Monk... The Gangland Ghost Who Continues To Haunt His Enemies

 Mob boss not seen in Ireland for 1,545 days. He continues virtual gang war from his bolthole

- Neil Leslie

Hidden beneath a black baseball cap pulled low over a dishevelled wig and surrounded by 800 mourners, he still cut an unmistakable figure.

Gerry Hutch – the Monk – was one of the most recognized men in the Irish underworld.

And when this picture was taken he had just become its most hunted.

Days earlier, a hit team had turned a boxing weigh-in at Dublin’s Regency Hotel into a bloodbath, triggering an all-out war between the Kinahan and Hutch organised crime gangs.

The retaliation had been swift and brutal. Three days after the murder of David Byrne and a failed bid to kill Daniel Kinahan, a cartel hit squad shot dead the Monk’s beloved older brother Eddie, an innocent, 59-year-old taxi driver and father of five.

As he stood outside Our Lady Of Lourdes Church on Dublin’s Sean McDermott Street watching the coffin carried inside, Gerry Hutch knew he was not just bidding farewell to his older brother.

It would be the last time he would be spotted in the north inner city streets where he grew into one of Ireland’s shrewdest crime bosses.

In the 1,545 days that have passed since this photo was taken in February 2016, several of those pictured alongside him – including his nephew Gareth and his close pal Noel Kirwan – have lost their lives in the feud.

Gareth’s father John died of natural causes while a fourth brother Patsy has narrowly survived cartel attempts on his life. Hutch’s closest friend Noel Duggan was also shot dead in his driveway.