Anásha

Finglas is considered to be one of the most disadvantaged areas of Dublin, and maybe Ireland as a whole. Though it has its so called ‘posh’ parts, most people would advise you to stay away. The first day I started walking around I honestly didn’t have a clue where I was. So if the Gardai (police) would have stopped me there, I would have probably said I was lost and they would have taken me with them to drop me off with other tourists in the city center. But instead, I happened to walk into Saint Joseph’s Park at the top of Dunsink Lane and the person I met there ended up being a key figure in the whole story for the next few years. That afternoon I found myself on a relatively derelict estate, with about twelve bays for trailers. Four young men greeted me in somewhat dirty tracksuits and with an expression being a combination of friendliness and wonder.

As it turned out they were the same boys I saw at the bottom of the road driving around with scrap cars earlier. Their names were Michael James, Red Michael James, Fat Davy, and Thomas. Thomas was the eldest and apparently the father of the first Michael James. After they introduced themselves as politely as they could, they asked me what I was doing. So I explained to them I was a photographer, but at that moment mostly just a bit lost. I did feel a friendly atmosphere so I started asking a few questions about them and the place they lived. But they did seem a bit wary about talking to a stranger carrying a dinky brown bag with unknown contents.

“Do you want to come in to my uncle Paddy’s trailer for a bit? We’ll sit in there where it’s dry.”

The other boys nodded in agreement and so we walked up to the trailer behind us. Going inside I heard some Chuck Berry playing so I was moderately optimistic. The moment I walked into the sitting room I was jumped by about four small dogs who were also trying to stay out of the rain. I saw Elvis and Clint Eastwood on old posters, staring at me from across the trailer and a man with a walking stick coming towards me. The man had a curious smile and turned out to be one of the nicest people I ever met. He introduced himself as ‘Paddy Keenan, the original Teddy Boy of Dunsink’. The boys just called him uncle Paddy.

“You don’t mind if I call you buddy, do you buddy?”

Dunsink Lane is a three kilometer road between Finglas and Blanchardstown. It passes through large empty fields, a dump and the Dublin Observatory. It used to be the preferred road in and out of Finglas for smuggling or as a getaway through the fields. Many bodies have been found along this road, most of them were targeted by gangs in the outer suburbs.

The local Gardai dubbed this area ‘The Killing Field’ after the body of Victor Murphy was found. He was in a car with three others, allegedly on their way to a hit, when the car hit a bump in the road and the shotgun he carried went off in his face. He was dumped on the side of the road and found a few days later in a ditch. Blockades were placed on two sides later on, leaving a 200m gap of no man’s land in the middle.

Dunsink Lane is also home to Saint Joseph’s park, an old halting site for Travellers, home to the Keenans. Opposite the site lives Davy ‘Handsome’ who deals in carparts from his scrapyard.

John has suffered from addiction and depression with violent and suicidal tendencies. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and sent to rehab. I used to give him a call every week as he wasn’t allowed to have any visitors. After his treatment he moved to Saint Joseph’s with his parents and two of his brothers.

Thomas and his wife Charlene moved to Dunsink Lane late in 2019, taking up the bay where his uncle used to live before he moved to Manchester.

There’s always a wedding, baptism, engagement or birthday to look forward to on the sites. While these events are known to be extravagant, due to television shows like My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, they are in fact very important moments for the community. Where baptisms, communions, weddings and funerals are about preserving a strong Catholic tradition, other events are ways for the family to reconnect with faraway relatives.

A wedding for instance, will always take place in or near the town where the woman is from. After the wedding, it is custom for the couple to move to where the man and his family live, that way families are spread out across Ireland and the UK.

Located on the edge of Finglas, one of the oldest permanent housing sites for Travellers. The Collins family have been the main residents of the site since it was built in 1969. These days Avila Park is home to around 300 people, easily making it one of the biggest social housing accommodations in Dublin.

Over the years the site has seen its fair share of trouble. From issues outside spilling over, to feuds with families living close by. One of those families were the Quinn McDonaghs who lived next to the Keenan’s site on Dunsink Lane. The feud turned deadly when attacks between the two clans became more violent. There were raids at night, petrol bombs thrown at houses and at one stage even kidnappings.

Michael ‘Giggsy’ Collins was only young when the feuds happened. At the age of 14 he sat in a car with his older cousins heading to Dunsink, attempting to set fire to a trailer belonging to the McDonaghs. At the age of 31 he has already spent 11 years behind bars, looking at another conviction in 2022. Giggsy blames drugs for his erratic behaviour, which he started taking to cope when his brother Jason died.

Patrick was picked up by his referee to meet his opponent at a secret location outside of Dublin, with his mother and wife cheering him on as he leaves. When a son of the family leaves for a fight the whole site is filled with relatives to wish the fighter luck. Then the family waits in the pub as they’re not allowed at the fight to avoid more violence.

The only people allowed are the fighters, referees (referred to as fair play men) and the people the referees choose to bring. These fights are almost always about family feuds and used as a ‘solution’ to feuding.