{"id":489523,"date":"2026-06-08T20:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/489523\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T20:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:24:11","slug":"give-him-duck-how-the-kinahan-cartel-planned-to-restore-the-confidence-of-its-bungling-hitman-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/489523\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Give him Duck\u2019: How the Kinahan cartel planned to restore the confidence of its bungling hitman \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Noel Kirwan (62), a grandfather with no involvement in crime, was selected to be killed by the Kinahan cartel<\/a> in 2016 so one of the cartel\u2019s hitmen could \u201cget his confidence back\u201d. <\/p>\n

The mooted gunman for the Kirwan murder had previously botched a series of gangland shootings, two for the cartel, in which he shot dead the wrong man each time.<\/p>\n

The Irish Times has established that the gunman \u2013 nicknamed \u201cTeeth\u201d in encrypted messages between senior Kinahan cartel figures \u2013 was Glen Clarke, of Dunard Drive, Cabra, Dublin 7. <\/p>\n

He was found fatally wounded in late 2016 in a stolen car and is believed to have accidentally shot himself in the head.<\/p>\n

Clarke, who also had a previous address at O\u2019Devaney Gardens, Dublin 7, was from a family of five siblings that has been beset with tragedy, some of it related to heroin addiction. Of the five Clarke siblings, four are now deceased. Clarke\u2019s mother was also at the centre of a high-profile criminal case just months after her son\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Clarke was the chief suspect for the 2016 Kinahan-Hutch murders of Martin O\u2019Rourke in Dublin 1 and Trevor O\u2019Neill in Mallorca. He was also suspected for the 2013 murder of Dean Johnson in Clondalkin, Dublin, which was unrelated to the Kinahan-Hutch feud. <\/p>\n

All three men were shot dead by mistake \u2013 two due to mistaken identity and one by stray bullets.<\/p>\n

The secret Kinahan cartel messages in which Kinahan gunman \u201cTeeth\u201d was referred to \u2013 only ever by that nickname \u2013 were exchanged via modified Blackberry devices with PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) encryption software. The system was supposed to be impossible to hack and also allowed for the chats to be wiped remotely if the devices were ever seized by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed seized two of the handsets almost a decade ago, during search and arrest operations at the height of the Kinahan-Hutch feud. The messages could not be accessed by garda\u00ed for years, however, because of the unique security and encryption system on the Blackberries.<\/p>\n

More recently, advances in technology used to recover hidden or lost data meant the Blackberry handsets were re-examined and the messages were recovered. That breakthrough unlocked valuable evidence that incriminated senior Kinahan cartel members.<\/p>\n

The content of the messages was first outlined last month by Det Supt David Gallagher, of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, at the Special Criminal Court during the first, of three, sentencing hearings for senior cartel figure Sean McGovern. <\/p>\n

Dubliner McGovern (40), a father of two with a previous address at Kildare Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12, was jailed for 24 years by the court on Monday, June 8th. <\/p>\n

\"SeniorSenior Kinahan cartel figure Sean McGovern was jailed for 24 years for directing the crime gang. Photograph: Garda <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Kinahan lieutenant Sean McGovern jailed for 24 years for directing crime gangOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He pleaded guilty to directing organised crime; namely the 2016 conspiracy to kill Kirwan, and separate, failed, plans between 2015 and 2017 to kill Hutch associate James \u201cMago\u201d Gately. <\/p>\n

McGovern was shot and wounded in the Hutch gang attack at the Regency Hotel<\/a>, Dublin, in February, 2016, that resulted in the Kinahan-Hutch feud exploding, mostly in Dublin. He fled to Dubai in 2017 and was arrested there in 2024 on foot of an extradition warrant from Ireland, before being extradited in May 2025. <\/p>\n

He was the first Kinahan cartel leadership figure arrested in Dubai, and the first Irish criminal to be extradited from the UAE to Ireland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The secret text messages used in evidence against him indicate the plan to kill Kirwan was put in place to help \u201cTeeth\u201d get his confidence back. Kirwan was selected because he was seen a soft target. <\/p>\n

All other potential targets the Kinahan cartel was considering in 2016, the messages reveal, were regarded as \u201ckamikaze\u201d operations; impossible to escape from safely after a killing.<\/p>\n

