Lugs Branigan. Hero of Justice or Brutal Bully?

This is the condensed (english language portion) version of the TG4 documentary on Dublin Garda Jim ‘Lugs Branigan (1910- 1986), who ruled the streets of Dublin with an iron fist (or glove) for many years on the streets of Dublin.
Joining the Gardaí in 1931, he was promoted to detective Garda in 1958 Garda and Sergeant in 1963. He was put in charge of a mobile riot squad unit, the so-called Prevention and Detection of Street Nuisances Unit, with which he remained active until his retirement. Lugs was always called upon to quell the trouble spots in Dublin with his particular brand of coercion.

[@hansedvard2623]

I can remember being in the TV Club in Harcourt Street one Saturday night when a fight broke out. In a matter of minutes Lugs was on the scene. He strode in to the dance hall as if he was a super star. He wore a dark grey suit, a crisp white shirt, a narrow black tie, and his trademark gloves. He was escorted by two policemen, one on either side. As he moved towards the chief troublemaker, the crowd split in two, a bit like Moses parting the sea. Lugs and his two sidekicks quickly took the silly fellow outside where he was given a quick lesson in defence. We all gave him an enormous applause. He was one of a kind. Both feared and loved.

[@Minime163]

He's needed now even more now than he was then.

[@anfear9764]

Gas. My dad God rest him always told stories about the TV club 😂😂

[@seandarmody4640]

Truly inspirational

[@rampageclover9788]

Hero of justice. Knackers like Gilligan, Cahill, Christy Kinahan and PJ Judge wouldn't gotten away with a fraction of the things they've done to the inner city if there were more guys like Lugs on the beat. He'd have them for lunch.....you need someone more fearsome than the criminals themselves to really make a difference.

[@anneleonard6946]

if we had lugs branigan now I'm sure he get rid of drew Harris from the force an anti Irish git 😡

[@SJM6791]

He was feared by criminals and loved by law abiding citizens. That’s good enough for me. “You’re going or coming!!”

[@njoyingtube1]

@SJM6791Fact is today THE NEW VARIANT OF UNIFORMED UNIFORMED OPPRESSION BRIGADES have Designated LAW ABIDING CIVILIANS / CITIZENS Their EASIEST TARGETS . BULLIES LOVE WHEN THEIR TARGET DOESN'T FIGHT BACK . Disciplining species who hit any woman is admirable . it's noted though he through a woman in the maria for the deplorable offense of calling him Mr Lugs . arrogant clodhopper even thought he could encourage a Gang of prostitutes to Come

[@errolkim1334]

Christy Dunne, a convicted armed robber and a prominent member of the notorious Dunne family that flooded Dublin with drugs during the first wave of organised crime, labelled Branigan “a brutal man, a bully”. But he wasn’t the only one not buying into the legend.

[@gerpool7]

and the guy who called him it was a fine upstanding citizen. falls rd Belfast had one called pig mcneely

[@daithi007]

@Michael John Dennis an excellent well written response and I couldn't agree more with you and my wife couldn't agree more with you either.

[@grahamkavanagh5971]

I think exactly like yourself

[@jimbobjimjim6500]

He kicked the shit out of a lot of woman beaters, in fairness.

[@claireklawikowska2332]

Good enough for them. That's what's needed now

[@havennewbowtow8835]

Had similar in Leith were I grew up. Most famous was Tansey Lee. Also a boxer. Battered my grandad 4-5 times for hitting my granny Strachan.

[@digbick1663]

The closest Ireland got to Judge Dredd

[@petrasant5495]

Nice One!

[@yasdnilknarf1885]

Christy Dunne the man who introduced heroin to Ireland. How could you believe a word that came out of his mouth and of course Dunne and his entire family would not bully, batter or intimidate anyone. An excuse for a man if ever there was one.

[@paudsmcmack3117]

Ireland was waiting for it...If it was not him, it was going to be someone...You guys are mad for it, still 50 years later! Knackers

[@patkearney9320]

Was his brothers who done the drugs Christy was a robber! Never worked a day in his life lugs and him would clash ok.

[@paulcurry1481]

Ah poor Christy never hurt a fly a victim, a yoke.

