One unseasonably warm evening in September 1982, ‘The Rollers’ had one aim: to rid Fairview Park of “steamers”. Their crusade ended in a brutal murder that would change gay Ireland forever.

Words by Ger Philpott

Temperatures languished in the high teens in the early hours of Friday September 10, 1982. It was unseasonably warm. While 32 year-old, dark-haired, stocky, Declan Flynn chatted to his friend Leigh Arundale in the Italian owned Fairview Grill, across in the park a gang of local youths – Robert Armstrong, 18; Anthony Maher, 18; Colm Donovan, 17; Patrick Kavanagh, 18 and a 14 year-old minor, who for legal reasons cannot be named – policed the tree-lined pathway parallel to the street. Their self-imposed remit... to rid Fairview Park of queers.

Photographs by Derek Spiers

“ A few of the gang claimed they had bashed “twenty steamers” in the weeks leading up to September 10th. Their first attack on that tragic night failed.

This Dublin neighbourhood gang, known as The Rollers, had patrolled the park for a period of about six weeks, and claimed to have cleared 150 homosexuals from the area since the previous summer. Their modus operandi involved hiding behind trees while one of the group sat on a nearby bench in an isolated area, waiting to be approached.

A few of the gang claimed they had bashed “twenty steamers” in the weeks leading up to September 10. Their first attack on that tragic night failed. That potential victim was armed with a knife and when they chased him he escaped, running on to North Strand Road. Their second victim, Declan Flynn wasn’t so well prepared or lucky.

Patrick Kavanagh, a former junior Dublin GAA player, sat as bait on the bench. The others hid behind trees with sticks, broken from the low branches of nearby trees. The gang alleged Declan Flynn sat down on the bench beside Patrick Kavanagh. Later while giving evidence, the 14 year-old claimed Flynn “put his hands on the fellow’s (Kavanagh’s) privates”. He also added: “I couldn’t see too clearly because it was so dark”. Robert Armstrong claimed he saw the two begin to scuffle and Kavanagh shouted, “Get the bastard!” Declan Flynn ran across the grass towards the lit roadway. Ten yards from the roadway, opposite the still open Fairview Grill, one of the gang tripped Flynn up and set upon him, beating him with sticks, kicking him in the head, back and stomach until, according to the 14 year-old, someone shouted, “Scatter!” The gang split up and left a mortally wounded Declan Flynn lying on his side.

John Sheridan, then a member of the Air Corps, and his friend Colm McGrane were walking home from town when they noticed an excited Robert Armstrong near Fairview Park. When they spoke to him they saw blood on his hands. Armstrong led the two men to where Declan Flynn lay injured, not far from the monument commemorating republican Seán Russell, a Fairview resident and leader of the Irish Youth Army.

“ There’s not much to think about when you’ve just killed a bloke, except what’s going to happen and when they’ll come for you.

“I saw a shadow on the ground, but nearer, saw it was a man,” Sheridan testified later. “There was a slight gurgling noise.” Nearby, Sheridan and McGrane noticed some bottles, a stick and blood stains. Armstrong left the park as soon as he pointed out the body to Sheridan and McGrane. They tried to lift Declan Flynn but he was too heavy. They then left the park and attempted to call an ambulance. It was now 1.30am. Noticing a Garda car parked nearby, outside the old Fairview Cinema, they approached Gardaí Patrick Doyle and Declan Doherty. Together they went into the park.