Anthony Kelly 'escapes another murder attempt'
online.ie
2005-04-14

A brother of the late Limerick criminal Michael Kelly has claimed that he "narrowly" escaped another attempt on his life, when a gunman fired at him near his home.

Anthony Kelly was travelling in a van near his Southill home in Limerick's O'Malley Park yesterday afternoon, when a shot was fired at him, by a gunman wielding a standard shotgun.

The shot missed the 44-year-old, but the gunman then fired a second shot at the home of one of Mr Kelly's brothers, before fleeing the area.

Yesterday's shooting followed a separate attack earlier this week on Mr Kelly's brothers home when, he claimed yesterday, a gang used slash hooks to smash a number of windows in the house.

Gardaí in Roxboro have confirmed that they have received a formal complaint from Mr Kelly and they are investigating the latest incident.

This week's attempted shooting comes just over a month after Anthony Kelly suffered pellet wounds to the side of his face when he was shot at on March 10 last, outside his home in O'Malley Park in Limerick.

At the time the 44-year-old father of six claimed that the same gunman theatened him some 12 hours later warning him that he "would be put down on top of his brother Michael" who died last year.

Michael Kelly died on June 13 last, four weeks after he was found in a coma at his mother's home in Lilac Court in Southill, Limerick.

The self-confessed criminal and former Limerick city councillor died after suffering a mystery gun shot wound to his head.

Anthony Kelly has always denied that the gunshot wound was self inflicted and claimed his brother was shot by a lone gunman.

Mr Kelly also orchestrated the exhumation of his brother's body, shortly after he was buried, to dispel certain media reports which suggested that a gun had been buried in his brother's coffin.

Gardaí believe the attacks on the Kelly family are linked to an ongoing feud between two families in the Southill area.

However, Anthony Kelly denies that his family are part of any feud. Before his dealth Mr Kelly's late brother Michael was involved heavily in brokering a controversial "peace pact" with another family living in Southill.

This involved the withdrawing of a large number of formal statements relating to cases under investigation at the time and resulted in the collapse of a number of trials.

Meanwhile, in a unrelated incident gardaí at Henry Street in Limerick are investigation a gun attack on the opposite side of the city at a house at Craeval Park in Moyross in the early hours of yesterday morning.

A bathroom window at the house was shattered when a number of shots were fired, but fortunatly no one was injured. It's understood yesterday' early morning shooting is connected to a simmering local feud which is not part of the high-profile Keane/Ryan feud. No arrests have been made.

09/05/2005

A Limerick criminal gang at the centre of a violent feud are believed to responsible for a weekend hand grenade attack on the home of a young family.

The deadly device was thrown into the front room of the house at Colbert Avenue in the Janesboro area of the city at around 4.30pm on Sunday.

The familiy - including four young children - were in the back room of the house when the grenade exploded. Gardaí say they had a "miraculous escape".

It is understood the perpetrators walked up to the house in broad-daylight, smashed the front window and then threw in the hand-grenade before fleeing the scene.

The gang suspected of carrying out the attack is a southside based gang responsible for some of the most violent crimes in the city, including at least two feud related murders.

The intended target of Sunday's grenade attack is known to gardaí. However, detectives remain uncertain as to the motive behind the potentially fatal attack.

One senior source indicated that the attack was not feud related but linked to a dispute between the south side gang and a local man.

Concern is also mounting among gardaí in Limerick as to the extent of the weapons now in the hands of Limerick criminal gangs.

In recent months gardaí have seized large quantities of ammunition and guns including an Urma sub-machine gun which was seized in the early hours of St Patrick's Day.

"Sunday's hand grenade attack certainly represents a sinister development in terms of the type of explosives these criminals are getting their hands on," said one garda source.

"The family who were targetted on Sunday had a miraculous escape and fortunately were in the back of the house when the grenade exploded and destroyed the entire contents of the front room," he added.

Limerick in shock at death of rugby player

THE SHOOTING dead of a popular young rugby player in a case of mistaken identity in Limerick early yesterday morning has left the city reeling.

The body of Shane Geoghegan (28) was discovered at the rear of a house in the Clonmore area of the Kilteragh housing estate in Dooradoyle at 1.45am yesterday.

He had died from a gunshot wound to the head, received while walking home from a friend's house.

Just hours earlier the talented rugby player had captained the Garryowen club's third team in a match against Shannon on Saturday afternoon.

His violent death has horrified people across Limerick, where a deadly feud between notorious criminal elements is being blamed for the loss of an innocent life.

"This was such an horrendous thing to happen, and everybody is completely shocked," said Ger Clarke, chairman of Garryowen rugby club.

"Shane was a charismatic leader, an incredible worker and just a joy of a person to be around.

"All of our thoughts and prayers are with the Geoghegan family who, like Shane, were the heart and soul of Garryowen."

Yesterday's match between Garryowen's second team and Cork Constitution was cancelled after news of the killing emerged.

