Note: I’ve previously looked at a criminal street-gang from Dublin’s North Inner city named the ‘Sons of Dawn’ who were also tracked down and arrested by the IRA in the same period.
Introduction
In 1921, an eight-man gang were responsible for a number of armed robberies in Dublin. The core of the group was made up of British Army deserters from the Royal Air Force (RAF). After an intelligence operation, the group was tracked down by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and handed over to the authorities.
The gang has been recalled in different accounts as “Claude Gunner’s gang”, named after their ringleader, and “McNally’s gang” named after their first robbery victim.
The four key members were RAF deserters and a mixture of English, Irish and Scottish. All were aged between 21 and 23 at the time of the robberies. They were:
- Claude Gunner from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. DOB 24 June 1900.
- Thomas Speers from Greenock near Glasgow, Scotland. DOB 10 April 1899.
- Denis Marry/Marrey from Balbriggan, North County Dublin. DOB 17 July 1898.
- George Collins from Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England. DOB 10 Feb 1900.
They were aided by:
- Charles Rennie, a former Scotland Yard detective
- Jimmy Marry, brother of Denis, from Balbriggan
- James Kenny, the owner of the ‘Silver King’ fleet of buses in Dublin
- An individual with the surname Wibberley, allegedly a former IRA Volunteer in Dublin
- An unnamed caretaker of the Soldiers’ Central Club, College Street, Dublin
Robberies
On 23 July 1921, the armed gang robbed Patrick Farrelly of £265, the property of Kennedy’s Bread, on the Ringsend Road, Dublin. The hoist was not reported in the newspapers at the time.
The IRA through its Irish Bulletin (November 1921) described the gang as a group of “gentlemen cracksmen … ex members of the British forces who had become moderately wealthy from the proceeds and their robberies”. It was stated that they “dressed well and were educated (and) only attempted big coups”.
On 10 September 1921, the same group robbed Hugh Charles McNally of £768 on the Howth Road in Killester, Dublin. The Sunday Independent (11 Sep 1921) described the incident as “one of the most daring and most sensational highway robberies in Dublin of recent years”. As a result, the gang were called “Killester robbers” in the military pension application file of Peter Byrne (24SP8784).
The Sunday Independent, 11 September 1921
McNally, a well-known builder, was the contractor for a new housing project for former British Army servicemen named Killester Gardens. On the day of the incident, McNally left the city centre in a motorcar with a large bag of cash to pay the workmen. Accompanied by his clerk Mr. Mitten, they were nearing the corner of Killester Lane (now Killester Avenue) on the Howth Road when they were confronted by four men. It was noted by the Sunday Independent that the thieves “spoke with English accents (and) were not disguised in any way”.
McNally later told the Freeman’s Journal (12 Sep 1921):
One of the fellows came to my side with a revolver pointed at me and I jumped out of the car over the side and tackled him. I held him. Whilst I was wrestling with him, the other fellow with the revolver fired and put a bullet through the glass of the screen where my clerk was sitting. (He) was fortunately not injured.
The newspapers reported that McNally’s car tyres had been slashed with razors but he did manage to chase after the thieves by foot and saw the gang of four jumping into a Ford car which already had two men sitting in it. After some initial car trouble, the gang made their escape in the direction of Fairview.
The crime was reported to the IRA and the Irish Republican Police (IRP) who were committed to maintaining law and order during the Truce Period.
IRA Intelligence Operation
Patrick J Kelly (First Lieutenant, G Company, 1 Battalion, Dublin Brigade, IRA) wrote a detailed account of the organisation’s efforts to uncover the gang in his Witness Statement (no. 781). He also mentioned the operation in his application for a military service pension (MSP34REF457).
Patrick Kelly in front of the Advisory Committee, 20 February 1935. Ref: (MSP34REF457)
Things began when the IRA’s General Headquarters (GHQ) circulated the serial numbers of the stolen £5 notes and asked all IRA Volunteers in the city to “seek information and report” back. Thomas Curran (Intelligence Officer, G Company, 1 Battalion, Dublin Brigade, IRA) was told by the barman in Doyle’s Corner in Phibsboro that a customer who had been unemployed for months had been in the pub and “changed a fiver“. Curran, naturally suspicious at this, asked to see the note and it matched the notes stolen in the Howth Road robbery. An IRA Volunteer named Curran got the address of the man who had come in with the £5 and reported everything back to Robert ‘Bob’ Oman (Captain, G Company, 1 Battalion, Dublin Brigade, IRA).
