Larry Dunne
Laurence Dunne[1] (February 1948 - 18 May 2020) was an Irish organised crime boss and drug dealer.[2][3] He was held responsible for introducing heroin into Dublin in the 1970s.[2][3]
Early life
[edit]Laurence Dunne was born in February 1948 into a large inner-city Dublin family of 14 children, growing up in Dolphin's Barn.[2][4] His father Christy "Bronco" Dunne Snr. had served eighteen months in Portlaoise Prison for manslaughter in 1939.[4][5] Dunne became involved in petty crime at a young age.[2][4] Aside from drug dealing, he had been previously charged with breaking and entering, robbery,[6] armed robbery[7] and driving without insurance.[8]
He was sent to Daingean Reformatory like many of his brothers.[2][4]
Criminal career
[edit]He began supplying heroin in Dublin in the late 1970s.[2] He had spent time in England and built up a network of connections with British drug dealers.[2] He organised young "runners" to supply heroin on streets and in flat complexes.[2] Because of this he earned the nickname "Larry doesn't carry".[2]
Dunne made enough money that in May 1982 he, his wife Lily and three children[9] moved to a luxury home in Sandyford at the foot of the Dublin Mountains.[2] Although unemployed he paid £100,000 for it – the equivalent of €1.3 million in 2020 prices.[2][10]
In June 1983 he was brought before the courts on drugs trafficking charges, after a large quantity of heroin, cocaine and cannabis was found at his Rathfarnham home.[4][11] After a morning testimony against him he absconded.[4] He was found guilty in his absence.[4][2] While on the run he hid in Crumlin, a house of friends in County Leitrim, spent a few days in a Divine Light Mission commune, then went to the Costa del Sol followed by Portugal.[5]
He was arrested in Portugal, extradited to Ireland and served 10 years of a 14 year sentence.[4][2]
He was convicted in 2004 of dealing for an offence that occurred in 1999.[2]
He had more than 40 criminal convictions.[2]
Death
[edit]Dunne had been ill with lung cancer for a long time.[3] He died in St. James's Hospital on 18 May 2020 after slitting his own throat the day before.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Court told of £20,000 drugs haul". Evening Herald. 21 June 1983. p. 1. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Reynolds, Paul (19 May 2020). "Larry Dunne, widely blamed for introducing heroin to Dublin, dies". RTÉ News. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- ^ a b c Foy, Ken (26 May 2020). "Lonely end for Dunne – the man who infested our streets with heroin". The Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Leslie, Neil (20 May 2020). "Dublin drug lord Larry Dunne, 72, died after he was rushed to hospital with suspected knife wounds". MSN News. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- ^ a b Smyth, Sam (1 May 1985). "The homecoming of Larry Dunne". Magill.
- ^ "Essential witness absent at Naas". Irish Independent. 29 February 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ^ "Article clipped from Irish Independent". Irish Independent. 24 January 1973. p. 17. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ^ "Uninsured driver gets six months". Evening Herald. 13 February 1978. p. 4. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ^ "Drug baron's wife is hurt in row". Evening Herald. 15 November 1983. p. 1. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ^ "Larry Dunne Deported". RTÉ News. 8 March 1985. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- ^ "'£20,000 drugs haul' from raid". Evening Herald. 21 June 1983. p. 3. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ^ Bracken, Ali (20 May 2020). "'Flash Larry' — The life and times of the man credited with bringing heroin to Ireland - Extra.ie". Retrieved 17 March 2024.