Patrick Holland

Who was Patrick Holland?

Patrick Eugene "Dutchy" Holland, was a career Irish criminal, best known for being the first person accused of killing Irish investigative journalist Veronica Guerin, which he denied until his death in prison in England.

Holland was born in Inchicore, Dublin. A skilled Association football player, he spent time in the United States, where he joined the US Marine Corps.

Returning to Ireland in the 1960s, his first conviction for handling stolen goods was obtained at the age of 25, whilst working as the manager of a sausage company. At the time he had sympathies for and associations with both the Irish National Liberation Army and the Irish Republican Army.

Having married in his mid 30s, by the mid-1970s he was suspected by the Garda Síochána of carrying out a number of armed bank raids. In 1981 he was jailed for seven years for armed robbery at a hotel in Ballsbridge. Released after four years, in 1989 he was sentenced to ten years for possessing 7½lbs of Frangex explosive, detonators and fuse wire, allegedly for supply to the IRA.

Whilst in jail, he met John Gilligan and members of his gang, whom he joined on release in 1994.