Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster (76 page)

“The Mystery of Joe Kennedy.”
Newsweek
, September 12, 1960.

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The Irish in America.
New York: Hyperion, 1997.

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The World of Hibernia
. Spring 1999.

———“Farmers No More: From Rural Ireland to the Teeming City.”
The Irish in America
. New York: Hyperion, 1997.

———Introduction to
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics
. NY: Signet Classic, 1995.

Rodann, Curtis. “Big Bill Dwyer—King of the Rum Runners.”
True Detective
. February 1961.

Rousey, Dennis C. “Hibernian Leatherheads: Irish Cops in New Orleans, 1830–1880.”
Journal of Urban History
, Vol X. November 1983.

Salemme, Frank. “Statement of Frank Salemme.” U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform. April 10, 2003.

Schulberg, Bud. “Writing
On the Waterfront.
” Introduction to On the Waterfront (published screenplay). London: Faber and Faber, 1980.

Spillane, Bobby “The Real ‘Road to Perdition.’” NY
Daily News.
July 21, 2002.

Sullivan, Joseph J. & Gail W.
Tears and Tiers (A Product of the State): The Life Story of the Only Man to Ever Escape from Attica Prison
. Unpublished manuscript/autobiography (undated).

Sutherland, Sidney. “The Machine-Gunning of McSwiggin and What Led Up to It.”
Liberty
. July 3–August 7, 1926.

Tuohy, John William. “Joe Kennedy and the Pantages Affair.”
Gambling Magazine
. Internet (undated). www.gamblingmagazine.com

“Waterfront Commission Hearings, Vol. 1–5” New York State Crime Commission. December 1952–March 1953.

Whelen, Edward P. “The Life and Hard Times of the Cleveland Mafia—How the Danny Greene Murder Exploded the Godfather Myth.”
Cleveland Magazine
. August 1978.

“The Wolf Hearings.” (Memorandum and Order) U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts. Judge Mark L. Wolf. September 15, 1999.

Institutions

Essential research material in the form of newspaper archives, historical quarterlies, photos, and, in some cases, police documents were culled from some of the collections of the following institutions: American Irish Historical Society; Museum of the City of New York; New York Public Library (Newspaper Division); New York Municipal Archive; Metropolitan Crime Commission of New Orleans; Louisiana Historical Society; New Orleans Public Library (Louisiana Division); Howard-Tilton Memorial Library (Louisiana Collection), Tulane University; Chicago Crime Commission; Chicago Historical Society; Kansas City Museum; Boston Public Library (Micro-text Room); and John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.

Government Files and Trial Transcripts

Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), U.S. Justice Department FBI files were obtained on the following individuals: Joseph P. Kennedy, Daniel J. Greene, and James J. “Whitey” Bulger.

Transcripts and other evidence from numerous criminal and civil trials were used in the research for this book, especially where it involved wiretap conversations that became the basis for reconstructing dialogue. The primary cases are:

The People of the State of New York v. Francis T. Featherstone aka “Mickey,”
Supreme Court of the State of New York, Manhattan. 1986.

United States v. James J. Coonan et al.,
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. 1987–88.

Unites States v. Kevin Kelly and Kenny Shannon
, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. 1989.

United States v. John J. Connolly, Jr.,
U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts. 2002.

acknowledgments

This book could not have come together were it not for the assistance of various friends, authors, archivists, cops, historians, college professors, newspaper people, ex-girlfriends, priests, taxi drivers, gangsters, and wizards of publishing that I have had the good fortune to know. On various research expeditions to the primary cities mentioned in this book, I was aided by archivists and librarians. In an attempt to find documents and interview living participants from the world of the Irish American gangster, I was aided by law enforcement personnel and people in the underworld—or people who knew people in the underworld. To make sense of it all, I often relied on friends and fellow professionals, especially those with expertise on the subject of Irish Americana.

For providing or leading me to key pieces of information, photos, or helping to facilitate interviews, I would like to thank the following people: Patrick Nee, Jimmy Martorano, Eddie MacKenzie, Mickey Featherstone, Sissy Featherstone, Ciaran Staunton, Tommy Lyons, Chip Fleischer, Rich Farrell, Ray Flynn, Tyler Anbinder, Edward McDonald, Rose Keefe, Kevin Cullen of the
Boston Globe
, Bill Boyle of the New York
Daily News
, Bill Gallo of the
Daily News
, and Rick Porrello of
americanmafia.com
.

