Montreal's Irish Mafia: The True Story of the Infamous West End Gang

by D'Arcy O'Connor

Their names resonate with organized crime in the Matticks, MacAllisters, Johnstons and Griffins, and Peter Dunie Ryan. They are the Irish equivalent of the infamous Rizzuto and Cotroni families, and the "Mom" Bouchers and Walter Stadnicks of the Hells Angels. Award-winning producer, journalist and author D’Arcy O’Connor narrates the genesis and rise to power of one of Montreal’s most powerful, violent and colorful criminal organizations. It is the West End Gang, whose members controlled the docks and fought the Hells Angels and Mafia for their share of the city’s prostitution, gambling, loan sharking and drug dealing. At times, they did not disdain forging alliances with rival gangs when huge profits were at stake, or when a killing needed to be carried out. The West End Gang—the Irish Mafia of Montreal—is a legendary beast. They sprang out of the impoverished southwest of the city, some looking for ways to earn enough just to survive, some wanting more than a job in an abattoir or on a construction site. In that sense, they were no different from other immigrants from Italy and other European countries. A shortcut to wealth was their common goal. And Montreal, with its burgeoning post-WWII population, was ripe for the picking. The Irish Mob made headlines with a spectacular Brinks robbery in 1976, using the money to broker a major heroin and cocaine trafficking ring. It took over the Port of Montreal, controlling the flow of drugs into the city, drugs which the Mafia funnelled to New York. The West End Gang had connections to the cocaine cartel in Colombia; hashish brokers in Morocco and France; and marijuana growers in Mexico. The gang imported drugs on an enormous scale. One bust that took place off the coast of Angola in 2006 involved 22.5 tonnes of hashish, destined for Montreal. The West End Gang is a ripping tale that unveils yet another chapter in Montreal’s colorful criminal underworld.

Genres: Canada, Nonfiction, History, True Crime, Crime

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 2011

Reviews

[Walt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written more in the style of newspaper columns than a solid narrative, this book offers the best (and only) view of the West End Gang. O'Connor may be a superb columnist; but his book is not impressive. There is a terrible attempt to describe Irish organized crime in general. Then the book slowly discusses Irish hoodlums in Montreal. Again, there is almost nothing connecting the characters in each chapter, so the book appears to be very disjointed. The later chapters veer away from Irish gangsters to discuss Italian, Haitian, Biker, and others.

Any good book would set the environment and the context of the subject matter. Usually, these early chapters are formulaic about community, economics, sociology, and other drab material usually treated in a superficial way. It provides a basic building block between the author and the reader. Unfortunately, O'Connor really bungles the context. Without grounding his narrative with chronology he weaves through space and time and largely offers a bumbling and incoherent overview of Irish gangsters. This is more appalling when one sees that he cites TJ English's Paddy Whacked as a source. His attempts to describe crime conditions in Montreal by referencing the Whyos Gangs in New York and Whitey Bulger in Boston would confuse any normal reader and anger readers with a basic understanding of both references.

The book then progresses into a series of stories. Rarely do the characters cross from one chapter to another leaving the reader confused as to how this characters could form a gang. The result is that each chapter can easily stand alone and present itself as an interesting story; albeit not part of a larger narrative. O'Connor makes a solid argument that the West End Gang was less a gang than a loose association of criminals. If so, he is merely describing the underworld in general. And yet, by the later chapters, the West End Gang of Dunie Ryan and Alan Ross clearly constituted a large criminal organization, not a vague confederation of neighborhood criminals with passing knowledge of one another.

The stories are solid and entertaining. I especially enjoyed the chapters involving the Rubber Duck Squad and their leader Andre Savard, who pursued the gangsters. Savard was a cop; and the Rubber Duck Squad was a police unit organized to pursue some bank thieves. The group clearly walked an extra-legal line. In one instance, the cops took a suspect to an abandoned school for "questioning." The reader can imagine the line of questioning in an abandoned building. Hoodlums who threatened Savard, physically, or verbally also tended to die in situations that led to rumors of police executions.Instances like that, led to the squad being dismantled. It is unfortunate that it is so hard to connect the criminals to one another.

