Martin "The General" Cahill (May 23, 1949 – August 18, 1994) was a prominent
IrishIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
criminal from
Dublin.
Cahill generated a certain notoriety in the media, which referred to him by the
sobriquetA sobriquet is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. It is usually a familiar name, distinct from a pseudonym assumed as a disguise, but a nickname which is familiar enough such that it can be used in place of a real name without the need of explanation...
"The General". The name was also used by the media in order to discuss Cahill's activities while avoiding legal problems with libel. During his lifetime, Cahill took particular care to hide his face from the media—he would spread the fingers of one of his hands and cover his face with that hand.
Early life
He was born in a slum district on Dublin's North Side, the second of twelve surviving children of Patrick Cahill, a lighthouse keeper and alcoholic, and Agnes Sheehan. By the time he was in national school, Martin and his older brother John were stealing food to supplement the family's income. In 1960, the family was moved to 210 Captains Road
CrumlinCrumlin is suburb in Southside Dublin, Ireland. It is the site of Ireland's largest hospital for children.-Location:Crumlin covers the area from the River Poddle near the KCR to the Drimnagh Road, to Bunting Road, and is situated not far from the city centre, on the Southside of Dublin city....
as part of the Dublin slum clearances. Martin was sent to a Christian Brothers School (CBS) on the same road where he lived but was soon playing truant and committing frequent burglaries with his brothers. At 15, he attempted to join the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, but was rejected, allegedly after offering to break into houses for them and because he had a criminal record.
Career
At the age of 16, he was convicted of two burglaries and sentenced to an
industrial schoolIn Ireland the Industrial Schools Act of 1868 established industrial schools to care for "neglected, orphaned and abandoned children". By 1884 there were 5,049 children in such institutions....
run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate at
DaingeanDaingean , formerly Philipstown, is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry on the R402 regional road. The town or townland of Daingean has a population of 777 while the District Electoral Division has a total population of...
,
County OffalyCounty Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...
. After his release, he met and married Frances Lawless, a girl from
RathminesRathmines is a suburb on the southside of Dublin, about 3 kilometres south of the city centre. It effectively begins at the south side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to the south, Ranelagh to the east and Harold's Cross to the west.Rathmines has...
where his family was now living.
With his brothers, he continued to commit multiple burglaries in the affluent neighborhoods nearby, at one point even robbing the
Garda Síochána, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
depot for confiscated firearms. The Cahill brothers soon turned to armed robbery, and by the early 1970s Gardai 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
CrumlinCrumlin may refer to* Crumlin, Belfast, a ward of North Belfast* Crumlin, Caerphilly, a town in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, United Kingdom* Crumlin, County Antrim, a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom...
to rob security vans escorting cash from banks.
Rise to prominence
In 1978, the Dublin Corporation began preparing to demolish Hollyfield Buildings. Cahill, then serving a four-year prison sentence, fought through the courts to prevent his neighborhood's destruction. Even after the tenements were demolished, he continued to live in a pitched tent on the site. Finally,
Ben BriscoeBen Briscoe is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician.-Member of Dáil Éireann:He was a Teachta Dála for 37 years, representing a series of constituencies in Dublin....
, the
Lord Mayor of DublinThe Lord Mayor of Dublin is the honorific title of the Chairman of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent is Labour Party Councillor Andrew Montague. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the...
, paid a visit to his tent and persuaded him to move into a new house in a more upscale district of Rathmines.
Cahill and his gang famously stole gold and diamonds with a value of over IR£2 million (€2.55 million) from O'Connor's jewellers in
Harolds CrossHarold's Cross is an urban village and inner suburb on the south side of Dublin, Ireland.- Location :Harold's Cross is situated north of Terenure and Rathgar, west of Rathmines, east of Crumlin and Kimmage, and directly south from the Grand Canal at Clanbrassil Street...
(1983). The jewellers was subsequently forced to close, with the loss of more than one hundred jobs. In addition, he was involved in stealing some of the world's most valuable paintings from
Russborough HouseRussborough House is a stately house situated near the Blessington Lakes in County Wicklow, Ireland, between the towns of Blessington and Ballymore Eustace and is reputed to be the longest house in Ireland, with a frontage measuring 210 m/700 ft...
(1986) and shaking down restaurants and hot dog vendors in Dublin's night club district.
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,
Dr James O'DonovanDr James O'Donovan was until his retirement in 2002, the senior forensic scientist to the Garda Technical Bureau of the Garda Síochána...
, partly disabling the scientist. As a result, the Gardai set up a Special Surveillance Unit (SSU), called the Tango Squad, to specifically target and monitor Cahill's gang on a permenant, 24/7 basis. Cahill was given the callsign Tango-1.
In February 1988, a
Today TonightToday Tonight is a controversial Australian News and Current Affairs program, produced by the Seven Network and shown weeknightly at in direct competition with rival Nine Network program A Current Affair....
report identified Cahill as the man behind the O'Donovan bomb plot, the Beit robbery, and the robbery of O'Connors jewellery depot. Resultantly, PD leader Dessie O'Malley raised in the Dail the revelations that Cahill owned such expensive property in Cowper Downs, despite having never worked, sarcastically remarking that Cahill must have needed the extra wall space to hang his artwork by the Dutch masters.
