History Main / TheIrishMob

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See also: {{Southies}} ans IrishExplosivesExpert.

No, not slang for [[OfficerOHara the cops]]. Organized crime, Irish-style.

* Creator/MartinScorsese's ''Film/TheIrishman'', about Frank Sheeran, an Irish-American hitman for the mob, and especially about his role in the disappearance of his old friend Jimmy Hoffa. Starring a few veterans of Scorsese's crime movies, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/AlPacino and Creator/JoePesci. De Niro might feel like an odd choice at first, being primarily known as an Italian-American actor in Scorsese's Italian-American crime films, but he ''does'' have some Irish ancestry in addition to Italian and some other European ancestries.

* Creator/MartinScorsese's ''The Irishman'', about Frank Sheeran, an Irish-American hitman for the mob, and especially about his role in the disappearance of his old friend Jimmy Hoffa. Starring a few veterans of Scorsese's crime movies, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/AlPacino and Creator/JoePesci. De Niro might feel like an odd choice at first, being primarily known as an Italian-American actor in Scorsese's Italian-American crime films, but he ''does'' have some Irish ancestry in addition to Italian and some other European ancestries.

* Creator/MartinScorsese's ''The Irishman'', about Frank Sheeran, an Irish-American hitman for the mob, and especially about his role in the disappearance of his old friend Jimmy Hoffa. Oddly, it stars very Italian-American veterans of Scorsese's crime movies, Creator/RobertDeNiro, Creator/AlPacino and Creator/JoePesci.

See also: {{Southies}}.

** The story also features a group called the East Coast Irish and is portrayed as one of the biggest criminal organizations in the country, but is usually referred to as "the McMahon family" after their founder/leader, Wrestling/VinceMcmahon. Other members include the very non-Irish Wrestling/PaulHeyman and Wrestling/JohnCena.

* Being that both Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are from a rough Boston neighborhood, and then went into work as {{Private Detective}}s in that same neighborhood, the Irish Mob has figured in several stories in the ''Literature/KenzieAndGennaroSeries''. They play the largest role in the second book of the series, ''Darkness Take My Hand'', although they're subject to DiminishingVillainThreat, as a SerialKiller and the Italians wind up being considerably bigger problems.

* The Maguires of ''Series/{{ShamelessUK}}'' are part of this.

* The Maguires of ''Series/{{Shameless}}''.

* "Whitey" Bulger, mentioned more than once above, is the most famous Irish gangster. He operated drug dealing and gun smuggling rackets out of Boston, and also spent 19 years as a U.S. government informant against rival Italian gangs (notably the Patriarca crime family) before going into hiding for 16 years as one of America's 10 Most Wanted felons. They only caught up with him in 2011 and convicted him in August of 2013 for racketeering and 11 murders. (For an account of what life was like in Boston in the neighborhoods he dominated, see ''Literature/AllSouls''.)

* The Celtic Club in Cleveland is a bit more recent example, originally formed from young Irish-Americans by Danny Greene to serve as his personal muscle to protect his gambling dens. He then attempted muscle in on the Licavoli family's rackets and competed with them for control of the city during the 70s. The ensuing conflict resulted in Cleveland gaining the moniker "Bomb City, U.S.A" due to the popularity of the car bomb, and while the Italians killed off Danny Greene, he permanently crippled their influence in the city.

->''When I was your age they would say we can become [[OfficerOHara cops]] or criminals.''

Like TheMafia and TheMafiya the Irish Mob is strongly linked with poor immigrant communities. Mostly this means America but they can also pop up in stories set in Britain as well as back home.

The Irish Mob is often depicted as more anarchic and [[LowerClassLout "casual"]] than TheMafia, preferring shabby pubs, flat-caps and t-shirts to Italian restaurants, fedoras and two-piece suits.

* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' has the American-Irish politician-turned-gangster Nucky Thompson as its main character. Parts of the show depict the conflict between the local Irish gangs of Chicago and the Italian outfit led by Torrio and Al Capone. It also goes into the relationship between Irish Republicans and Irish-American gangsters with one of Nucky's lieutenants being a former IRA enforcer/bomber who decided to settle in America.

* The second season of ''Series/Daredevil2015'' starts when Nelson & Murdock get drawn into the crossfire of a conflict between Frank Castle and the Kitchen Irish.

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* The Sicklefin Gang in Fanfic/DividedRainbow... though they actually hail from 'The Emerald Isles,' which is the Equestrian analogue of Ireland.

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* ''Film/TheMusketeersOfPigAlley'', a 1912 Creator/DWGriffith short. Actually, the thugs who dominate life in Pig Alley aren't specifically designated as Irish, but they definitely aren't Italian or [[KosherNostra Jewish]], and the Snapper Kid, leader of a gang of toughs, certainly seems like an Irish gangster in the Cagney tradition -- and "Snapper" is Dublin slang for kid.

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* "Whitey" Bulger, mentioned more than once above, is the most famous Irish gangster. He operated drug dealing and gun smuggling rackets out of Boston, and also spent 19 years as a U.S. government informant against rival Italian gangs (notably the Patriarca crime family) before going into hiding for 16 years as one of America's 10 Most Wanted felons. They only caught up with him in 2011 and convicted him in August of 2013 for racketeering and 11 murders. (For an account of what life was like in Boston in the neighborhoods he dominated, see ''Literature/AllSouls''.)

