Paddy Whacked

by ENGLISH T J

• ISBN13: 9780060590024
• ISBN10: 0060590025
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-01-26
• Publisher: Regan Books

Summary

Here is the shocking true saga of the Irish American mob, from the mid-nineteenth century all the way to the present day. History shows that the heritage of the Irish American gangster was established in America long before that of the more widely portrayed Italian American mafioso, and has held strong through the modern age. In fact, the highest-ranking organized crime figure on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List -- alongside Osama bin Laden -- is not a wiseguy, a Latin King, or a gangbanging Blood or Crip, but an old-style Irish American mob boss from South Boston. In Paddy Whacked, bestselling author and organized crime expert T. J. English brings to life nearly two centuries of Irish American gangsterism, which spawned such unforgettable characters as Mike "King Mike" McDonald, Chicago's subterranean godfather; Big Bill Dwyer, New York's most notorious rumrunner during Prohibition; Mickey Featherstone, troubled Vietnam vet turned Westies gang leader from Hell's Kitchen; and James "Whitey" Bulger, the ruthless and untouchable Southie legend. This is an epic story of corrupt politics, wanton murders, gambling empires, notorious brothels, tough women, and hard-drinking pugilists from the underbelly of America's most dangerous cities -- including New York, Boston, New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City, and Cleveland. Combining storytelling verve with thorough research and a slew of never-before-published material -- including new interviews with former gang members -- English presents a riveting, seamless cultural history of the Irish American underworld. He offers a brilliant portrait of a people who fought tooth and nail for a better life from the moment they arrived in America, whether it meant taking charge within the realms of law enforcement and politics -- from Tammany Hall to the White House -- or capitalizing on what opportunities they could in the darker world beyond the law. Paddy Whacked is an irresistible tour of the undercarriage of our history -- a ride that stretches from the earliest New York and New Orleans street wars through decades of bootlegging scams, union strikes, gang wars, and FBI investigations ... and along the way deepens our understanding of the American experience.

Author Biography

T.J. English is a noted journalist, screenwriter, and author of two previous books: The Westies, a national bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book, and Born to Kill, which was nominated for an Edgar Award. A former writer for Irish America Magazine, English has also been published in Esquire, Playboy, and New York magazine; his screenwriting credits include work on the television crime dramas NYPD Blue and Homicide, for which he was awarded the Humanitas Prize. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	1	(12)
Part 1: Birth of the Underworld
1. BLOOD AT THE ROOT	13	(30)
Old Smoke Riseth
The First Irish Mob Boss
Gangs, Gangsters, and the Women Who Love Them
"Hurrah for Big Tim!"
2. A PERFECT HELL ON EARTH	43	(28)
Shamrocks, Shillelaghs, and Yellow Fever
Gambling Men, Wharf Rats, and Ladies of Ill Repute
The Policeman as "Gangster"
"Who Killa de Chief?"
3. UP FROM MUD CITY	71	(34)
See Mike
The Man Behind the Man
Dawn of the Irish Political Boss
The First Ward Ball
Chicago Gambling Wars
4. DELIRIUM TREMENS OR NEW CLOTHES ON AN OLD DAME	105	(32)
King of the Rum Runners
Owney the Killer
When New York Was Really Irish
Diamond in the Rough
5. THE DAGOS VS. THE MICKS	137	(34)
The Merry Prankster
Kingdom of the Gangs
Big Al's Better Half
Who Killed McSwiggin and Why?
Gunning for Bugs
6. REQUIEM FOR A MAD DOG	171	(28)
"Come and Get Me, Coppers!"
Happy Days and Lonely Nights
With Friends like These...
Playing at a Theater Near You
7. THE SMOKE-FILLED ROOM AND OTHER TALES OF POLITICAL MALFEASANCE	199	(30)
Revenge of the Goo Goos
Kansas City Stomp
Fall of the House of Pendergast
Reform
Part 2: A Long Way From Tipperary
8. HARD HATS & HARD MEN	229	(30)
King of the Dock Wallopers
You Push, We Shove
Cockeye and Squint Get the Chair
The Waterfront Commission
Corridan 's Legacy
9. THE PATRIARCH	259	(32)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Whiskey Baron
The Friends of Joe Kennedy
All the Way with JFK
The Kennedy Double Cross
Death to Giovanni
10. IRISH VS. IRISH	291	(34)
Running with the Mullin Gang
Boston Gang Wars, Part I
Boston Gang Wars, Part II
Whitey Makes His Move
11. I LEFT MY HEART IN HELL'S KITCHEN	325	(32)
Death and Taxes
Back from Vietnam
Mad Dog Redux
The Wild, Wild Westies
Last of the Gentleman Gangsters
12. LAST CALL AT THE CELTIC CLUB	357	(28)
The Legend of Danny Greene
Live by the Bomb, Die by the Bomb
The Informer
13. MICKEY'S MONKEY	385	(26)
Sissy and Edna
In the Realm of the Westies
The Return of Jimmy C.
Settling Old Scores
14. SOUTHIE SERENADE: WHITEY ON THE RUN	411	(26)
Shadow of the Shamrock
The Bulger Mystique
The Last Hurrah
Old Bones and Shallow Graves
EPILOGUE	437	(6)
SOURCES	443	(10)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	453	(2)
INDEX	455

