Eamon Loingsigh's Blog, page 11

Richie Lonergan – Auld Irishtown

Richie Lonergan – Character in the Auld Irishtown trilogy.

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In a decisive move, Wild Bill Lovett had Richie shoot Mickey Kane in the head in a Red Hook pier house. (Art by Sebastian MacLaughlin & Thomas Kerr)

“A wild-eyed, windswept, floppy-booted, dirty-blond-haired fifteen year-old limps in the room like some forgotten, defective cur on a prison ship.”

~Liam Garrity

Richie Lonergan (b. 1900), also known as Pegleg, is a gloomy, violent teenage gang leader who is emotionally stunted by a traumatic childhood. Almost completely catatonic, he has the ability to murder without remorse and has been known to beat much larger men in bareknuckle fist fights. When he was eight years-old, he was run over by a Brooklyn trolley that severed his leg at the knee. Richie relies on the German-Jew Abe Harms to speak and think for him. Even with his deficiencies, he is an important ally in the gang world due to all the teenagers that follow him and the many younger brothers he has.

Light of the Diddicoy

Even though he can’t ride bicycles, he steals them and rents them out to kids in Brooklyn. In 1916, his mother Mary struck a deal with White Hand gang leader Dinny Meehan to open a bike shop that she would run, as long as Richie and his followers worked for the gang. In the process of deal-making, he knocked out dockboss Red Donnelly in a bareknuckle brawl in the alley behind the Dock Loaders’ Club. With Vincent Maher, Richie murdered Mick Gilligan in the Kirkman Soap Factory and tossed the body in a giant silo.

Exile on Bridge Street 

By 1917, family friend Wild Bill Lovett turned Richie and his followers against Meehan and made Richie kill Meehan’s enforcer Tommy Tuohey. But their revolt collapsed and Lovett was sent to World War I where it was reported he died in combat. By 1919, Richie then fell back into favor with Meehan until Lovett mysteriously appeared in Brooklyn and had Richie murder Mickey Kane, Meehan’s cousin, starting a blood feud and gang war between Lovett and Meehan.

Anna Lonergan – Auld Irishtown

Anna Lonergan – Character in the Auld Irishtown trilogy.

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Anna Lonergan’s father gave her a black before the tenement wake of one of her younger brothers.

“That’s Anna Lonergan, you wouldn’t ride’er? Another year or two and that tomato’ll be ripe.”

~Vincent Maher

Anna Lonergan (b. 1901) is the younger sister of famed White Hand gang member Richie “Pegleg” Lonergan. The hardship of being an attractive young woman in the slums of Brooklyn forced her to turn to Catholicism to interpret the calamities that burden her and her humungous family, including the abuse she and her mother receive from her father. As the eldest female of fifteen children, Anna is expected to care for her siblings and marry a man that can pull them out of Irishtown’s poverty. But when her siblings begin dying, her temper grows vicious and she becomes dangerously headstrong.

Light of the Diddicoy

In 1916, Anna goes with her mother Mary and her many siblings to the White Hand gang’s headquarters to demand Dinny Meehan’s help. But women are not allowed in the Dock Loaders’ Club, so her brother Richie is sent in as the gang members stare at her body and beautiful face. She then witnesses her brother get into a bloody fist fight with a much larger Whitehander.

Exile on Bridge Street

When Meehan sends Liam Garrity to court Anna in order to secure an alliance with Richie’s followers and the many Lonergan boys, Anna reacts angrily. Although her mother Mary likes the idea of her family’s betrothal to Meehan’s gang, Anna goes against her mother’s wishes and sides with Wild Bill Lovett, Meehan’s rival. Anna’s temper becomes volatile when two of her siblings die, one from the Spanish Influenza of 1918, the other from an untreated infection due to her family’s old-world superstition of refusing to go to the hospital. When she hears word that Lovett was killed in action in World War I, she attends his funeral and burial. Despondent, in 1919 Anna is livened by the sudden reappearance of Lovett in Brooklyn. In fact, Lovett had her brother Richie murder Mickey Kane, Meehan’s cousin, which will begin a deadly blood feud and gang war.

Jonathan G. Wolcott – Auld Irishtown

Jonathan G. Wolcott – Character in the Auld Irishtown trilogy.

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Jonathan G. Wolcott, privileged Anglo-American (artwork by Sebastian MacLaughlin).

