The street where Martin Cahill was shot dead

Death Location in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland

This is the location where Irish gangster Martin Cahill (The General) was shot dead.

It is situated at the corner of Oxford Road and Charleston Road in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland.

At around 4 p.m. on August 18th, 1994, the gangland figure left his home in Swan Grove and jumped into his black Renault 5. He then drove down Oxford Road until he reached this street corner.

When Cahill slowed down to stop, a man in a reflective yellow vest walked over to his car and opened fire with a .357 Magnum revolver.

The General was shot multiple times and died almost instantly. During the shooting, his Renault rolled across Charleston Road until it hit the black railings on the other side of the street.

Cahill's killer was in no rush to leave the scene. Despite not wearing a mask, he waited until the vehicle stopped so that he could put his head in the driver's window and make sure that his target was dead.

Once the hitman was satisfied that the job was done, he grinned and calmly got onto the back of a waiting motorcycle, which proceeded to drive off in the direction of Rathmines.

Meanwhile, crowds of shocked onlookers started to gather at the scene. Broken glass littered the street, and one of Ireland's most infamous criminals lay slumped over to one side in his vehicle.

The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility for the murder a couple of hours later. In their statement, they said that Cahill had offloaded stolen paintings to a loyalist paramilitary called the Ulster Volunteer Force.

The UVF then sold these paintings abroad to help fund their organization.

Although Cahill was an experienced criminal, he did not have the means to fence the paintings himself. As a result, he sold them to the UVF.

It was this decision to do business with an organization that murdered Irish nationalists that ultimately cost him his life.

Martin Cahill death location

The address and the GPS coordinates for this location are as follows:

Address

Charleston Road, Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland

Map

To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below:

Google Maps

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the junction are:

53.324337, -6.257425

Directions

The shooting took place at the intersection between Charleston Road and Oxford Road. The junction is beside Belgrave Square. It is a 5-minute walk from the center of Rathmines.

Details about the general area

Ranelagh is an affluent suburb on the south side of Dublin.

Photos

Photos of the junction and other related images.

Cahill's route

Cahill was gunned down shortly after he left his house in Swan Grove.

A number of social media users have claimed that he was returning a rented copy of the film Alien 3 (1992). However, this is incorrect, as it was actually A Bronx Tale (1993).

Oxford Street in Ranelagh

The shooting occurred at the junction of Oxford Street and Charleston Road.

Witnesses stated that the gunman was a man in his mid-30s who had dark brown hair. He spent most of the afternoon standing at this corner with a clipboard and posing as a traffic planner.

The hitman's accomplice was a motorcyclist who repeatedly drove up and down Oxford Street. His job was to keep track of Cahill's position and make sure that he was still in Swan Grove.

When the "courier" saw Cahill leaving his house and getting into his vehicle, he drove down Oxford Street and stopped on Charleston Road. This signaled to the hitman that their target was on his way.

Aerial image

This is an aerial image of the location where Cahill was shot.

Gate

The gunman continued firing into Cahill's vehicle as it rolled across the street and crashed into the side of this entrance.

Matin Cahill's crime scene

This photograph of the crime scene shows Cahill's black car stopped against the iron railings. A red privacy sheet was thrown over the front of the windscreen.

45 Charleston Road

The car came to a stop in the driveway of 45 Charleston Road.

21 Swan Grove

Cahill was living at 21 Swan Grove at the time of his murder.

In 2005, the Criminal Assets Bureau seized the house and sold it.

In the 1998 film The General, he is shot dead after he leaves his house and gets into his vehicle. However, the scene in question is inaccurate, as the hitman was not situated in Swan Grove.

The movie was also inaccurate in its portrayal of the gangster. Instead of portraying him as the violent criminal that he was, it painted the picture of a jovial "Robin Hood" type figure who thumbed his nose at the authorities.

Unfortunately, this portrayal was far removed from reality. For example, in 1988, he yelled obscenities at his elderly neighbors and threatened to burn their house down. He also tortured people by stapling their fingers to the floor and hammering nails into their hands.

Coordinates: 53.325446, -6.259515

Google Maps

The General refused to show his face

Cahill refused to show his face to members of the media. If reporters were present, he would pull his hood up over his head and then cover his face by using his hands. Sometimes, he would even show up at the courthouse wearing a balaclava.