Aniello Dellacroce and offered the person who murdered McBratney immediate initiation into the Gambino crime family as a “made man.”

On 22nd May 1973 James McBratney was drinking at Snoopy’s Bar and Grill on Staten Island when a three man hit team walked in, John Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, and Ralph “Ralphie Wigs” Galione came in. They walked to the back of the bar where Jame McBratney had been sitting, apparently they had fake police badges. Angelo was on his left, Ralph Galione on his right, and John Gotti behind; Galione had a gun, Angelo a pair of handcuffs. The three of them began pulling McBratney up and away from the bar. Ralph Galione told him, “You’re under arrest. You’ve been this route before; don’t give us any trouble.” After a patron attempted to intervene Galione fired two shots into the ceiling of the restaurant. McBratney struggled with Angelo, John, and Ralph but could not get free. Galione fired three times at close range, killing him.

Carlo Gambino hired Roy M. Cohn to represent Gotti and Ruggiero. Although both had been indicted on murder charges and identified by witnesses, Cohn negotiated a remarkable deal with the Staten Island district attorney’s office. Ralph Galione, however had been murdered in the meantime outside his apartment a few months after the McBratney murder.

The most remarkable part of the whole story is that Senter whacked a Carlo Gambino’s nephew and survived. There was one incident on November 22, 1974, while Senter was housed in the old Federal House of Detention on West Street, he drank strychnine-laced cocoa that someone had kindly offered him. He fell violently ill and was rushed to hospital. There, doctors pumped his stomach, and nursed him back to health.

Click the link to see more images and newspaper clippings

theirishmob.com/?s=James+McBratney

2 years ago | [YT] | 3

The Irish Mob

Alphonse Capone or just Al Capone instantly recognizable as one of the most notorious and well-known figures of the Twentieth Century. Al Capone was both an ally and enemy to many Irish mobsters throughout Chicago during the Prohibition Era.

As part of the Murder of Dean O'Bannion series, this deep dive into Capone, we will just focus on the interactions with Irish and Irish-American gangsters, politicians, and others.

If you've missed the Untold Story of the Diamond Brothers Gang, please watch it here -
Part One - https://youtu.be/oZyz1fgK9p0
Part Two - https://youtu.be/oZyz1fgK9p0

or read it here and support the website - theirishmob.com/the-untold-story-of-the-diamond...…

Read other story in the murder of Dean O'Bannion series here - theirishmob.com/the-murder-of-dean-obanion-2/

2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 0

The Irish Mob

The St. Valentines Day Massacre

On this day, 95 years ago one of the most famous Mob Hits of all time took place, the St. Valentines Day Massacre in Chicago, where seven men were shot to death by rival gangsters. What started with the death of Dean O’Banion in 1924 ended on St. Valentines Day in 1929.

George “Bugs” Moran was a good friend of Dean O’Banion, along Hymie Weiss & Schemer Drucci they all joined the Market Street gang when they were young and forming a lasting friendship till death did them part. Bugs Moran was also a criminal who had taken over the running or the North Side gang in Chicago during the Prohibition Era. His main enemy was Al Capone, who ran the Italian South Side gang they fought a fierce gang war for control of smuggling and bootlegging in Chicago.

The massacre was carefully planned and executed to make sure that George “Bugs” Moran was dead, thus eliminating Capone’s main rival. Throughout the gang war both had survived several assassination attempts. On one occasion, Moran and some of his men drove a fleet of six cars past a hotel where Capone and his men were having lunch and sprayed the building with lead, shooting more than 1,000 bullets.

A plan was hatched where they would try to trick Moran into thinking he was buying a shipment of hijacked booze from Canada, the dropping off point was to be the SMC Cartage Company garage at 2122 North Clark Street, a property belonged to Moran. The idea behind the plan was to kill Moran and his men while they were all in the building together.

At 10.30am Moran’s gang had been preparing to meet the incoming shipment but in a twist of fate George “Bugs” Moran was running late that morning. Moran pulled up in his car just in time to spot a quartet, including two dressed as police officers enter the building, thinking it was a raid on the building he quietly moved on.

A police car had arrived outside the building with two men dressed in uniform and two more in civilian clothes. Inside the building were six of Moran’s men. The last to arrive was Albert Weinshank, as Weinshank made his way into the warehouse, he was grabbed by the two police officers and they forced him inside. Believing the gangsters were being raided, as they were gangsters they knew the drill so they lined up against the wall with their backs to the police.

When they were in line before the gangsters who were in line knew what hit them, armed with Thompson machines guns the assassins opened fire, emptying an entire 20-round box magazine, and a 50-round drum into them. They even continued shooting even after the gangsters bodies had dropped to the floor. The men dressed as police officers escorted the assassins out of the building, under the guise of arresting them and fled the scene

Six of the gangsters died instantly but one remained alive, although barely, Frank Gusenberg was taken to hospital but died later that day, but not before the police could talk to him. As soon as he had arrived at the hospital and been stabilized by doctors, the police questioned him and wanted to know how he had gotten 14 gunshot wounds, and who had shot him. He replied “No one shot me,” Frank Gusenberg died three hours later.

The victims that day were brothers Frank & Pete Gusenberg, John May, Albert Weinshank, Adam Heyer, Reinhardt Schwimmer and Albert Kachellek aka James Clark.

“Bugs” Moran the intended target never even made it inside the warehouse and so survived

Highball a German Shepherd, that belonged to John May, the youngest person to be killed in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Highball was the only eye witness inside the garage where the massacre happened. And endured the whole incident.

When police arrived, Highball was found chained, trembling and howling. Sadly Highball was so traumatized he had to be put down.

Mrs. Alphonsine Morin, who lived across the street from the garage, was one of two witnesses who saw the assassins leave the garage after the massacre.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Morin saw two men who looked like policemen coming out of the garage after hearing the shooting. Both Morin and the other witness, Mrs. Jeanette Landesman, received a letter six days later advising them to “keep your mouth shut.”

Morin, left town the minute she received the letter.

No one was ever charged for the crime and no actual suspects were named, although there is plenty of suspects as to who it was. Some of the suspects included:

Gus Winkler & Fred “The Killer” Burke, who were both former members of the Egan’s Rats, a gang from St. Louis, Machine Gun Jack McGurn, John Scalise, Albert Anselmi. All of which were certified killers and could have easily pulled this off. Some evidence, from the wife of Gus Winkler says that she seen both Gus Winkler & Fred Burke dressed in uniforms on the morning of the massacre, these were prime suspects, though they were never arrested.

Even 95 years on this remains one of the most famous Mob Hits of all time and one that remains unsolved.

The garage where the St. Valentines Day Massacre happened is long gone but the wall where the shooting itself took place is now standing in the Mob Museum in Las Vegas.

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2 years ago | [YT] | 3