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Teen gang member sparks huge raids on Dundon brothers’ old HQ in Limerick

The young associate of the gang has been living between the UK and Limerick and is already the suspect in a number of murders.

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A teenage member of the Dundon organisation in Limerick sparked massive garda raids this week after he was accused of threatening long time rivals of the family crime gang.

The young associate of the gang has been living between the UK and Limerick and is already the suspect in a number of murders.

Gardai fear that he has been blooded by the notorious brothers Wayne and John Dundon who are both serving life in prison for murder.

This week gardai staged a number of raids on the family homes of the brothers on Hyde Road which were the headquarters of the Dundon gang during two decades of feuding which claimed the lives of 17 people.

Officers seized a cocaine press and large quantities of ‘white powder’ which is currently being tested during the raids.

Local gardai with the back up of the Emergency Response Unit surrounded the properties during the searches sparked after a complaint that the young associate had threatened rivals with a gun.

Despite the massive resources which have been pumped into Limerick to crush the gangs, it is understood that they are lining up once again to show their muscle and that the volatile young Dundon ally is emerging as the muscle in his gang.

The youngster has been mentored by Ger Dundon, the youngest of the brothers who has remained at large despite stints in prison. He is currently locked up in the UK after he was caught up in a kidnap and extortion bid with Cornelius Price, a key figure in the Drogheda feud who died at the the weekend.

It is understood that the teenager has been involved in criminality since he was a young child and has been feared by those who know him since he was at least 12 years of age.

He was just a child when Wayne and John Dundon reaped fear and chaos on Limerick City when they went to war with rivals in the Keane and Collopy gangs.

Together with the McCarthy faction they joined forces to wipe out their criminal rivals but both wound up with life sentences for the murders of innocent feud victims Roy Collins and rugby player Shane Geoghegan.

However, a fallout which resulted from a garda crackdown in the city resulted in the McCarty and Dundon factions turning on one another.

Gangland brothers ‘Fat’ John and Eds McCarthy have both been back in the city in their stronghold of Moyross in recent months.

Along with their cousin Kieran ‘Rashers’ Ryan they are now the Garda’s number one organised crime targets in the city.

‘Fat’ John completed a lengthy prison term while his brother Eds formed a close partnership with Kinahan boss Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh in Birmingham.

Ten years since the gangs of Limerick were crushed by a mixture of Tango style policing and regeneration funding, concerns are rising that the McCarthys and the Dundons may be lining up to take on one another once again.

The McCarthy and Ryan alliance is by far the most powerful group with the Keane and Collopy factions now operating as separate entities.

However, the Dundon grouping have been making attempts to take back some control of the drug trade and are understood to have forged strong links with UK traveller mobs involved in drugs and weapons through Ger Dundon.

Dundon was arrested in Belfast by the PSNI in April 2020 as part of the investigation into the murder of feuding mobster Robbie Lawlor.

The Limerick gang are suspected of double-crossing Lawlor who Ger had previously struck up a friendship with when they were both behind bars.

Lawlor was one of Ireland’s most dangerous and feared criminals and was a central player in the Drogheda feud.

He brutally murdered Keane Mulready Woods and shot rival gang boss Owen Maguire – leaving him permanently paralysed.

It is believed a coalition of criminals conspired to have Lawlor murdered in Belfast.

Dundon was ultimately released without charge before leaving Ireland and returning to the UK.

He was later arrested with Cornelius Price, who had gone on social media to celebrate the Lawlor murder.

Gardai in Limerick are closely monitoring the activities of the key players in the feud which turned the city into a warzone and whose activities led to a €100 million regeneration project on key areas of the city including Southhill, Moyross, the Island Field and Ballinacurra Weston.

All the estates are within a kilometre of the city centre and still scattered with abandoned and boarded up houses.

All the feuding factions have remained in the city and have homes in the areas.

Wayne Dundon’s wife Ann Casey lives on Hyde Road with their children and John Dundon’s partner Ciara lives in a house opposite her and next door to Dessie Dundon’s home where his partner Ciara Lynch lives despite the fact that she was just 12 when he was jailed for life for murder.