Other Garryowen players who arrived at a fundraiser for the club at Limerick racecourse yesterday left the venue.

Residents of the Kilteragh housing estate were shocked by the violent event in what is considered a quiet estate.

"It's horrific. I've just dropped off my daughter to play with her little friend and they stroll around here every day and it's a very safe place to play. It's just awful to think something like this could happen," said one woman.

"Nobody on a Sunday morning could ever have imagined waking up to this news. This is such a quiet estate," said another man.

Local Fine Gael TD Michael Noonan, who lives in the same area as the victim's family, said he was horrified.

"It is just unacceptable in a civilised society that such an act of violence can be carried out against an innocent person in the middle of a housing estate in Limerick."

Mr Geoghegan, who worked as a tradesman, is survived by his parents Tom and Mary from Gouldavoher in Limerick city.

Gangsters who killed Geoghegan 'have already fled the country'

Limerick man and a hired Dubliner on the run after shooting wrong target

Henry McDonald, Ireland editor The Observer, Sunday 16 November 2008

Gardai investigating the murder of Shane Geoghegan, the Limerick rugby player shot dead last weekend, believe his killers have fled Ireland.

The gunmen are thought to be a local man aged 19 and a 23-year-old accomplice hired from north Dublin by the Dundon gang. Irish security sources have revealed that the men's target lived near the home of the rugby player in the Kilteragh area of Limerick city. They wanted to kill a man in his early thirties who had been previously targeted by members of the Dundon gang.

Geoghegan was the 14th person to die in gang-related killings in Limerick since 2000, although the popular Garryowen player was an innocent victim.

A minute's silence was held before Ireland's test match against New Zealand at Croke Park yesterday in honour of Geoghegan. A similar tribute will take place this Tuesday prior to the clash between Munster and the All-Blacks at Thomond Park in Limerick. Meanwhile, Garryowen RFC has confirmed that the number three jersey that Shane Geoghegan wore will be retired across all of its teams for the rest of the season.

The brutal killing of an innocent man has caused outrage across the country, and sparked calls for a crackdown on gangland criminals. Fine Gael spokesman Charlie Flanagan TD said that many serious Irish criminals were benefiting from the Republic's early prison release scheme. 'Many serious criminals are benefiting from temporary release and are meeting their victims in the street - a horrifying experience for people who believe these criminals should still be in jail,' he said. The Fine Gael TD pointed out that prosecutions for murder in Ireland have fallen sharply in recent years, from 33 in 2003 to 19 in 2007.

Flanagan and others have claimed that the Irish judicial system was not a deterrent to the gangs, many of whose footsoldiers - particularly in Limerick - are in their mid to late teens.

Willie O'Dea, the Minister for Defence and a Limerick TD, said that gardai and local people were 'furious' last month after a man received only a four-year sentence for walking into a bar with a sawn-off shotgun and threatening to kill people. 'There seems to be some difficulties with the courts. This was a horrendous case. This bar was full of people. There was even a child there. I know the guards were furious. And people don't think that the courts are taking this at all seriously,' the minister said.

The maximum sentence for possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life is life, though it is not thought this sentence has ever been imposed. Michael McDowell, the former Minister for Justice, expressed interest in introducing a minimum sentence for firearms possession, but this was shelved.

Garda sources said that Wayne Dundon, the Dundon gang leader, was seeking 'retribution' over his own conviction. Gardai are also aware that a 50,000 'contract' is in existence for the murder of one witness.

Garda sources said this weekend that there is no end in sight for the gangland war between the Dundon gang, their allies and their rivals, known as the Keane-Collopy faction. The head of the latter gang is due to be released next year after serving seven years of a ten-year sentence for possessing drugs in 2001.

Yesterday a man was shot and seriously injured in north Dublin. The shooting happened at 11.55am outside a bookmaker's on Cardiffsbridge Road in Finglas. The victim, 41, was last night in a stable condition in hospital. It is believed he was shot up to three times by a gunman who escaped on foot.

Man, 23, charged over Geoghegan shooting

Henry McDonald The Observer, Sunday 1 March 2009

A man was charged yesterday with the murder of a rugby captain that shocked the whole of Ireland.

The 23-year-old was accused of murdering Shane Geoghegan, who was shot dead last November in Limerick City.

The Garryowen player was shot nine times with a Glock semi-automatic pistol when he tried to run from his killer, hours after watching Ireland beat Canada at Limerick's Thomond Park rugby stadium.

Geoghegan, 28, was hit three times in the upper body and once in the head, apparently the victim of mistaken identity in a city gripped by a bitter turf war between rival crime families.

Fifteen people have been arrested for questioning about the Geoghegan murder and seven remain in custody.

Very interesting article. My Grandfather was a Limerick man and I still have alot of family there so this topic is of great interest to me, my family name being a Limerick one. We all know the name Stab City but guns, drive by shootings and bombings are the way many arguments are settled these days. Great people but still a very tough place in certain parts.