Clarke\u2019s name was never revealed during McGovern\u2019s court hearings but The Irish Times has confirmed he is the man nicknamed \u201cTeeth\u201d on the text messages. Garda sources also confirmed the reason the Kinahan cartel leaders were trying to \u201cget his confidence back\u201d as a paid hitman was because he had botched three killings.<\/p>\n

In September 2016, McGovern was discussing the plan to murder Kirwan \u2013 known to his friends as \u201cDuck Egg\u201d \u2013 during an exchange with another cartel member on the encrypted devices.<\/p>\n

McGovern said on the chat to an associate: \u201cReckon putting the Teeth on the Duck, get his confidence back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The associate replied: \u201cI\u2019m sure Teeth be working very soon mate. But I be saying only a defo set up, or someone sitting on their own. So no running into crowds or up hills.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGovern concluded: \u201cGive him the Duck, give him the Duck for confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NoelNoel Kirwan, a grandfather with no involvement in crime, was shot dead in Dublin by the Kinahan cartel in 2016 <\/p>\n

Kirwan was a lifelong friend of the Hutch family and attended the funeral of Eddie Hutch \u2013 a brother of veteran criminal Gerry Hutch<\/a> \u2013 after he was murdered as part of the feud in February 2016. He was captured in the same photograph as Gerry Hutch at the funeral, which appears to be the reason he was shot dead.<\/p>\n

Kirwan was killed while sitting in his car, having just returned from a meal with his family, in the driveway of his home on St Ronan\u2019s Drive, Clondalkin, on the evening of December 22nd, 2016.<\/p>\n

Although Clarke was discussed at length by cartel leadership figures as the proposed gunman to kill Kirwan, he had died of a gunshot wound to the head \u2013 garda\u00ed believe accidentally self-inflicted \u2013 by the time Kirwan was eventually murdered.<\/p>\n

Clarke was found fatally wounded in a stolen silver Vauxhall Zafira, with the engine still running, outside a house in the Riverdale Estate in Leixlip, Co Kildare, at 1.30am on December 2nd, 2016, three weeks before Kirwan was killed. <\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed believe Clarke, a father of two, accidentally discharged a fatal shot from his own firearm inside the vehicle while looking down the barrel of the gun, perhaps inspecting or checking it. A \u201cburner\u201d phone was found in the stolen Zafira, which was fitted with false registration plates. <\/p>\n

Clarke was wearing gloves and a disposable boiler suit, and had bought a container of petrol a short time earlier. He was in the driver\u2019s seat of the vehicle, wearing a snood or scarf, and the windows were fogged up when two men discovered him. <\/p>\n

While garda\u00ed believe he had been at the location, inside the vehicle, for up to five hours before the passersby found him, he was still alive, struggling to breathe. He died from his injury hours later, after being taken to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown by ambulance.<\/p>\n

Kirwan\u2019s home, where he was shot dead three weeks later, was very close to the location where Clarke was found fatally wounded in Leixlip. Garda\u00ed have long suspected Clarke was on his way to shoot a Kinahan target, possibly Kirwan, when he accidentally shot himself.<\/p>\n

A handgun was found in the vehicle in which Clarke was discovered, but the bullet that killed him was never recovered. It was not in his body and was not found in the vehicle, despite it being dismantled during a Garda search.<\/p>\n

At Clarke\u2019s inquest in 2020, Garda witnesses said they believed Clarke had accidentally shot himself. It was revealed forensic testing had linked him to the gun. Det Supt Frank Keenaghan told the inquest the bullet may have been accidentally taken away in Clarke\u2019s clothing during the emergency services response when he was found.<\/p>\n

Clarke\u2019s family questioned why the bullet was never found and they said they did not believe he had shot himself. Because of a lack of evidence to prove the precise circumstances of the fatal shooting, an open verdict was recorded at his inquest, rather than one of suicide or misadventure.<\/p>\n

Clarke\u2019s background as a bungling assassin is one of the most extraordinary chapters of recent Irish gangland history given garda\u00ed believe he shot dead Martin O\u2019Rourke, Trevor O\u2019Neill and Dean Johnson; three men who were never his intended targets and who nobody wanted dead.<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin O\u2019Rourke: was fatally shot on Sheriff Street, Dublin 1, in 2016. Photograph: Garda <\/p>\n