“(Wolcott) will reign from above, unseen. Our greatest enemy resides in a safe distance across a body of water, up high where the future will be orchestrated. . . Our fate will be decided by an untouchable enemy.”

~Liam Garrity

Jonathan G. Wolcott (b. 1853), also known as The Fat Man, is an Anglo-American executive whose family has owned property in the Northeast for over 200 years. Grossly over weight, he boasts of his ancestors arriving on the Mayflower and often fakes an English accent. Wolcott has failed at everything he’s done, but his is a life of great privilege. After being forced to resign as Vice President of Wage and Labor at the New York Dock Company, he “fell upstairs,” and was promoted to Director of the powerful Waterfront Assembly. Desperate to prove himself, he still works even as he could comfortably retire.

Light of the Diddicoy

While at the NY Dock Co. in 1916, Wolcott paid Dinny Meehan and the White Hand gang to kill Thos Carmody, an International Longshoreman’s Association union recruiter. Instead, the NY Dock Co.’s territory was set ablaze by Meehan and the gang and all of his employees were beaten during the Donnybrook in Red Hook.

Exile on Bridge Street

Making things worse, Thos Carmody showed up alive. Angrily, Wolcott funded Wild Bill Lovett’s revolt against Dinny Meehan’s White Hand gang in 1917. But again he lost, resulting in both his Italian and Irish employees becoming unionized. Forced to resign, he was subsequently hired as Director of the Waterfront Assembly, created to oversee all waterfront contracts and breakup the gangs and unions. In 1919, Wolcott sent Patrolman Daniel Culkin and his enforcer Amadeusz Wisniewski to find Garry Barry and pay him to burn down Dinny Meehan’s home while in jail, and assume leadership of the White Hand gang with their assistance.

Tanner Smith – Auld Irishtown

Tanner Smith – Character in the Auld Irishtown trilogy. [image error]

“King Joe says he don’ wanna hire ya, Tanner. Seems as though Thos Carmody don’ really like ya much. And since Thos has the king’s ear, ya’re out.” ~Dinny Meehan

Tanner Smith (b. 1887) is doomed. A desperate opportunist and powerful fist fighter, he has made enemies of the wrong people. Leader of the Greenwich Village gang The Marginals, he is a childhood friend of White Hand gang leader Dinny Meehan, and enemy of Thos Carmody of the ILA. When Meehan was 11 years old in 1900, Smith helped him and his father escape the wrath of the Hudson Dusters, who had killed Meehan’s brother and uncle Red Shay. Fiercely loyal to those that have helped him, Meehan gave his old friend a job when Tanner was desperate to get back in the game. But the tragedy of Tanner Smith is that by deceiving him and the White Hand gang, Dinny Meehan was forced to banish his childhood friend forever, which goes against everything Meehan knows.

Light of the Diddicoy

When news broke of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Meehan and youngster Liam Garrity were visiting Smith in Greenwich Village. Meehan hired Smith to kill ILA recruiter Thos Carmody, but Smith parlayed his position for a choice ILA job in exchange for saving Carmody’s life. Smith, a rowdy brawler, showed up to support Meehan for the Donnybrook in Red Hook when the White Hand took power back on the docks of Brooklyn.

Exile on Bridge Street

When Carmody showed up alive in Brooklyn, Meehan and the gang knew Smith had backstabbed them. Against everything Meehan knows about loyalty to those who have helped him when in need, Meehan went to Greenwich Village, beat Smith and banished him from the underworld. After Carmody returned from World War I an experienced killer, he has vowed to murder Smith.

Thos Carmody – Auld Irishtown

Thos Carmody – Character in the Auld Irishtown trilogy

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Thos Carmody, union recruiter, murderer, World War I veteran.

“The White Hand Gang just firebombed the damn place and didn’t even kill Carmody.” ~Wild Bill Lovett

 

Thos (short for Thomas) Carmody, also known as Quick Thos, has somehow survived multiple murder attempts and the Great War. Thos is a childhood friend of famed West Side Manhattan gangster Owney Madden and bitter enemy of Tanner Smith. A lone wolf, Carmody is best known for working the angles and has climbed all the way up to Treasurer of the International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) by doing the impossible: Bringing Italians and Irish together under the ILA banner in Brooklyn. A union recruiter, he is a thorn in the ass of the New York Dock Company.