[@JohnDoe-ih3jp]

The local seemed to respect him.

[@gerardvalente6712]

I lived on Marrowbone Lane in the late 50s just beside Pimlico. I remember at the weekend all you would hear was "Here's LUGS". Run!! Why did they interview christy dunne he deserved anything he got from the Gardas.

[@mactoirdhealbhaigh4873]

@Francie Stokes His ears.

[@billyporter1389]

Born in Meath St. I lived in the flats. My granny and granddad lived there. They were the first residents to move in when they were still getting built, and he was the first caretaker. That's when everyone knew everyone.

[@brianquinn6014]

Had the same in the grass market in Edinburgh,Basher Thomson!

[@andrewbrand2433]

Probably the only Garda in the history of the force who did his job properly and that is why he was immortalised

[@stephendunne377]

All he knew was violence.. he picked on kids as young as 12 . Boys and girls. He would whip his glove off a girls face and give a boy a solid punch in the face. He was 6ft 5 or so and a former amateur boxer.. how is that doing your job right ?

[@stephendunne377]

@Seosamh MacAoidh oh well that changes everything then doesn't it.. 3 inches is a big difference when your punching a child in the face isint it..

[@enochschildren5337]

This is the men Ireland and the UK are missing now . Strong unwavering figures who held their country their religion their culture and their job paramount !

[@michaelcallaghan3070]

... Very well said. The sad thing is, we need these kind of men now more than ever!!! 👍

[@enochschildren5337]

Mate , I respect Ireland your battlers , become him a giant the anti Christian anti traditionalist brigade . Much respect from England 👍🏻

[@michaelcallaghan3070]

@@enochschildren5337... Thank you very much sir. Always good to chat with someone across the water. God bless ya. 👍😜🇮🇪

[@enochschildren5337]

@@michaelcallaghan3070 God bless you too my friend 👍🏻

[@siogbeagbideach]

Magdalene laundries, industrial schools..... be glad those days are gone

[@jojobrosnan1081]

My mum used to say that when I was growing up in Dublin

[@frankkelleher1888]

God be with the days when the gardai walked the beat

[@khiggins8733]

2:06 Christy Dunne calling someone a Bully ! This is from the lowlife who stole and robbed and sold drugs.He should still be in jail. After all the misery he caused he has nothing and has ended up a complete loser.

[@robdean704]

He knows a thing about Bullies though..

[@dagre1839]

Thanks for making an observation without condemning

[@willykingston4620]

A scum bag a pig with a license to hurt people who had nothing

[@LambentIchor]

It's not either or in these situations. Dunne might well be all you say, but that doesn't make Branigan innocent.

[@daviddixon4385]

Don’t think dat man sold drugs he was a bank robber by trade

[@colmoconnor1357]

Don't think lugs would last nowadays. If you put a finger nowadays on felons you would be sued. Perhaps he was too harsh but now it's gone opposite way.

[@JohnDoe-ih3jp]

Bring back these fash guards, my house growing up was never locked not any more. My 73 year ould one was robbed last year for the third time .

[@jupitorious7925]

Yes the benefits of the EU and open borders and all those delightful men from eastern Europe and Albania

[@peterfranks6243]

Definitely need this kind of copper now, second and third generation scumbags have no respect for anyone or anything.

[@johnj8664]

he was hard but fair i was on the receiving end of his leather gloves a few times always called you a gouger

[@salish.nation]

In North Canada we got a Mounty named Moose Timber. We Indians fear and admire him, he is good people though . he gets the job done, respectively.

[@christopheroshea9799]

ironically the lugs was both brutal and protective depending on who he faced

[@scoyle1750]

Sounds like a great man, it's sounds like what's Ireland is missing in today's society

[@Ghrainne]

Glad he is daed. What a miserable bit...ch he was

[@scoyle1750]

Legend of a man

[@angelicupstart1977]

As I’ve said before, meet a copper like this today and the majority would complain.

[@jshaw4757]

Depends...if he was laying into drunks and bully's I think people wouldn't mind if known for giving real liberty takers a slap.. if knocking kids around and just acting a twat no

[@peterbrennan2388]

Chrity complaining about a few digs from lugs - while he floods his beloved community with herion

[@Dabhach1]

I was trying to remember where I'd heard that name!🤔

[@Wheresnorth4romhere]

Ah the liberties. The cradle of the Dublin character!