Having gotten my start as a journalist writing mostly for Irish American publications, I have accumulated friends and professional contacts who were indispensable as a sounding board on the subjects of Irish American history, culture, and/or American gangsterism in general. In this regard I would like to thank: Bob Callahan, Peter Quinn, Alderman Tom Kelly, Michael Patrick MacDonald, Vince Patrick, Patrick Farrelly, Kate O’Callaghan, Danny Cassidy, Ed Moloney, Pat Fenton, Sean O’Murchu, Niall O’Dowd, Trish Harty, Brian Rohan, and Kevin Mullen.

Various research institutions were essential sources of information. I was aided in my archival expeditions by the following professionals: In New York, Scott Kelly of the American Irish Historical Society. In New Orleans, Wayne Everard, head archivist at the New Orleans Public Library, Louisiana Division; Sally Reeves, archivist for the Louisiana Historical Society; and Anthony Radosti of the Metropolitan Crime Commission of New Orleans. In Chicago, Lee Lyons, research director for the Chicago Crime Commission. In Kansas City, archivist Denise Morrison of the Kansas City Museum. In Boston, archivist James Hill of the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. In Cleveland, Lt. Wayne Drummond and Commander Edward Tomba of the Cleveland Police Department.

In many ways researching and writing this book was for me the continuation of a lifelong journey as a writer, an exploration that has been supported and sustained by friends and family. Just for being there, I would like to thank: Tom Caldarola, Barbara Henderson, Dino Malcolm, Gha’il Rhodes-Benjamin, Joan Barker, Joel Millman, Joel Popson, Frankie “the Tailor” Shattuck, Ryan Schafer, Nora Wertz, Rocky Sullivan’s Bar, and, most especially, the one and only Sandra Maria Rocha English. I would also like to thank my immediate family: Joan, Terry, Ed, Maureen, Marian, Suzanne, John, Margi, Mike, and mother Suzanne.

Finally there are the people who helped launch this project into the marketplace and shape its final form. I am indebted to master agent Nat Sobel, who compelled me to expand and go deeper, to publisher Judith Regan, who knows an Irish gangster when she sees one, to editor Cal Morgan for championing the cause, and to editor Anna Bliss, who helped get the project rolling when she was under the employ of Sobel Weber Associates and ushered it across the finish line after she switched to ReganBooks.

searchable terms

Acuna, “Chile,”

Adonis Social Club

African American gangsters

alderman, defined

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

American Mob, roots

Anger, Kenneth

Angiulo, Gennaro “Jerry,”

anti-Catholic bigotry

J.F.K. presidency overcoming

Know-Nothing movement

Mike McDonald and

in New Orleans

shaping Irish American identity

Whitey/Billy Bulger and

Anti-Saloon League

Apalachin (NY) conference

Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor (AICP)

Atlantic City conference

“baby massacre”.
See
Coll, Vincent “the Mad Mick”

Back o’ the Yards gambling fortress

Barboza, Joe

Bathhouse John.
See
Coughlin, John “Bathhouse John”

Beattie, Billy

Belmont, August

Benjamin, Frank

Big Bankroll.
See
Rothstein, Arnold

Bill the Butcher.
See
Poole, William

Billingsley, Sherman

Birns, Shonder

Black Sox Scandal

Board of Fifteen

Bokun, Billy

Bonanno, Joseph

boodling

bookmaking rise

Boone, Levi

bootlegging

Big Tim Sullivan and

ethnic diversity

home brewing and

impetus for

protection

rampant bloodshed

whiskey baron.
See
Kennedy, Joseph P.

See also
Combine, the;
specific bootleggers

Borelli, Carmine

Boston

absent central power base

Brinks Job

busing crisis

freelance underworld

interethnic gang fraternization

James Michael Curly and

J.F.K. election irony

1960s neighborhoods

See also
gangs (Boston);
specific gangsters

Bowery Boys

Boylan, Tom

Boylan Protective Police

Brain, The.
See
Rothstein, Arnold

Brando, Marlon

Brinks Job

Brod, Mario

Bufalino, Russell

Bulger, Billy

Bulger, James “Whitey”

birth, formative years

Brian Halloran and

brother Billy protecting

busing crisis

DEA close call

Dennis Condon and

Donald Killeen murder and

early criminal activity

embodying Irish Mob history

ending gang wars

fall of

FBI aiding/abetting

FBI going after

FBI Top Echelon informant

Bulger, James “Whitey” (
continued
)

headquarters

international forays

Jimmy Coonan and

John Callahan and

John Connolly and.
See
Connolly, John

Kenny Killeen and

Killeen Gang

on the lam

LSD guinea pig

neighborhood protector

overview

Pat Nee and