* The Clerkenwell crime syndicate (also known as the A-Team or the Adams Family) is/was a London based mob run by three Irish Catholic brothers (Terry, Tommy and Patrick Adams). At their peak in the 90's they were one of the most powerful criminal organisations in the UK, were linked with 25 murders and amassed a fortune estimated at £200 million.

The Irish Mob is often depicted as more anarchic and [[LowerClassLout "casual"]] than TheMafia, preferring shabby pubs and [[strike:Yorkshire flat-caps]] t-shirts to Italian restaurants and fedoras.

* ''Film/TheMusketeersOfPigAlley'', a 1912 Creator/DWGriffith short. Actually, the thugs who dominate life in Pig Alley aren't specifically designated as Irish, but they definitely aren't Italian or [[KosherNostra Jewish]], and the Snapper Kid, leader of a gang of toughs, certainly seems like an Irish gangster in the Cagney tradition.
** "Snapper" is Dublin slang for kid.

* ''Film/DeathToSmoochy'' also uses them comedically.
** In this case, they are on the main character's side, helping to protect him from a corrupt charity.
* ''Film/VeronicaGuerin'' has a relatively rare film appearance by Irish mobsters actually operating ''in'' Ireland.
* ''The General'' and ''Ordinary Decent Criminal'', are both about the exploits of real-life Irish gangster Martin Cahill.

* The antagonists of ''Film/{{Run}}'' are supposedly this, given their names (Halloran, Martins) and the [[{{Southies}} Boston]] / [[{{Joisey}} Atlantic City]] setting.
* ''Film/BlackMass'' tells the real life story of Whitey Bulger, the Irish Mob kingpin of Boston. They feel their ethnic identity deeply, running guns to the Irish Republican Army when they aren't committing murders in Massachusetts.

* The Robert B. Parker character {{Literature/Sunny Randall}} married into an Irish Mob family, and even though she and Richie (the WhiteSheep of this particularly family) are divorced now several members of the family are still fond of her and offer to help out if she needs it.

* The second season of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' had Peter Petrelli link up with Irish mobsters in Cork.

* Showed up on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' in "The Beantown Bailout Job"...and apparently Nate had been a childhood friend of one of the mobsters. Nate's father Jimmy is revealed to have been a high-ranking member of the Irish mob in "The Bottle Job." In "The Three-Card Monte Job," we meet him.
** Hardison once pretends to be one to a mark: "Can you be scared, boyo?"

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' has an episode with an Irish gang ("the Westies"); the victim of the week is an enforcer for the gang who's been sent to try to stop drugs from being dealt in their neighborhood.

* "Whitey" Bulger is the most famous Irish gangster. He operated drug dealing and gun smuggling rackets out of Boston, and also spent 19 years as a U.S. government informant against rival Italian gangs (notably the Patriarca crime family) before going into hiding for 16 years as one of America's 10 Most Wanted felons. They only caught up with him in 2011 and convicted him in August of 2013 for racketeering and 11 murders. (For an account of what life was like in Boston in the neighborhoods he dominated, see ''Literature/AllSouls''.)

* Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll was notorious back in the days of organized crime for his feud with Dutch Schultz. Although Coll and his Irish mob were the first rivals to make Schultz so much as flinch, they were mostly notorious for a botched drive-by that left the intended target unharmed but killed a 5 year old boy.

* In more recent times, this has become quite prominent in Ireland itself, particularly since the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin. Infamous Irish gangland criminals have included the likes of Martin "The General" Cahill, John Gilligan and "Fat" Freddie Thompson. Guerin's employers at the time of her death, ''The Sunday World'', fill their issues heavily with gang related stories.

* Nearly all the criminals in ''Film/TheDeparted''. Creator/JackNicholson's character was partially based on real life Irish-American gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

* You can find holotapes in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' by or relating to Irish mobster Eddie Winter, a sociopathic bastard who was busy fixing up relationships with [[TheMafia the Italian Mafia]] so they could divide Boston between them... before [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the bombs fell and made the whole matter moot]]. [[spoiler:Turns out he survived the past two hundred years as a ghoul, and Nick Valentine has some [[ItsPersonal business]] to settle with him.]]

A distinction should be made between the Irish Mob and groups like [[TheTroubles the IRA and the INLA]]. While there is some overlap in fiction (and reality), for the purposes of this trope the Mob are Irish organized criminals motivated primarily by profit rather than the Cause. In settings where both are present, this is a likely bone of contention between two groups that normally start out working together.

** This is also true of ''Northern'' Ireland; the IRA and the Ulster Defence Volunteers fell on hard times towards the end of TheTroubles and resorted to protection rackets, heroin dealing and the odd bank job to keep the bills paid. After the end of major combat operations, many of them decided to carry on as usual and pocket the cash for themselves.

* The second season of ''Series/{{Daredevil}}'' has the Kitchen Irish from ''Punisher MAX'' as Frank's first target.

* The "notorious Murphy clan" of Montreal in the ''Series/MurdochMysteries episode "A Study in Pink".