Cornelius Price Explained

Cornelius Price (-2023) was an Irish organised crime gang leader.[1] [2] [3] While he lived in Ireland, he lived in Gormanston, County Meath.

Family

He was a father of two children.[1] [2] [3]

Criminal history

He was convicted of reckless endangerment by driving a van at a Garda at Balbriggan Garda station – the Garda had to jump out of the way.[1] [2] [3] Price was sentenced to three years imprisonment for this and was released in May 2019.[1] [2] [3]

He was a chief suspect in the death of Benny Whitehouse and also in the disappearances of William Maughan and Anna Varslavane.[1] [2] [3] He was believed to have lured the couple to his residence in Gormanstown, where they were murdered. He is also believed to have ordered a pipe bomb attack on the sister of William Maughan shortly after the latter went missing.

Drogheda feud

See main article: Drogheda feud. Gardaí believe that he was the leader of one of the gangs in the Drogheda feud.[1] [2] [3] His gang is known as the Price-Maguire organised group, which has close ties with several other gangs, including the McCarthy-Dundon gang from Limerick.[1] [2] [3] The feud led to four deaths.[1] [2] [3] The first was that of Keith Brannigan at Aisling Holiday park in Clogherhead, County Louth.[1] [2] [3] Robbie Lawlor, a rival of Price, ordered the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods.[1] [2] [3] Lawlor was himself shot dead three months later, with suspicions that associates of Price, as well as criminals from Limerick, being responsible.[1] [2] [3] A video of Price toasting the death of Lawlor circulated on social media.[1] [2] [3]

United Kingdom

Price left Ireland for the Midlands of the United Kingdom after the death of Mulready-Woods.[1] [2] [3] He was involved with the kidnapping and drugging of two brothers, who were forced to call their relatives for a £300,000 ransom.[1] [2] [3] They were rescued by armed police.[1] [2] [3] Darren McClean was convicted in relation to the offence.[1] [2] [3] Price was also charged in relation to the kidnapping, but was deemed too ill to go to court.[1] [2] [3] He was admitted to hospital with limbic encephalitis in Wales in 2021.[1] [2] [3]

Death

He died in hospital on 19 February 2023.[1] [2] [3] He was 41 years old.[1] [2] [3]

Funeral

Gardaí were planning a large policing operation around his funeral.[4] There were concerns that some of his enemies may attend the funeral.[4]

Notes and References

  1. News: Cornelius Price: The life and death of a crime boss . Reynolds . Paul . 20 February 2023 . 2012-02-21 . RTÉ News.
  2. News: Notorious Irish gangland figure Cornelius Price dies in UK . Gallagher . Conor . 20 February 2023 . 2023-02-21 . Irish Times.
  3. News: Cornelius Price – Drogheda gang leader suspected of multiple murders – dies in Welsh hospital . O'Connor . Niall . 20 February 2023 . 2023-02-21 . TheJournal.ie.
  4. News: Cornelius Price death: Large-scale Garda operation expected at funeral . Gallagher . Conor . 2023-02-22 . 2023-02-28 . Irish Times.