[@brianallen858]

I got lost in Dublin in the 1980s at a cycling criterion, I was 10 if even, I met 2 great police officers, they left me to wait in a police station for a lift home from family, but in the meantime the 2 great officers had to go out for duty, in the 4 hours I waited at ten years of age , every officer that passed me bar one or two, called me awful stuff, the 2 original officers somehow caught wind of this and my last hour was officer after officers apologising to me, i was a lost kid from a small town, men were given humanity that night and i think they served dublin better after that

[@TheEx3rgj]

My mother was from West Cabra born in the 30s she use to tell me about how rough it was then. I used to think she was exaggerating slightly but after watching this I know now she wasn’t God bless her.

[@OscarGonzalez-et8kr]

Irish people are the best warriors of these planet, universe and life💚🍀

[@vtpoet5300]

Slainte 👍🇮🇪

[@powderganger9361]

Not anymore, we've become a complete nanny state

[@vtpoet5300]

@@powderganger9361 rebellion is coming, or so I’ve heard 😉 the Irish are rising 🖖

[@antitheist7453]

But clearly not grammar.

[@martinlanigan803]

Ireland was full bullys and these people got away with it and teachers were bullys to beating up young kids with sticks and got away with it and old nuns were at it to cut hands of people with sticks

[@Lar308]

He would last about two days in the job today with its 10 or 12 oversight bodies, CCTV, You Tube, smart phones etc. Even when I joined in 1983 it was easy to get sacked if you did not control your emotions. I was a by the book cop so guys like lugs were more trouble than they were worth because they would land you in trouble as well as themselves just because you were with them.

[@kierangoddard2198]

I recall a group of well behaved teenagers came out of a disco in the 1970’s and he didn’t like the look of some of the boys with long hair. He disfigured the face on the tallest boy who hadn’t done anything. He was just wanting to make an example. He was a thug and bully, an embarrassment to his colleagues and a disgrace to the force.

[@neilrafferty2097]

Obviously despicable behaviour .

[@robertpirsig5011]

I'd say he was fairly 'traditional' in his views alright. Horrible way to conduct yourself.

[@rubenmejias2503]

The Bully Branigan was no joke

[@aaronhughes9982]

In all fairness there has to be two sides to it

[@njoyingtube1]

@@aaronhughes9982 you think so ! You could be Right , one cuffed and scared to strike back , the other secure in the knowledge he and his fellow bully bastarts can kill and be home in time for Tea , ORIFICER.

[@killickfarms]

Christy Dunne on about karma and camaraderie, killing people with his dirty junk. Liberties was dog eat dog back then . Tough times tough people tough gards. He should give up his auld pontificatin

[@jackhammer6179]

Dunne has nothing to gain by telling the truth about the psychopath irish state.

[@speakertreatz]

He wasn't a drug dealer

[@hughforde6920]

a gentleman to be sure no body fucked around with him

[@daithig8257]

I remember him refereeing my bout and giving me boxer of the night at a tournament in St Saviours boxing club as an amateur.

[@chrisquirke5235]

What year I've boxed and lived in the flats beside it too

[@Timberdoodle197]

What a man, a few more needed for the wankers about today

[@tonyfinnegan3545]

The original dirty Harry.long before Clint Eastwood.

[@j.b.4340]

He was the Irish Seth Bullock.

[@ciaran6309]

Happy days.need a lugs now

[@Dom-fx4kt]

Much like an Irish Wyatt Earp

[@Minime163]

We all seen the way the thugs acted in Dublin over the long weekend no respect for either people or property and if you call it out your a right wing nutter. Take the handcuffs off the guards and let them deal with the thugs of this country in the only way they understand because this softly softly approach definitely isn't working and anyone who says it is are only kidding themselves.

[@andrewg.carvill4596]

8:20 The older Lugs Branigan looks disconcertingly like the older Ian Paisley......

[@RainerBosch-qy9fj]

Jesus, I thought exactly the same thing. :))

[@brianf9615]

Sounds just like my late Uncle Danny.

