Boston Irish Sympathy for the IRA

Over the weekend I received a shipment of books concerning Whitey and the Winter Hill Gang. Because I had mentioned the Winter Hill Gang's involvement in the dealings of the IRA I immediately began to do further research on this topic. As mentioned in the previous post, Bulger had a connection with the IRA. According to Kevin Weeks, a former member of the Winter Hill Gang, many of the Irish communities of South Boston and Charlestown had a lot of sympathy for the IRA and their cause. Therefore the Winter Hill Gang often shipped "crates and duffel bags filled with pistols and high-powered rifles of all different calibers, bulletproof vests, and various kinds of ammunition and explosives, as well as a variety of parts of weapons and replacement pieces (the IRA) needed for guns already (in Ireland)" (Weeks 114). One specific instance of such a transaction was in 1984. Jimmy and Kevin supervised the loading of "seven tons of ammunition" and weaponry on board the Gloucester, MA based Valhalla. Weeks goes on to say that this instance was not the first time Bulger and the gang had attempted to ship guns and ammunition to the IRA. He claims that they had put guns together and shipped the weapons by other methods to Ireland for the past couple of years (late 70s, early 80s). The interesting thing about these actions was that Bulger wasn't doing it for the money. Instead, it was solely because he supported what the IRA was doing. It was because he supported terror. This last point is strengthened by the fate of the Valhalla operation. Off the coast of Ireland, the ship Marita Ann was seized by the Irish Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. Weeks remembers Whitey being "very upset" because the plan was that the Valhalla was to have transferred the weapons and ammunition onto said Irish ship. When the Valhalla returned to dock in South Boston, after its rough passing on the Atlantic, law enforcement stopped one of its crew members who then proceeded to give up information regarding the Valhalla's connection with the IRA--as well as the players in the operation. Murder was but a stones throw away...stay tuned.