Excerpts

Paddy Whacked
The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster

Chapter One

Blood at the Root

John Morrissey was a young ruffian -- a teenage, Irish punk with nojob, no money, and few possessions other than the clothes on his back. The year was 1849, and Morrissey had just arrived in New York City from the upstate town of Troy, where he had been raised after moving from Ireland with his parents at the age of three. In Troy, Morrissey developed a reputation as a brawler and a troublemaker. He'd been indicted for burglary, assault, and assault with intent to kill; served a sixty-day stint in the county jail; and was under constant harassment from local authorities. They said eighteen-year-old Morrissey was a gangster, but the young man knew in his heart that his ambitions were too great for that two-horse town. And so, possessing a restless energy that could not be contained in the placid, confined roads of small-town America, he set out for the great metropolis 160 miles to the south, where pilgrims, immigrants, and refugees were presently arriving in droves.

Morrissey knew exactly where he needed to go: the Empire Club, a gambling parlor and political clubhouse that was famous throughout the state. Located on Park Row in lower Manhattan, the club was the home base of Captain Isaiah Rynders, legendary sporting man, gambling impresario, andpolitical fixer for the Democratic party. Rynders was the employer of hundredsof political operatives, gambling club workers, saloon keepers, andgangsters; his organization was at the heart of a political machine that madethe great city hum. Morrissey -- hungry, hard-headed, and propelled by thedesires of youth -- was determined to harness the power of Rynders's organization to raise himself out of the ghetto and make his mark in the world.

He arrived at the Empire Club on one June afternoon, stood overlookingthe gaming tables and declared, "I'm here to say I can lick any man in thisplace."

Captain Rynders himself, presiding at a gaming table, looked up at theintrepid young man -- five-foot-eleven inches tall, maybe 175 pounds, witha barrel chest and hands the size of meat hooks; impressive, yes, but not soimposing that he could intimidate with sheer physical presence alone.

"And who might you be?" Rynders asked the young Irishman.

"My name is John Morrissey, and I'm the toughest pugilist on the easternseaboard. I'm here to prove it."

Rynders pursed his lips in an enigmatic Mona Lisa-smile for which hewas famous and glanced around at his fellow club members. He assessed thebrash youngster, looking him over from head to toe, then nodded for hisunderlings to advance. They descended upon the young punk with fists, bottles, chairs, slung shots, and other weapons. Morrissey more than held hisown until Big Tom Burns smacked him behind the ear with a spittoon,knocking the young hooligan unconscious.

When Morrissey awoke he was laying on a cot in the back of the EmpireClub with a knot the size of an acorn on the crown of his skull. CaptainRynders, dressed in finery the likes of which Morrissey had never seenbefore, stood over the bruiser and said, "You're a bold, young bastard."

Morrissey felt the lump on his head and said nothing.

"I want you to come work for me. You'll make a fine shoulder-hitter forthe organization. You can stay at my boarding house and work the docks."

And so began the political career of young John Morrissey.

He was put to work as an immigrant runner, one of hundreds whoworked Castle Garden wharf in lower Manhattan, where the immigrantships disgorged their human cargo. Each day he watched the arrival of hiscountrymen, and his heart ached at what he saw.

Having been born in Templemore, County Tipperary in 1831 andraised in an Irish slum in America, Morrissey knew a thing or two aboutpoverty. In Troy, whenever his father was able to find work, it had been atthe local wallpaper factory or on the docks alongside other Irish laborers.Young John had grown up believing his family was dirt poor, but what hesaw at Castle Garden made him reassess his circumstances. Gaunt, hauntedIrish peasants arrived by the boatload, weak from dropsy and gout, clingingto satchels that contained all that they owned. They told shocking tales ofthe Great Famine that had ravaged the Old Country over the last few yearsand of the horrific, disease-ridden journey across the ocean in hopes of abetter future.

It was Morrissey's job to greet these new arrivals and direct them to soupkitchens and boarding houses controlled by the Rynders organization. Mixedin among the many legitimate immigrant runners were dozens of con artists and "land sharks," men who preyed upon the ignorant new arrivals. Lateraccounts of the era often characterized the job of the immigrant runner asthat of a parasite, which may have been a bit harsh. Certainly the positionstraddled the line between charity and exploitation. Among runners,Morrissey developed a reputation as a tough though fair man who directedhundreds of desperate immigrants to food and lodging. In exchange, theysigned voter cards and pledged their support to the political organization thatMorrissey represented. On election day, it was Morrissey's job to see that these people delivered on their pledge -- under the threat of violence, if necessary.

Along with tens of thousands of other Irish immigrants arriving in NewYork City on a monthly basis, Morrissey found lodging in Five Points, theinfamous slum neighborhood that dominated the Sixth Ward at the lowertip of Manhattan island. For a time, he lived in a boarding house on CherryStreet and frequented a grog shop, or speakeasy, on lower Broadway knownas the Gem Saloon.

Five Points was a lively area though the physical conditions of the districtwere awful. Laid out on top of what had once been a sewage pond known asthe Collect, Five Points had evolved ...

Paddy Whacked
The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. Copyright © by T. English. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster by T. J. English
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.