George Collins was subsequently the first of the gang to be picked up by the IRA. He was arrested at his residence at 61 Phibsboro Road, Dublin 7. IRA Officer Robert Oman wrote in his military service pension application (MSP34REF16645) that another individual Wibberley, a former IRA volunteer in H Company, 1 Battalion (?), was arrested at the same time of Collins.
According to Kelly’s account, George Collins was arrested with a “.38 revolver in his hip pocket”. He was brought to Columcille Hall at 5 Blackhall Street in Smithfield, Dublin 7 for questioning. This building had been owned by the Gaelic League since 1900 and was used as the HQ of 1 Battalion, Dublin Brigade of the Irish Volunteers/IRA from 1914 to 1922.
George Collins admitted that he was involved in the robbery of McNally and revealed that he was a RAF deserter who had teamed up with five others in a similar position.
PJ D’Alton writing about Joe Dodd’s IRA service. Ref: MSP34REF2287
At this stage, Kelly recognised Collins as being the driver for the RAF’s General Gerald Farrell who had been caught up in an IRA ambush on the South Circular Road, Dublin 8 some time before. Collins was subsequently accused of being involved in the reprisal burning of the Half-Way House in Crumlin. The prisoner admitted that he had driven a party of British Army officers from Baldonnel Camp to Crumlin but had not personally taken part in the burning. Knowing that the game was up and so “badly scared at being so well-known”, Collins gave up the names of his five conspirators and revealed the gangs plans was to rob Cook’s Tourist Agency, Grafton Street; Tedcastle McCormack’s payroll, North Wall and the National Bank, Cork before absconding to England.
It was revealed that the gang’s ‘fixer’ in Dublin was Denis Marry from Balbriggan. Collins gave his IRA captors a description of Marry and said that he would be arriving into Dublin on a Great Northern Railway train in the coming days.
Five days later, Vincent Gogan (IRA Intelligence Officer, 1 Battalion, Dublin Brigade) reported that a man matching Marry’s description had arrived into Dublin by train and had checked into the Globe Hotel on Talbot Street.
Kelly and a squad of IRA men including Mick Downes, Joe Dodd (MSP34REF2287), James Kelly and Vincent Gogan, found Marry in a lodging-house near Malrboro Street Church which the Globe Hotel also owned. He was captured with a Colt .45 revolver and was also taken to Columcille Hall. When he saw his fellow RAF deserter Collins there, he must have known that the game was up too.
Marry told the IRA that three more of the gang would arrive into Dublin in a couple of days. Two would arrive into Dún Laoghaire and then take a train to Harcourt Street. They were Charles Rennee and Claude Gunner. The other man, Thomas Speers, was to arrive into the city by the Great Northern Railway. (Two IRA accounts have described Speers as a “jockey” but British Army service records reveal that he too was a RAF deserter who worked previously as a “printer”)
Nicholas Laffan (BMH WS 703) described how the IRA raided two houses in Springgarden Street in the North Strand and later the Westbrook Hotel on Harcourt Street unsuccessfully for Rennee.
Excerpt from Nicholas Laffan’s account. Ref: BMH WS 703
Denis Marry offered to go and meet his two fellow gang members in Dún Laoghaire and travel into town with them so the IRA would recognise them more easily.
Speers was caught by IRA Volunteers James Kelly and Mick Downes at Amiens Street train station. He too was carrying a .38 revolver and was brought to Columcille Hall.
Afterwards, Kelly and Downs rushed over to Harcourt Street to help fellow IRA men Robert Oman, James Kelly, Joe Dodd and Callaghan with the arrest of the remaining gang members. Renne and Gunner were caught while Denis Marry and his brother Jimmy escaped down Montague Street.
(Kelly’s account suggests Denis Marry’s brother was named ‘Ned’ while Oman’s account and census records suggest Jimmy is the correct name)
The IRA visited the Marry household in Balbriggan and were told the two brothers had fled to Belfast.
Nicholas Laffan (BMH WS 703) wrote that some of the gang had been tracked down to the North Strand Road where they put up a fight and fire their revolvers from a tram as they were being pursued. Robert Oman (MSP34REF16645) states that Jimmy Marry was “arrested on a tram at North Strand”.