O\u2019Rourke (24) was fatally shot on Sheriff Street, Dublin 1, on April 14th, 2016. The gunman took a gun from his jacket, which was spotted by people on the street, who shouted to the intended target to run. The man heard the warnings and fled, but 13 shots were fired at him. The intended target ran past O\u2019Rourke, who was fatally wounded as he crossed the road.<\/p>\n

Four months later, Clarke was sent by the cartel to Mallorca to kill Jonathan Hutch, a nephew of Gerry Hutch, who was on holidays there. They wanted Jonathan Hutch dead simply because he was related to Gerry Hutch, who was named by the Criminal Assets Bureau in evidence to the High Court as the main protagonist on the Hutch side of the feud.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Inside Gerry Hutch\u2019s life in Lanzarote: An investigation into gang leader turned politician\u2019s assetsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill (41) happened to meet Jonathan Hutch on the holiday, apparently befriending him, as they were staying at the same accommodation. <\/p>\n

On August 17th, 2016, O\u2019Neill was shot dead in front of his family on a street in the resort of Costa la Calma. Clarke was trying to kill Jonathan Hutch but he botched his effort and mistakenly killed O\u2019Neill, who had no links to crime.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill, who worked for Dublin City Council, had gone to Mallorca with his partner and their children \u2013 aged 12, eight and six at the time \u2013 to celebrate his birthday.<\/p>\n

Clarke was also the suspect when Johnson was shot dead in west Dublin on August 24th, 2013. Johnson\u2019s family has always insisted he had no involvement in feuding. Garda\u00ed believe the intended target was another man from Clondalkin who is heavily involved in organised crime and who has since fled Ireland after several attempts were made to kill him.<\/p>\n

The killer stood over Johnson after he was initially shot at Harelawn Green, Clondalkin, a short distance from his home, and fired a further 13 rounds at him. <\/p>\n

Clarke was from a family of five siblings and had addresses at Dunard Drive, Navan Road, Dublin 7, and O\u2019Devaney Gardens, Dublin 7. <\/p>\n

His brother Jonathan Clarke, was a drug addict who took his own life after running up drug debts. Another brother, Jason Clarke, was also a heroin addict and is also deceased, while his sister, Natasha Clarke, died three years ago.<\/p>\n

In 2017, Clarke\u2019s mother \u2013 Carol Clarke, then aged 57 and with an address at Dunard Drive, Navan Road, Dublin \u2013 avoided jail after being convicted of stealing \u20ac104,000 in social welfare payments over 17 years.<\/p>\n

She stole the money from the Department of Social Welfare at Phibsborough post office between February 1994 and July 2011 by claiming welfare under the name of her sister, who had no idea her identity was being used for the fraud.<\/p>\n

She told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court she had used the money to support her family and to pay off one of her son\u2019s drug debts.<\/p>\n

In May 2005, Jonathan Clarke, then aged 26 years and with an address at O\u2019Devaney Gardens, received a suspended five-year jail term for stealing \u20ac8,200 from his grandmother. <\/p>\n

He went into her home with an accomplice, both masked, and put his grandmother (80s) under the stairs, locking her in by blocking the door with a sofa. His sentencing hearing was told the stolen money was spent on drugs within days. Just months after the suspended sentence was imposed, he took his own life.<\/p>\n

Another brother, Jason Clarke, was caught after stealing a cash box containing \u20ac40,000 from a Securicor van making a delivery to an ATM on Prussia Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, in 2008.<\/p>\n

Then aged 29 and with an address at O\u2019Devaney Gardens, he pleaded guilty after red ink from a security box holding the case exploded on him. The court heard he had a history of heroin abuse. He died in 2018.<\/p>\n

With Glen Clarke having been fatally wounded in December 2016, by his own hand, the Kinahan cartel lined up another gunman to kill Kirwan three weeks later. Garda\u00ed believe they know his identity \u2013 a well-known gunman within gangland from west Dublin \u2013 and the investigation into him is ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Noel Kirwan (62), a grandfather with no involvement in crime, was selected to be killed by the Kinahan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,70422,61,60,27006,43],"class_list":["post-489523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-gerry-hutch","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kinahan-cartel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}