Infamous Limerick gangster takes murder secrets to the grave

Andrew Nolan is the only person to have been convicted over the grisly murder of Michael Campbell McNamara, who was brutally tortured before being killed in 2003.

The 41-year-old served a four-year sentence after pleading guilty to luring McNamara to his death after the victim had tried to buy a gun to protect himself.

This week, there were social media tributes to Nolan, who had recently become engaged and had been living in the UK.

They included dozens of heartfelt expressions of sympathy to his family and partner following his death after a short illness.

Nolan, a cousin of the infamous Dundon brothers, never named those responsible for McNamara's murder or who had told him to make the calls, claiming he had acted out of duress.

The murder victim's sister, Louise McNamara, made an appeal for information about the killing in a Sunday World interview in 2017. Louise said at the time she believed Nolan befriended her brother so he could set him up to be murdered.

"They were never friends. They became friends a few months before his death, but Mikey was always wary of him.

"I've spoken with Andrew on the phone several times. I think he is feeling it now. How could you live with something like that? He gave me initials on the phone for three people who killed my brother, but he wouldn't give me names."

"I believe John Dundon was responsible for Mikey's death and he was helped by at least six other people, including some people close to 'Fat' John McCarthy.

"They are cowards in my eyes. Not one of them would have stood up to Mikey face-to-face. They had to take him into a field to kill him. He was friends with everyone - with all sides and that was a threat to them."

At his 2007 trial, Nolan said he had no choice but to phone McNamara, luring him to his home, from where three men took him to a field and murdered him.

McNamara (23) was found with his hands and feet bound in Barry's Field, Rathbane, Limerick on October 20, 2003.

He had been stabbed ten times and shot twice, once in the back of the head and once in the buttocks.

The stab wounds were in clusters and had been inflicted in quick succession, according to Garda evidence. The shot to the back of the head proved fatal.

At the 2007 sentence hearing it was heard Nolan had telephoned McNamara on the night before his death to offer him a shotgun for €700.

Although McNamara was 'very cautious' about his movements, he knew and trusted Nolan.

Nolan admitted calling McNamara twice on the night of the murder but insisted that certain men, who had been 'on at him for a month' to make the calls, forced him to do it.

He said two of these men were standing beside him when he rang McNamara. Nolan refused to identify them to gardaí, however, as he feared for his children' safety.

At the time, Nolan had 27 previous convictions and gardaí described him as a man of 'violent disposition'.

The trial judge accepted that the accused did not murder the victim but said he had lured him to his death.

He imposed a four-year jail sentence on Nolan, who gave a 'thumbs up' salute as he was being led away by prison officers.

Shortly after his release from prison Nolan had his own narrow escape from death when a tree branch impaled his skull in an horrific car crash in which two other gangsters died.

The trio were travelling in a stolen BMW in which an imitation firearm and balaclavas were found near Rathkeale, Co. Limerick.

It is suspected they were on their way to rob a wealthy trader from the town when the car went out of control in icy conditions after spotting a Garda patrol car.

The two who died at the scene were Cornelius Fitzharris (28), from Dublin and Eric Fitzgerald (23), from Ballysimon, Co. Limerick.

After his recovery, Nolan continued his criminal career, ending up in prison again the UK in April 2015 after police launched an operation against a gang who had been targeting a cigarette delivery firm.

He was one of three men who used stolen cars to carry out robberies. Nolan got a four-year stretch in March 2016 after pleading guilty.