From July 1988, the Tango Squad upped their pressure on Cahill, making it obvious to Cahill and everyone who was looking where he went. They also placed a direct presence on the estate at Copwer Downs, placing an agreed surveillance unit in the home of developer
John SiskJohn SISK & Sons founder was born in Cork in 1837, the same year as Victoria became Queen of Britain and Ireland. His childhood was a time of severe crisis for Ireland including the national disaster of the Great Famine during which, by death and emigration, the population declined by two...
, whose house backed onto Cahill's. Showing signs of getting at the criminal, he ordered the slashing of 197 cars tyres on one night, but after arrest on suspicion of ordering the crime, he returned home to find his own
Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
smashed, with Gardai waiting to advise him of his rights.
Lacey kidnapping
In early 1993
John "The Coach" TraynorJohn "The Coach" Traynor is an Irish criminal. Traynor was one of the contacts in the criminal world for murdered Irish journalist Veronica Guerin.-Career:...
met with his boss Cahill to provide him with inside information about the inner-workings of the
National Irish BankNational Irish Bank is a commercial bank in Ireland, one of the traditional Big Four. In December 2004 Danske Bank agreed to purchase National Irish Bank from the National Australia Bank for GB£967m ....
head office and branch at
College GreenCollege Green is a three-sided "square" in the centre of Dublin. On its northern side is a building known today as the Bank of Ireland which until 1800 was Ireland's Parliament House. To its east stands Trinity College Dublin, the only constituent college of the University of Dublin. To its south...
, Dublin. Traynor told Cahill that the bank regularly held more than €10 million in cash in the building. The plan was to abduct NIB CEO John Lacey, his wife and four children and take them to an isolated hiding place. There they would be held with fellow gang member, but acting as a "hostage" Jo Jo Kavanagh, who would frighten Lacey into handing over every penny stored in the bank's vaults.
On 1 November 1993, Cahill's gang seized Lacey and his wife outside his home in
BlackrockBlackrock is a suburb of Dublin in County Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Ireland. It is northwest of Dún Laoghaire.-Location and access:Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. Blackrock is bordered...
. Holding them 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. Kavanagh then drove the pair and the money to the local Gardi station, where he told them the pair had been kidnapped and forced to take part in a robbery.
With a ransom note requesting payment of €10 million in cash, the Gardi 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.
Assassination
With all gang members from the Lacey kidnapping released on bail, on 18 August 1994, Cahill left his home in Cowper Downs and began driving to a local video store to return a borrowed copy of
A Bronx TaleA Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...
. Upon reaching a road junction (where Oxford road meets Charlston Road) he was repeatedly shot in the face and upper torso and died almost instantly. The gunman, who was armed with a
.357 MagnumThe .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...
revolver, jumped on a motorbike and disappeared from the scene.
After a Roman Catholic requiem mass, Cahill was buried at
Mount Jerome CemeteryMount Jerome Cemetery is situated in Harold's Cross on the south side of Dublin, Ireland. Since its foundation in 1836, it has witnessed over 300,000 burials...
. In 2001, his gravestone was vandalized and broken in two.
Aftermath
There are a number of theories about who murdered Martin Cahill and why.
Within hours of Cahill's murder, the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility in a press release. The reasons cited were Cahill's alleged involvement with a
PortadownPortadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force. The Unit in question had attempted a bomb attack on a Dublin pub which was hosting a
Sinn FéinSinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
fund-raiser on the 21 May 1994. The UVF operatives were halted by the doorman
Martin DohertyMartin "Doco" Doherty was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army , who was shot dead while attempting to prevent a bombing by the Ulster Volunteer Force at a pub in Dublin, Republic of Ireland...
. In the ensuing struggle, Doherty, who the IRA subsequently announced was a Volunteer in the IRA's Dublin Brigade, was shot dead. The Provos further alleged that Cahill had been involved in selling the stolen Beit paintings to the UVF gang led by
Billy WrightWilliam Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
.. The UVF then
fencedA fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
the paintings for money, which they used to buy guns from
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. This act supposedly sealed Cahill's fate, and put him at the top of an IRA hit list. In a later statement, the IRA said that it was Cahill's
involvement with and assistance to pro-British death squads which forced us to act.
Another theory surfaced after the publication of Paul Williams's
The General, which claims to have insights from the Garda officers who investigated Cahill's murder. Reputedly, two of Cahill's underlings, John Gilligan and John Traynor, had put together a massive drug trafficking ring. When Cahill demanded a cut of the profits, Gardai believe that Traynor and Gilligan approached the IRA and suggested that Cahill was importing
heroin, a drug that the IRA despised and were trying to curtail the distribution of within Dublin. Reputedly, this, and Cahill's past dealings with the Loyalists, gave the IRA reason to order his assassination; the hit was paid for and funded by Gilligan. This theory is put forward in Paul Williams's book
Evil Empire. Additionally,
Martin Cahill, My Father, a 2007 book written by Cahill's daughter, Frances, alleges he detested and steered clear of the drug trade.