[@mickeencrua]

Christy Hynes at 14.25. "Nobody ever wrote in to the papers complaining about him". FFS! No more than complaining about a Catholic Priest at the time, the letters probably did get written but were immediately consigned to the bin. His reign of abuse was confined to Dublin's inner city which was and still is a cesspool of criminality. He is responsible for making the Hard men harder. Definitely not a hero.

[@marmalaterjones4526]

Anymore lip from you and you'll get a taste of me shillelagh!

[@geraldneary5758]

The men who abused young boys were homeosexuallys,not straight men. Its usually homosexuall men who attack the church, and dont blame homosexualls for abuse of the children.

[@bouse23]

but we have to remember society at the time. teachers caned misbehaving children. to beat naughty children was considered good parenting. so police giving a few slaps to troublemakers wasnt really that shocking.

[@daviddixon4385]

I don’t know if lugs would last ten minutes nowadays with the hyenas goin now

[@JohnDoe-ih3jp]

Fascism is the only thing that will save us now. Things have gone to far unfortunately.

[@JohnDoe-ih3jp]

@@Vroomfondle1066 Anything bar this dystopia our kid are set to inherit. Death to America

[@JohnDoe-ih3jp]

@@Vroomfondle1066 I know bud, it's only starting.

[@dagre1839]

Tough job admittedly but How many rich guys kids did he punch? Ireland was full of that ole glamourised thuggery those days.

[@tommac4658]

Any sober man who waits outside a pub for a man to come out full of Porter then beats the livin sh*te out of him is a bully in my eyes. These type of guys get a kick out of violence and they don’t just switch off they are Marley waiting for their next victim. A Wolfe in police clothing. What a good untouchable cover he had to unleash his rage.

[@geraldneary5758]

Are u gay or something, troll.

[@noelwalsh7979]

A man of his time r I p

[@robdean704]

Black gloves branigan. Rightly or wrongly he's giving you a hiding

[@joycemckeown789]

O how i wish this garda was on the go today and living in my area.

[@D10RC]

He was a cruel evil bastard he knew who to pick on he would hit man woman or child he taught he was judge jury and executioner no a days he wouldn't last long .

[@johnhehir508]

The only film John Wayne made in England was called Brannigan , coincidence perhaps?

[@seandaly8550]

Christy Dunne giving an opinion on the morals of another person.....Now that is funny

[@adrianred236]

Sounds like he was afraid of lugs

[@elzorro7of9]

Gardai just learned to be more sly about there actions. Stuff that goes on now is worse cause you get over a beating, but you don't get over systematic and nasty power abuse. Still resisting body cams and still resisting drug tests. I know of one Garda up for a bravery award that is very fond of cocaine and gets away with it.

[@mickeencrua]

@B Murphy: They're going to be tested by their own guys in six months time. What a f*cking shower. LMFAO.

[@wattyler9806]

It's the same in England. Corrupt to the core. Some of them are high as a kite on cocain while on duty.

[@joshuashow8897]

dirty harry of dublin

[@dermotegan8940]

I'm too young to remember him but in an era of state bullying, institutional bullying, religious bullying and abuse, I'd imagine he was a product of his time. The psychology of bulling suggests the perpetrator has deep issue's with self esteem.

[@Marlondurran]

Howa Mister lugs LoL classic stuff.

[@JohnCleary-vg7ci]

Lugs Branigan was a complete Bully back in the day

[@Lar308]

Lugs would not last a week in the job these days with so much regulation. There were a few Lugs wannabees with me back in the 80's and early 90's and they were sailing too close to the wind for my liking.

[@Lar308]

@Christopher Jennings Really? There were 7,000 - 8,000 applicants the year I joined in 1983 and only about 800 vacancies. It was not very easy to get into back then and its gone even harder nowadays with even more applicants for even fewer places.

[@Farage528]

Bullies don’t like to be bullied the balls on that heroin dealer he didn’t hit u hard enough

[@ziggy6848]

Was that Tommy Lee Jones with the pony tail?

[@fanfeck2844]

Can you bully bullies?

[@calebballantine3402]

One Garda, two ngeardaí

[@diarmuid850]

Have ya drink taken!!!