Light of the Diddicoy
In 1916 Jonathan Wolcott of the NY Dock Co. hired the White Hand gang to kill Carmody for trying to recruit his longshoreman employees into the ILA. Gang leader Dinny Meehan then hired Tanner Smith to do the job, but Smith tried to parlay that for a top spot in the ILA in exchange for saving Carmody’s life. Smith then told Carmody to lam out of New York.

Exile on Bridge Street
Carmody did go on the lam and tried to get transferred out of the dangerous New York City territory. Wearily, he was convinced to go back to Brooklyn by ILA President T.V. O’Connor. When he appeared on a foggy barge at dawn, the White Hand gang got spooked, as they were led to believe Smith had killed Carmody. With Vincent Maher In 1917, Carmody murdered Wolcott’s enforcer Silverman at a tailor’s shop in the Italian section of Red Hook. Later, Carmody was drafted into the Army’s 77th Infantry division in 1918 and upon returning, plans on finishing off his feud by killing Tanner Smith and helping Wild Bill Lovett overthrow Dinny Meehan.

Thos Carmody

Thos Carmody – Character in the Auld Irishtown trilogy

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Thos Carmody, union recruiter, murderer, World War I veteran.

“The White Hand Gang just firebombed the damn place and didn’t even kill Carmody.” ~Wild Bill Lovett

 

Thos (short for Thomas) Carmody, also known as Quick Thos, has somehow survived multiple murder attempts and the Great War. Thos is a childhood friend of famed West Side Manhattan gangster Owney Madden and bitter enemy of Tanner Smith. A lone wolf, Carmody is best known for working the angles and has climbed all the way up to Treasurer of the International Longshoreman’s Association (ILA) by doing the impossible: Bringing Italians and Irish together under the ILA banner in Brooklyn. A union recruiter, he is a thorn in the ass of the New York Dock Company.

Light of the Diddicoy
In 1916 Jonathan Wolcott of the NY Dock Co. hired the White Hand gang to kill Carmody for trying to recruit longshoreman into the ILA. Gang leader Dinny Meehan then hired Tanner Smith to do the job, but Smith tried to parlay that for an ILA job in exchange for saving Carmody’s life. Smith then told Carmody to lam out of New York.

Exile on Bridge Street
Carmody did go on the lam and tried to get transferred out of the dangerous New York City territory. When he was sent back to Brooklyn by ILA President T.V. O’Connor, members of the White Hand gang were spooked, as they were led to believe Smith had killed him. With Vincent Maher In 1917, Carmody murdered Silverman at a tailor’s shop in the Italian section of Red Hook. Silverman was Wolcott’s NY Dock Co. enforcer. Carmody was drafted into the Army’s 77th Infantry division in 1918 and upon returning, plans on finishing off his feud by killing Tanner Smith and helping Wild Bill Lovett overthrow Dinny Meehan.

Irishtown

Original Youtube webseries Irishtown has released a second episode.[image error]

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWG9UbtCaxDOKibhUNyWjIA

Based on the popular book series Auld Irishtown, the black and white animated series is told from the perspective of characters. Artists, photographers, video editors, musicians and actors working together under the banner of artofneed Productions have crafted this series.

Irishtown: Episode 1

The web series “Irishtown” has officially released the first episode. Follow the link below and click on: Irishtown Ep. 1: Treachery of the White Hand.

Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTMlNc4jZPo&t=5s

 

 

 

Irishtown Update

The web series “Irishtown,” which is based on the first two books of the AULD IRISHTOWN trilogy, has run into some delays.

Not to worry though! By no means is it cancelled. Although, we will probably finish two to three episodes before actually releasing anything. That means September is a distinct possibility.

Boo! I know this will make some of you very unhappy. And I do apologize, but it is necessary. We want a great quality web series, and that takes time.

We are making the right decision and looking longterm.

Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy the artwork and still shots from the web series “Irishtown.”

In the meantime, come to our Youtube channel and subscribe for updates: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWG9...

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Darby Leighton (left) with his psychotic brother Pickles living underneath an old, rotting pier when they were kids. 

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The Jay Street Railyard where murderous plans are hatched.

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“Wild Bill” Lovett, leader of a gang that wants to bring down the White Hand.                     Richie “Pegleg” Lonergan (left) and Darby Leighton (right). 

 

 

 

 

 

Song: Code of Silence

I bumped into this song today and lucky enough I recorded it when it was still young and fresh. Made most of it up as I went. We are thinking about getting a real singer and put it into the web series “Irishtown.”