Yet another theory claims that John Gilligan was ultimately responsible for the murder. Depicted in the film
Veronica GuerinVeronica Guerin is a 2003 Irish biographical film directed by Joel Schumacher. The screenplay by Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue focuses on Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, whose investigation into the drug trade in Dublin led to her murder in 1996....
, this theory was outlined by journalist Henry McDonald as follows,
"In 1993 Gilligan gets out jail and borrows IR£400,000 from Cahill, which the General had raised from the proceeds of his daring theft of the Beit Dutch masters paintings. Gilligan then uses the loan to finance the importation of tonnes of cannabis from Holland into the Irish Republic. When Cahill demands IR£1.5 million in return for his loan, Gilligan decides to rid himself of the troublesome crime boss. Gilligan ... goes to the so-called commanding officer of the Irish National Liberation Army in Dublin and asks him to shoot Cahill. In return, Gilligan offers the INLA killer IR£26,000. Gilligan then bribes a senior member of the IRA in Dublin, who also controls a security firm in the city, to claim responsibility for the shooting. When Cahill is gunned down in Rathmines, the IRA figure with links to organised crime manages to convince the Provo leadership that his unit carried out the assassination. The IRA then admits responsibility for the murder."
McDonald cites an unnamed Garda officer involved in the investigation as saying that the film "showed the true picture of what happened, not only to [Veronica Guerin] but also to Cahill".
The unnamed officer continued: "In the Boorman film, the Provos are depicted as the ones who dispatch the General because he is working with the UVF. The fact is Cahill had no direct links with the UVF, only indirect ones through a criminal fence who managed to get rid of some of the stolen Beit paintings ... I'm glad this new film shatters the myth that the IRA killed Cahill for some sort of noble reason."
McDonald also quotes Jimmy Guerin, the murdered journalist's brother, as saying: "The film shows Gilligan procuring the murder of Cahill and that as far as everyone involved in both investigations knows is the real version of events."
However this version of events ignores the fact that the INLA had been severely weakened following the assassination of Dominic McGlinchy and would have lacked either the intelligence on Cahill's movements or the manpower in Dublin to conduct such an operation. Furthermore the PIRA were curtailing armed operations as part of the peace process. Any operation would have had to be sanctioned by the PIRA's Southern Command. If the IRA individual had claimed responsibility for the operation if it had not been sanctioned by Southern Command, he would have been subject to court-martial in accordance with IRA regulations.
CAB Asset seizure
Following the 1996 murder of journalist
Veronica GuerinVeronica Guerin was an Irish crime reporter who was murdered on 26 June 1996 by drug lords, an event which, alongside the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe three weeks earlier, helped establish the Criminal Assets Bureau....
, the Dial set up the
Criminal Assets BureauThe Criminal Assets Bureau is a law enforcement agency in Ireland, the purpose of which is to recover the proceeds of organised crime. It is a division of the Garda , but reports annually to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform...
, 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 drugs 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
heroin supplying in the 1980s.
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.
In popular culture
In 1998
John BoormanJohn Boorman is a British filmmaker who is a long time resident of Ireland and is best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Zardoz, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, The General and The Tailor of Panama.-Early life:Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey,...
directed a biopic titled
The General, starring
Brendan GleesonBrendan Gleeson is an Irish actor. His best-known films include Braveheart, Gangs of New York, In Bruges, 28 Days Later, the Harry Potter films, The Guard and the role of Michael Collins in The Treaty...
as Cahill. The movie won best director award at the
Cannes Film FestivalThe Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
. The movie was based on the book by Irish crime journalist,
Paul WilliamsPaul Williams is an Irish crime journalist and author. He previously worked for the Sunday World tabloid newspaper; he moved to the Irish News of the World before it was caught up in the News International phone hacking scandal and shut down...
, who is also the crime editor of the Irish tabloid the
News of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
. Boorman himself once had his home burgled by Cahill, who stole the gold record which Boorman had won for the
DeliveranceDeliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in his film debut. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the...
soundtrack. This incident is alluded to in the film.
The 2003 film
Veronica GuerinVeronica Guerin is a 2003 Irish biographical film directed by Joel Schumacher. The screenplay by Carol Doyle and Mary Agnes Donoghue focuses on Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, whose investigation into the drug trade in Dublin led to her murder in 1996....
, implies that John Gilligan ordered Cahill's murder. In the film Gilligan and Traynor are not portrayed as Cahill's subordinates. Instead, Gilligan appears as a rival mob boss, and Traynor as a lower level associate.
The film
Ordinary Decent CriminalOrdinary Decent Criminal is a 2000 crime/comedy film, directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, written by Gerard Stembridge. The film is loosely based on the story of Martin Cahill, a famous Irish crime boss.- Plot :...
, starring
Kevin SpaceyKevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...
, is loosely inspired by the General.
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.
Quotes
- "Reform school was my primary school, St. Patrick's Institution my secondary school, and Mountjoy
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
my university—they taught me everything I know."
- "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."
External links