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Dirty Rats

11: Saint Patrick's Day

Dirty Rats

HCRN

Murder, Fbi, Brothers Bulger, Howie Carr, Whitey Bulger, Irish Mob, History, True Crime

4.82.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2019

⏱️ 26 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The St. Patrick's Day breakfast in South Boston was Billy Bulger's annual tribute to himself. Whether it was presidents, governors or corrupt FBI agents, attendance was mandatory. But despite the music and the corned beef and cabbage, there was always an unmentioned presence in the hall-- Whitey.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello all you dirty rats fans. We've put together two Christmas packages with books and t-shirts to order go to how we car show dot com and click on store. See you later.

0:12.5

This podcast contains content that may be considered unsuitable for children listener discretion is advised.

0:30.0

The Wild Colonial Boy The Rolicking Ballad sung by Billy Bulger every March as he swaggered into his annual St. Patrick's Day breakfast in South Boston.

0:47.0

Brandishing a shalele the wild colonial boy was a traditional anonymous folk song with different Irish and Australian lyrics about a Robin Hood like bandit a young Irish immigrant to Australia named Jack Dugan.

1:03.0

Billy Bulger loved belting out the lyrics he seemed to think described his own career and his older brother whiteies.

1:11.0

The St. Patrick's Day breakfast was all about telling the world that the Bulgers were two wild colonial boys whom the authorities would never bring to heal.

1:22.0

Every March in Massachusetts there were all sorts of St. Patrick's Day roasts breakfasts dinners parades.

1:30.0

In its heyday Bulger's breakfast was held at the Bayside Club. Hallitosis Hall as it was known the event dated back to the 1940s when it was started by Senator John E. Powers of South Boston who in 1958 would become the first Democrat president of the state Senate since the Civil War.

1:50.0

Powers was still alive but he was never invited even the very mention of his name verboten. Powers unpartnable sin? In his post senate career he had been elected to a courthouse job.

2:03.0

After his release from prison whitey Bulger had been given a no-show job at the courthouse as a janitor. It was something to tell his probation officer.

2:13.0

Powers had been shocked to learn that a mobster like whitey had been on the public payroll. Whitey was fired and years later when Billy became president of the Senate, powers salary and those of his top aides were frozen in the state budget for more than five years.

2:32.0

As far as Billy was concerned the breakfast had been started by powers successor as state senator Joe Mokley who became a congressman. Mokley sometimes reminisced about the modest beginnings of the breakfast.

2:46.0

When I had this party the senate local senator runs the party we had it down in Dawgons. It was just a little local thing with a local politicians had a few laughs and I think press coverage was one person from the print press and that was it. Billy has made this a national show.

3:06.0

People in Washington called to get tickets to come here and he's done a great great job. Now it was Billy's time. Televised state wide attendance was required not just for city and state politicians but by the late 1980s presidential candidates and even presidents.

3:26.0

In 1995 president Bill Clinton called in. Bollger mentioned a fundraiser they'd been together at in Framingham and then corrected the president of the United States.

3:38.0

I didn't mind you taking all the money with you but when you said you when you refer to me you call me one of the great state senators of America. I know them well William M. Bollger.

3:56.0

I don't know how they make people like that. I don't know how a human could be like that. Please allow me to speak plainly. I do not know where my brother is.

4:24.0

We start off with breaking news. Notorious mobster. Whitey Bollger is dead. Report surfacing that Bollger was killed in a West Virginia prison.

4:32.0

I mean, that's the guy. I pull in the chamber like he looked up.

4:42.0

Hey, man. I'm a bag of peanuts. Please.

4:50.0

In the night side, Tori's life was from HCRN studios in Boston. This is dirty rats.

5:12.0

We've done it.

...

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