Robert Oman’s hand-written list of the gang members. Ref: MSP34REF16645
Gang leader Rennee offered the IRA a substantial bribe for their release and asked them to collect his luggage from the Soldiers’ Central Club on College Street. He also provided the name (never recorded in any account) of the caretaker who was in charge and the name of the man who “supplied cars for the hold-up”. Kelly wrote:
His name was Kenny and was well-known in Dublin. We had him under arrest in under an hour. He gave us a cheque for £50 which he said was his share of the McNally robbery.
On collecting the luggage from the Soldiers’ Central Club, Kelly wrote that it contained “the filthiest collection of photographs and French postcards imaginable.”
Rennee told Kelly that he was lucky that he was not at Harcourt Street station when they arrived as Marry had given him his description and they intended to shoot it out.
Kelly wrote that the British Government “requested that Rennee, Gunner, Collins and Spears (sic) be handed over to them as deserters”.
Kelly believed that Gunner and Collins “were sentenced to three years imprisonment in Stafford Detention Barracks, England”. Rennee was sent to London for trial but the IRA “never learned the result”. Nor did they learn what happened to Speers. Kenny received a “stiff fine to pay” and soon “went out of business”. The caretaker in the Soldier’s Home was released with a warning.
Kelly lamented at the end of his account that:
The proceeds of several robberies was never discovered. Gunner said they spent it touring the Continent, and judging by their luggage I believed them.
Official British state files
On 25 November 1921, Claude Gunner and Thomas Speers were court-martialled and attended a military trial in Dublin. The British Army ‘Register of courts martial” in Dublin (Ref. no. WO 35/57) state that the pair were accused of “robbery with aggravation (while) armed with firearms” of the hold-up of Patrick Farrelly in July 1921 and of Hugh Charles McNally in September 1921. They were found guilty of the Farrelly robbery but not-guilty of the McNally heist.
On 28 November 1921, all four of the men (Gunner, Speers, Collins and Marry) were tried at a Field General Court Martial trial in Dublin (Ref No.WO 35/137). It was reiterated that Gunner and Speers were guilty of the armed robbery of Patrick Farrell and were sentenced to three years penal servitude. All four of the accused were found not-guilty of the hold-up of McNally. There was a recommendation of mercy because:
- Robberies are committed with impunity by Sinn Feiners
- Voluntary confession
- 10 weeks previous imprisonment
Postscript
Claude Lionel Gunner, RAF records, Ancestry.co.uk
Claude Lionel Gunner (Service No. 180360) was born on 24 June 1900. His birthplace has been listed as Furneux Pelham and Bishop’s Stortford, both in Hertfordshire, England about 16km apart.
In 1901, Claude was living at Ulpine Cottage, 76 Plynlimmon Road, Hastings, East Sussex, England with his father Thomas (36), a Baker & Confectioner, his mother Emma (38) and three older siblings. In 1911, Claude (10) was living at 7 Milton Terrace, Swansea, Wales with his widowed father Thomas (46), a “Business Merchant Clerk”, and two older siblings.
Claude enlisted with the RAF on 10 July 1918. He listed his permanent address as Havenwood, St. Leonards, Ringwood, Hampshire, England. In 1919, he married Beatrice C. Townsend in Edmonton, Middlesex, England.
His RAF service record reveals that he was a ‘Plymouth Brethern’, was employed as a ‘Assistant Motor Mechanic’ and that his father Thomas lived at Chirstchurch Street, Kingswood, Hertfordshire, England.
Claude was transferred to the Baldonnell military camp in Ireland on 29 September 1920 and deserted on 10 July 1921. The robbery of Patrick Farrelly occurred 13 days later. His service record states that following his arrest and sentencing, he was transferred to Liverpool Prison on 24 December 1921.
In the 1939 census, he was listed as a “Sales Manager, Electrical Appliances” living at 37 Rosehill Terrace, Swansea, Wales. He died in Swansea about March 1970.
Thomas Speers, RAF records, Ancestry.co.uk
Thomas Speers (Service No. 236356) was born on 10 April 1899 in Greenock, near Glasgow, Scotland.
In 1901, Thomas (1) was living at 12 Lewis Street, Derry, Ireland with his father David (30), a Shop Porter, his mother Eliza Jane (30) and two older sisters. The family was Presbyterian. His parents were born in Donegal while both his siblings were born in Derry. In 1911, Thomas (11) and his family had moved down the street to 21 Lewis Street, Derry. His father David (43) was now working as a carter and he had four new younger siblings.
