Inmate’s former family home is torched hours after he gets into prison bust-up with notorious gangland torturer
Sean Powell, from Mulhuddart, west Dublin, was in an altercation with Hennessy in the exercise yard on D-wing on Saturday last, leaving the convicted torturer with a suspected broken nose.
Shortly after midnight on Monday, in what is being seen a revenge attack, the house where Powell was raised in Wellview Park, Mulhuddart was deliberately set ablaze.
Sources said the property, which was badly damaged in the arson attack and which has since been boarded up, was unoccupied at the time.
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The house where Sean Powell once lived
A Garda spokesperson said: “Gardaí and emergency services responded to the scene of an incident of criminal damage by fire to a residential property in Ladyswell, Mulhuddart on Tuesday 30th September, 2025 at approximately 12:20am. No injuries were reported. Investigation remain ongoing.”
When the Sunday World called to the property on Friday afternoon, crime scene tape could still be seen where it had been used to seal off the house for forensic examination. Neighbours declined to comment on the blaze.
Knives
The Hennessy mob are notorious for torching homes of innocent relatives of rival criminals.
Sources have confirmed that Sean Powell has not lived at the address in Mulhuddart for a number of years prior to his most recent prison sentence.
Powell is a repeat violent offender who is currently serving four years for an incident where he brandished two knives while robbing a Centra store.
The 34-year-old, who had been residing off Little Britain Street in Dublin’s city centre, pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced in December 2022.
The court heard that the knife blades measured between six and seven inches in length.
A victim impact statement was read out to the court from the night employee, which claimed that the accused said: “You’re the only one left, I will stab you if you don’t give me the money.”
Jason Hennessy Snr, who was gunned down in a gangland hit while at Browne’s Steakhouse with his friends and family on Christmas Eve 2023
Powell has 24 previous convictions, which include robbery, attempted robbery, possession of an article and dangerous driving.
The most recent incident involving mob leader Devon Hennessy in Mountjoy is one in a series of altercations in which he has been involved behind bars that sources say proves he is no longer treated with fear or respect by rival criminals.
Hennessy has operated as one of the leaders of a west Dublin mob involved in drug-dealing, gang feuds, gun and firebomb attacks and extreme violence for several years.
In July, he pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning and attacking a man who was beaten, held in a west Dublin house and had the word ‘RAT’ branded on his body.
The 29-year-old, from Edgewood Lawns, Corduff, Dublin 15, admitted falsely imprisoning and attacking the victim in a house on Sheephill Avenue in Blanchardstown fin a bid to enhance the activities of a criminal gang.
He was remanded in custody for sentencing later this month.
Cars of innocent relatives caught up in the gang violence
Since pleading guilty to the horrific torture, sources say rival criminals have become increasingly bold in their attempts to take over the Hennessy mob’s territory, leading to violent reprisals from the gang’s young associates.
The shooting of Joey Morgan (42) in Corduff in August has also been linked to tensions around the gang’s anticipated demise.
Morgan suffered only a minor injury to his arm when multiple shots were fired at him and a close associate in Corduff on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 26.
However, just two weeks after the botched attempt on his life, the prolific burglar was set upon by three men in the Pearse St area in the city and repeatedly slashed in the face.
Players
Detectives investigating the shooting believe a dispute that the duo had been involved in with junior members of the notorious Hennessy organised crime gang led to these attacks.
Tristan Sherry
Joey Morgan
Sources said at the time that the wider significance of the shooting was that the Hennessy organised crime gang were losing power in the area due to the fact that many of its main players are locked up, while Jason Hennessy Sr was murdered in a Christmas Eve gun attack two years ago.
“Even in just a year it would have been unheard of for associates of Mr Morgan to try and put it up to a member of the organisation – albeit a junior member – about street-level drug-dealing on their own turf in Corduff, in their own background,” a source told this newspaper at the time.
“But this is what happened here and the reaction was typically violent and it is a miracle really that no one was seriously injured or worse.
Shooting
“The wider point though is that a gang who have been terrorising that locality for many years are in a much weaker position now and if Gardaí secure charges in relation to this shooting, it will further weaken them.
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A garda raid at a house in the Corduff estate
“All the indications are that it is only going to get much worse – with many of the main players facing potentially very lengthy jail sentences for extremely serious crimes.”
Devon Hennessy has been involved in various gang wars throughout most of his adult life and was a key player in the Corduff feud which began at the end of 2018 following a dispute between two rival drugs.
In August of last year, he survived an attempted assassination after a gunman opened fire on him while driving a bullet-proof BMW.
The vehicle was suspected to have been previously used by associates of the notorious Dundon crime gang.
Punch
Devon has regularly appeared in court while the feud was ongoing and in 2020 he pleaded guilty to violent disorder after he admitted throwing a punch at a man as he was leaving a courthouse.
The feud continued as Devon and his gang regularly became involved in violent incidents and pushed drugs in west Dublin.
The violence eventually caught up with the gang and Devon’s father Jason Hennessy Snr was fatally injured while having a meal with associates in Browne’s Steakhouse in Blanchardstown on Christmas Eve in 2023.
The gunman, Tristan Sherry, was attacked by seven men and killed at the scene. Jason Hennessy Snr died in hospital 11 days after he was shot.
Three men were found guilty of murdering Sherry, three others have been convicted of violent disorder and another was jailed for removing a firearm from the scene.
The feuding continued in the aftermath of the attack, including the attempt on Devon’s life as well as another hit attempt linked to the feud which was foiled by gardaí.
The gang was also behind numerous firebomb attacks in the area, including on the homes of innocent people, as they continue to try to rule the locality through fear and violence.
Devon Hennessy and the fire bombed house
News in 90 Seconds – October 5th