[@fuzzydunlop1988]

Shtep ouhada vehhikil

[@hughforde6920]

rip son if you put marks on the scum bags well fair play

[@michaeldaly9984]

He was a power freak and a bully. Gardai hav been locked up for less today. Gardai up until quite recently got away with brutality and their word was gospel to judges. There wasn't any safe way to complain about Gardai. It's easy to be brave at 6+ft with a van full of mullahs with you. Its the extreme opposite today back then there was no Glocks or AKs I've seen Gardai getting terrible abuse and assaulted and the culprits getting off very lightly in court. You'll reap what you sow. Gardai mostly came from a totally different background and had no people skills and resented working in poor areas but were ever so nice and polite in other places those double standards are still evident today. It obvious why fewer are joining the force or are leaving the job. They've beens misused and abused by the state for generations, as a result They've become alienated from the communities they work in.😢

[@seaoftranquility7228]

I don’t even need to watch this, anyone with the nickname ‘lugs’ is no bully.

[@irishlad3029]

You obviously do need to watch it, as it was stated in the video that he threw a woman into the back of a garda car for unknowingly calling him "lugs"

[@damiencaulfield5142]

Hero! Pity the do-gooders has our Guards destroyed!

[@frankharrington8528]

I can imagine what and where the neg comments against lugs Brannigan are originating from. Filth from the corpo flats in the Dublin city.

[@stephendunne377]

Who are you to call them filth ? Educate yourself on the history of all them areas back then . They had nothing and lived in poverty . You havnt a clue you little weasel .

[@charlotteritchie9969]

@@stephendunne377 name like Harrington you know he lived in Foxrock or maybe a cozy English town

[@kevindoran9389]

@@charlotteritchie9969 Ritchie: a name of English origin meaning brave ruler. Harrington: a name of irish origin meaning mighty or powerful.

[@BlookbugIV]

You’d need a bit of the latter to be the former

[@soupersonic]

Sure ya'd want ta watch ur P's and Q's as well

[@davidball4021]

My grandad and all his family were born in the liberties and later moved to cabra west. My uncle, Liam ball,known as mousey, was a lunatic in his day and by all accounts feared all over dublin, he battered lugs Brannan apparently. I wonder if anyone remembers him from the pubs or from his business? Liam ball, mousey. A panel beater and sprayer . A very tough and violent man jn his day. I have heard stories myself from older people in the pubs in Dublin, After watching this and hearing stories from my grandad ( who was very straight laced ) he was a bad minded man who used his authority and position and boxing prowess to batter drunken men and kids a lot. Anyhow if anyone remembers my uncle from those days I would be pleased to hear about it!

[@njoyingtube1]

David Ball , well said , I'd sooner be a good bad guy than a bad good guy , one cuffed and scared to strike back , the other secure in the knowledge he and his fellow bully bastarts can kill and be home in time for Tea , ORIFICERS One and all

[@johnkeogh1401]

Did people fear him and respect him in equal measure?

[@bid84]

Robbie Keane on the bench there on the right @5:00

[@patkearney9320]

Many auld wans asked lugs to sort out there husband's and sons who needed attention.

[@angelicupstart1977]

Christy Dunn, the criminal who never won 😂

[@deeppurple883]

He some pair of chandeliers on that mallet. A relic of what's rotten.

[@petemullen842]

He wouldn’t last very long these days, much more violent then it was then, hewould’ve been looking down the barrel of one of these🔫

[@thomasdudoso6473]

Me da knew him said he was very tough but a good one

[@johnirwin2163]

Cant hav him now ,pc wont alawl it now

[@edmondscott7444]

Pity about awful accompaniment music. Could you please get rid of that awful drivel. Ruins video.

[@jessejames1804]

Hero!

[@thedarkhugheshughes2640]

It’s still happens today police brutality

[@goalltheway-pm8xs]

Did he arrest many priests?

[@staffy4389]

Na, he picked his target's.

[@warrenmilford1329]

Even if he'd heard in those days, from 10 kids or their folks, that they'd been messed with by a priest, he probably would have given them a kick up the arse, or a punch in the head, for spreading such 'filthy lies'. The bastard.