Even chapters on the more famous leaders - Ryan, Ross, MacAllister, and Matticks are a bit confusing with regards to organization. Are the bank robbers of previous chapters the cocaine kingpins of the later chapters? It is hard to see progression or understand how the "gang" metamorphosed. Billy MacAllister may have been a leader in the "gang;" but it was hard to see that based on his chapter. I barely understand a relationship between Ryan and Ross.

The chapter on Gerald Matticks concludes the chapters on the Irish. Subsequent chapters discuss other criminal groups that fell into decline. The bikers rose and fell spectacularly. The Mafia also collapsed into a jumble of competing factions. Into the void stepped the Haitian and Jamaican street gangs. It is difficult to tell if they are pawns or power players. What is clear, they have almost no connection to the West End Irish.

Overall, it is hard to recommend this book. It is the only one discussing these gangsters. However, it is so convoluted, seemingly disorganized, and arbitrarily broken up that readers may not see a gang in the book; but rather something more akin to "western outlaws." Readers more familiar with the subject matter will have a hard time getting past the introduction. While the information in the introduction is not inaccurate; it is presented in such a way that it is confusing and does not give readers a basic understanding of the subject matter. The introduction does not introduce. If readers continue on they will learn about colorful crimes and gangsters.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having grown up in many of the areas mentioned in this book during the time periods mentioned in this book I found it particularly interesting. Having conversations with family members about some of the names mentioned in this book and finding out that they all grew up together in the neighbourhood. I feel like I had an extra connection because I have family members who were neighbourhood friends with some of the names in the book. Hearing family talk about their first hand lived experiences going through the stories in the book was extra enjoyable.

Id recommend this book to anyone interested in true crime and the history of Montreal. I will be lending this book to many people from back in the neighbourhood.

[Larry Lalonde · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're from Montreal or are interested in the criminal history of the city, you'll find this read informative and weirdly nostalgic. O'Conner covers decades here, from the 1940's onward. He follows the rise and often brutal fall of infamous mobsters and lesser lights. It's a violent ride, but there are moments of humour. Not all criminals are geniuses, you know? My one disappointment was that this paperback edition replaced photos of the players with pencil drawings. Worthwhile read for the history, though.

[Michael Tero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish we could give half stars as this book was a solid 3.5/5. I very much enjoyed the read and learned a lot about my own cities underworld.

That being said it had some definitely flaws. It read like a bunch of short news paper articles which makes sense given the authors background. I also found he digressed a lot and what you ended up with was a book about all of the underworld figures from the last 150 years in Montreal, not just the “west end gang”

Overall though it was a fun read!

[Ericka Wicks · Rating 1 out of 5]

You'd think a story about the mafia - or loose affiliation of badasses - would be interesting. This was about as interesting as reading an affidavit. Such a shame.

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. A slice of Canada history never spoken about. A fascinating and well researched book.

[Jenn Chilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written. Action packed.

[JCWB · Rating 2 out of 5]

No real narrative, more of a list of people, places, dates and events, in no particular order. Interesting to read about a specific event or crime, but beyond that really difficult to read.

[Rebecca Mckenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book - I found it focused on other mafia groups (Italians, Hells Angels, etc.) as much as or more than the Irish at times and was difficult to follow in that respect. O'Connor did a great job of tying it all together in the end though and it was nice he was able to add his personal input in the footnotes making it more authentic.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Details on the making of a city within a city. Many Montreal institutions have been shaped by the mob such as the gay and lesbian club life, restaurants, discos, the gay village, construction, cheese factories, ect ect...

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read, given I grew up in one of the areas often mentioned. I was very surprised at the level of violence between the gangs that I was not aware of. I also knew some of the place and people names noted. I would recommend the book to anyone who was there in the 70s. 3.7

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reason I purchased this book was for research regarding my writing. I particularly liked that the focus was on the Irish and not what many other books focus on, the Italian side of organized crim.

At the same time, I enjoyed learning about this side of Montreal’s history, about Canada.