Yeah I'd say Boston is the last bastion of Irish Organized Crime in any traditionally recognizable form. Philly still apparently has a huge concentration in the Northeast still. NYC's Irish areas like Woodlawn, and Woodside, and Bay RIdge, are most likely settling down in terms of Irish-American population. The Kitchen is almost all gentrified now.
Chicago? Nothing to be heard from that front. Besides fiction. Cavanaugh family (Which has been proved false) and the Chicago Code. Think Irish-American crime there is pretty much dead, as an independant and viable force. Most likely any mick goons have assimilated themselves into what's left of the Outfit.
Alright, so these people might exist. I doubt they're tied to OC in any significant way though. In this day and age, people involved in OC tend to stick out. If they're just wannabes, I could understand that. If they're anything more than that, I can't see how they don't end up in a newspaper or on George Anastasia's radar.
I don't buy the IRA connections either. There's not much of an IRA around these days. The Provisionals (what most people mean when they say the IRA) have disarmed. Most of the top guys are involved in community jobs, paid for by UK gov't money. The remaining groups that haven't disarmed are the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA, and the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army). For the most part, they act like OC does in the US. Shake down businesses, smuggle goods over the border, counterfeit goods, etc. They say they don't allow drugs in the community but I doubt that. They don't allow other dealers in their community but they'll allow theirs.
As far as US-IRA connections, they were never too deep. They did a lot of fundraising through NORAID, for sure. And some guns crossed the Atlantic. A lot of that was done by IRA operatives though, not Irish gangs. The Winter Hill gang did a one time thing sending over some guns. For the most part, though, the PIRA got the vast majority of its guns and bombs from Libya.
Maybe it's not newsworthy. Or there is little substance, or a link can't be proven. LCN news get's published and can be found easily because they're a much larger organization in most cases. And their is great interest in the stories, as Italian-American gangsters have been heavily romanticized over the years. So that could account for lack of press. Also teh LCN is a concrete organization with a top-down heirachy. Irish mobs don't work that way. It's more like a loose network, with several dominant figures.
And Anastasia seems to focus on Philadelphia's LCN so I doubt he'd be interested in tacking down rumours or a loose confederation of guys, who can't number more than 15,
And as for teh IRA connection. I'm not too sure about that. There are several IRA wings in operation. And the relationship between them in complex. SHundler could have ties to several of them. Not just the Provos, who've disarmed. Shundler has conenctions to Sinn Fein, which is noted as being an Irish Republican organization. Much like the IRA, who are more militant. He is said to be deeply involved int he IRish Republican cause. I think this tie is where the rumours of "Irish mob" activity is born. People have claimed these guys bill themselves under the facade of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Which is noted on one of Shundler's sites.
I believe someone posted Shundler's court documents or something. I'm not too sure about their credibility but it seems to add credence.
There's definitely something going on. Whether it's traditional OC, or some kinda politico-criminal fundraising or legitimate business, it's hard to say. Altho I think there is definitely a connection.
