Karen Deveraux and her boyfriend Greg Lynch (inset)
Simoan McEnroe with Liam Byrne
Michelle and Gary Finnegan
Behind every great man there is a great woman, or so the saying goes.
In the murky underworld of crime, however, it is sure that behind every bad man there is a woman who loves her bling.
There was a time when a gangster’s moll was happy with a two-up two-down in inner-city Dublin that she could call her own, but nowadays it is glamour all the way and the ladies of gangland are expected to look the part from top to toe.
Gary Finnegan is a gangland associate aligned to the Kinahan drug cartel, but he is also a family man who loves his wife Michelle and their two children.
For her part, the girl from Sheriff Street loves to spend her days in the gym to keep her figure in shape and dresses in sky-high heels and short dresses.
Hubby Gary was arrested as part of the Operation Shovel multi-agency offensive against the Kinahan gang and is one of Daniel Kinahan’s closest pals. He moved his family out to Marbella this summer, as sources say he feared for his life in Dublin.
The couple moved into a plush pad complete with swimming pool and socialised by night with the Costa mob, but it is understood they are now back in Dublin due to family commitments.
Bagging a big name in the underworld is seen as a badge of honour for the women who manage to hook a top man, but that can often come at a price, as leggy Karen Devereux knows only too well.
She is the stunning brunette who has stood by her man Greg Lynch after he narrowly escaped with his life in October 2013, after being shot in the face. She spent days and nights camped beside the bedside of the feared crime boss.
Lynch – regarded as one of the city’s biggest drug dealers by gardai – was standing outside a pub on Hanlon’s Corner, near Cabra in Dublin, when a masked gunman emerged from a car and opened fire, hitting him in the head and face.
As well as losing a section of his jaw in the attack, a bullet lodged behind his left eye. Lynch was put into a medically-induced coma and doctors managed to successfully operate and save his sight.
Pretty mum-of-one Deveraux has been a constant source of support to Lynch, and is said to be fiercely protective of her partner. The couple have a young son together and share a home in Dublin’s south inner-city.
Unlike some women linked to gangland criminals, Karen – who is originally from the south inner-city – pays her own way and works for a respectable company.
According to Land Registry documents, she is the sole owner of the house she shares with Lynch.
Karen counts Simoan McEnroe – gangster Liam Byrne’s girlfriend – as one of her closest pals.
A source has told the Sunday World that Karen has been in a relationship with Lynch since he was released from prison in the late 2000s.
In 2004, Lynch was jailed for eight years after being nabbed with €400,000 worth of heroin. He was observed placing a black holdall into the boot of a car as another vehicle pulled up.
Lynch beckoned the other driver towards him. Both men were arrested after the accused handed over the bag.
However, like their men, some other gangsters’ molls love to live fast and spend, spend, spend.
Joanne Kavanagh, wife of convicted criminal Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, treated 23 of her closest gal pals to a week’s holiday at The Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas to celebrate her 40th birthday.
The group splashed out at the massive casino, shopped at the resort’s Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior shops – and partied hard.
While Bomber, a cousin of slain enforcer Gerard ‘Hatchet’ Kavanagh, has no convictions for drug trafficking, he has been closely linked to Fat Freddie’s drug mob and moved to Birmingham after the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) seized his home.
There he and Joanne, a sister of feared drug lieutenants David and Liam Byrne, live like millionaires and love splashing their cash every time they return home in top-of-the-range cars.
Sources say that they drive from the U.K. back to visit relatives in Crumlin and Drimnagh in expensive cars and enjoy bringing pals on nights out where they splash out on bottles of Cristal Champagne.
Joanne’s brother Liam is now based in sunny Spain with his partner Simoan, who looks every bit the gangster’s moll when she dresses up for a night out.
She accompanied Joanne on her lavish 40th celebrations to Vegas and the pair are close pals who always keep in touch and regularly visit one another for girly weekends.
Simoan and Liam relocated to Puerto Banus after the feared criminal believed he would be targeted for his involvement in organised crime.
The Byrne family are originally from Raleigh Square in Crumlin, where father ‘Jaws’ first rose to prominence in organised crime. The 60-year-old was recently forced to pay CAB a large tax bill.
But dating a mobster can also have its downsides and sometimes when a man is locked up it is time for a moll to look elsewhere.