Gardaí know identity of gang feud victim’s killer

AS Limerick today marks the anniversary of a notorious feud murder, gardaí now say they know the identity of the teenage thug who gunned down John Ryan in cold blood on July 7, 2003.

The main suspect was only 15 at the time of the murder.

John Ryan, 47, was shot as he laid a patio at a house in Thomondgate. The youth jumped from the back of a motorbike and opened fire. Mr Ryan died less than an hour later at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

The murder of his brother Eddie Ryan in the Moose Bar in November 2000 led to an explosion of gun violence between the three main gangs in Limerick’s infamous feud.

John Ryan had described himself as a ‘dead man walking’ and his house at Lee Estate was subjected to so many gun attacks it was known as The Alamo. Prior to his murder, he had moved to Moyross with his wife, their six daughters and young son.

News of his death sparked a huge street party in nearby St Mary’s Park.

The 15-year-old and another youth were arrested and questioned, but no charges were brought as gardaí did not have sufficient evidence.

On the evening of the shooting, John Ryan went to the home of friend Con Quilligan at High Road, Thomondgate, to help put down a patio. A motorbike drove up at around 6.20pm and the pillion passenger shot Mr Ryan. High Road was busy with bumper-to-bumper evening traffic and many motorists watched in horror.

The motorbike was found burned out at St Mary’s Park, just a few hundred yards from the scene.

Six months previous, on January 24, 2003, Ryan’s two nephews, Eddie and Kieran, were abducted as part of an elaborate plan to lure rival gang boss Kieran Keane into a trap.

On January 29, the Ryan brothers walked into Portlaoise Garda Station. Some hours earlier, Kieran Keane had been abducted and shot dead on an isolated country road at Drombanna on the outskirts of Limerick.

His nephew Owen Treacy survived multiple stab wounds and his subsequent court evidence led to five men being convicted for the murder.

Keane was one of the two gunmen who shot dead Eddie Ryan in the Moose Bar in November 2000. His accomplice has never been charged and is now a major player in the heroin scene in Limerick.

Following the Moose bar murder of Eddie Ryan, the Ryan gang formed an alliance with the McCarthy Dundon gang, who are based on the south side of Limerick, to take on the St Mary’s Park-based Keane gang.

The Keane gang are one of the biggest distributors of cocaine and heroin outside of Dublin.

Both sides in the feud have suffered major setbacks in recent times due to garda drugs finds in the city. More than 50 members of the three gangs are serving long jail sentences.