Thomas enlisted with the Royal Navy on 27 August 1917. His occupation was listed as a ‘painter’. He transferred to the RAF on 1 April 1918 according to his service record.
He was moved to the Curragh camp, Ireland on 2 November 1920 and deserted on 10 July 1921 (the same day as Claude Gunner) and just 13 days before the Patrick Farrelly robbery.
His service record states that following his arrest and sentencing, he was transferred to Liverpool Prison on 24 December 1921.
On 19 May 1925, it would be appear that Thomas re-enlisted with the British Army in Omagh, County Tyrone as a motor-driver. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he re-enlisted once again on 27 October 1939 with the ’14 Argyle Regiment’ of the British Army.
Denis Marry, RAF Records, Ancestry.co.uk
Denis ‘Dinny’ Kevin Marry (Service Number 294193 or 333974) was born on 17 July 1895 in Balbriggan, North County Dublin to parents James, a “Linen Factory Workman”, and Elizabeth Marrey (nee Walsh).
In 1901, Denis (4) was living at 14 Mill Street, Balbriggan with his father James (42), a “Linen Yarn Beamer and Warper”, his mother Elizabeth (29), three siblings and his grandmother. The whole family was Catholic and were all born in Dublin except for the father who was originally from County Louth. In 1911, Denis (14) was living at “363 Balbriggan” with his father James (50), a “Linen Yarn Dresser”, his mother Elizabeth (40) and six siblings.
The service record of Denis shows that he enlisted with the RAF on 4 September 1918. His occupation was listed as a ‘petrol driver’. The file reveals that had married on 2 January 1920 and his wife lived at 38 Rijnkaai, Antwerp, Belgium. However, there is another marriage cert for Denis Marrey for 19 October 1921:
Denis deserted from the British Army on 2 May 1921. This occurred a little over two months before the Farrelly robbery.
In July 1921, a Peter Malone and “Denis Marry (alias Simpson)” were arrested at 2 Phibsboro Avenue, Dublin. No further information is available but a brief mention in the FindMyPast’s ‘Easter Rising & Ireland Under Martial Law’ records.
At the time of the 1922 Irish Army Census, Denis Marry was based at Gormanston army camp, County Meath. He was attached to the Air Traffic Control. His home address was 14 Mill Street, Balbriggan. The file shows that he enlisted with the National Army on 4 November 1922 in the last few months of the Civil War and just a week before the census was taken. His next-of-kin was his wife Annie Murray of Mill Street, Balbriggan.
(I unfortunately can’t find George Collins’ RAF records online)
George Collins (Service Number 336394 or 4681442) was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England on 10 February 1900.
In 1901, George (1) was living at 23 Ambler Street, Batley, West Yorkshire, England with his father James (38), a “Coal Miner Hewer”, his mother Catherine (36), a “Retired Rag Sorter” and nine older siblings. In 1911 , George (11) was living at 2 Oldroyd Square, Batley, West Yorkshire, England with his father James (49), a “Coal Miner Hewer Unemployed”, with his wife Catherine (46) and ten siblings.
During the War of Independence period in Dublin (1919-21), George was a motor-driver for Major-General Sir Gerald Farrell Boyd.
In November 1921, George Collins was arrested for breaking and entering into the Ulster Bank in Dundalk with intent to commit a felony. He was transferred from Dundalk Prison to Mountjoy Prison on 28 November 1921 for a trial at “Leinster Assizes” in Dublin. His next-of-kin was listed as James Collins, 14 Powells Yard, Beckett Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
In the 1939 census, he was listed as a ‘Unpaid Domestic Duties’ living at Dewsbury, West Yorkshire where he died in 1972.
Charles Rennie was a former Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officer from Scotland Yard. Little else is known about him. James Kenny Sr., of 103 Sandymount Avenue, Dublin was proprietor of the Silver King and Silver Queen line of buses. In August 1929, he was £30 for not paying the road-tax on three of his vehicles.
More reading:
The IRA Volunteers who tracked down the gang were from G Company, 1 Battalion, Dublin Brigade. The key players were:
Patrick Kelly – MSP34REF457 and BMHWS781 files.
Nicholas Laffan – MSP34REF3964 and BMH.WS703 files
Robert ‘Bob’ Oman MSP34REF16645 file. No BMH WS.
Joseph Dodd. MSP34REF2287 file. No BMH WS.