[@wattyler9806]

Excellent question.

[@odonnchada9994]

God Will Deal With The Evil Sinners Who Hid Behind The One True Faith. ☘🇮🇪

[@michaelmurphy333]

Their all bullies , serve and protect big business and elite

[@John_Wood_]

you said it Mick

[@wattyler9806]

Well said and so true.

[@grannykelly5799]

It was a kip , and you could not trust anybody, they deserved what they got.

[@bernarddover1442]

he was a bully .. he never did his thuggery alone !! there was always 5 or 6 of them !! bullies

[@tomkeaney3121]

I met him when he was over 70 and a bouncer in Zhivago's Night Club. He took objection to me standing too near the dance floor from some reason. He politely suggested I move, I didn't take it as an order and stayed where I was. Five minutes later the other Bouncers in the club cut him off and ushered him away from me. I am quite sure that I was about to become another episode in the Lugs Brannigan story if they had not intervened. I was 25 at the time. I am not a small man, and if he was going to take me on at 70 he must have have been some man at 30. Yea I have no doubt he was the worse kind of bully. But I would be very happy now to know that someone like him was patrolling my road.

[@errolkim1334]

Where's your proof??

[@thomasweldon8333]

errol kim proof. What are u a detective.

[@errolkim1334]

mark Walsh where's your proof , slag?

[@Johnnyfive55]

Bully's maybe. But I'd say it was rarely an innocent man got a beating

[@Hideyoshi1991]

seems like the kinda person to pull an ak-47 on a child who calls him a dummy.

[@ianmarshall4206]

Good old lugs . Tough guy but wouldn't go out in a high wind .

[@electrobop]

A man with a complex about his ears was bullied in school not a legend a bully that is all.

[@bernarddover1442]

He couldn't box eggs

[@grannykelly5799]

Maybe you did not got batter enought,.

[@paddymooney4426]

No one has the right to hit anyone a cop is not there to hit people he is there to uphold the law if this is the case then what your saying is any cop that beats a confession out of someone is a hero

[@stephendunne377]

He beat up kids regularly and for little or nothing. Boys and girls as young as 12. The girls got a leather glove whipped off there face . And hes labeled a hero by the gaurds

[@showmemoviesnow]

You gotta use violence to uphold the law, my man.

[@Martinbergin]

Stand with Jim Brannigan or drug dealer Hmmmmmmmmmmmm

[@ChrisMcloviification]

Lol the government are the biggest drug dealers by far, alcohol tobacco not to mention all the pharmaceuticals

[@speakertreatz]

the wrong Dunne

[@jimmyfitz8168]

Wonder did he beat up random people if he's anything like the gards today he picks on those who don't commit crimes. Afraid of the real criminals easier to pick on the peaceful people. Never been in such a pathetic city you're arrested for no obeying an order from a gard. Dubs need to rise up they need to stop grovelling to their abusers.

[@daithi007]

07:23 Joe Kirwan

[@wjf0ne]

A well fed man taking on half starved children and drunks. Sounds kinda uneven to me.

[@jakenconor]

@Daisy Boo plenty of people had a lot harder lives than the Dunnes and they didn't go on to poison generations of children in their own neighborhoods.

[@geraldneary5758]

Your probly gay, troll.

[@alspenlow6399]

John Roche "like a big countryman,out of the bog",do these people think there's nothing outside the pale but marshland...maybe open your minds a little bit

[@iankerr1271]

Sounds like a bully..he wouldn't last 5 minutes nowadays

[@simonnolan2063]

He was a bollox and a bully according to my grandmother

[@dmthe80s89]

I lived in town and we got a pig who thought he was another lugs hit me and a friend,dropped a Slate from the roof on him never seen him again

[@p.macdermott2490]

david mangan Are you admitting to a crime here? Very interesting.

[@frankharrington8528]

You're a great big man. You filthy coward, scumbag

[@bushwacka8395]

@@frankharrington8528 You're a big man yourself for calling someone a filthy coward scumbag on the internet when you know there will be no recriminations. At least he got the desired result!

[@patrickmurphy1803]

FUNNY

[@dmthe80s89]

@@p.macdermott2490 haha but we’re and when 😂