A city feud and other gang-related killings
November 2000: Eddie Ryan, who had a reputation as a gun for hire, was shot dead in the Moose Bar shortly after attending a funeral in St John's Cathedral. The chief suspect in that murder, Kieran Keane, was subsequently shot dead in 2003.
January 2003: In an execution-style killing in Drombana on the outskirts of Limerick, Kieran Keane was shot dead. Five men are currently serving life sentences for their roles in his murder.
Summer 2003: Eddie Ryan's older brother, John Ryan, was shot dead in Thomondgate. His murder was direct retaliation for the murder earlier that year of Kieran Keane, even though Ryan was not directly involved in the feud. He was an uncle of Kieran and Eddie Ryan jnr, whose alleged abduction in January 2003 led to a serious escalation in the feud.
October 2003: Michael Campbell- McNamara (23) was lured to his death by a rival gang near Southill on the south side of Limerick. Campbell-McNamara was shot in the head and his hands and feet were bound. It is believed he may also have been tortured before his death.
May 2006: Last May, expectant father Aidan Kelly (19) was shot dead after he was lured to an isolated area by a rival drugs gang in Ardnacrusha in Co Clare. It is understood that the most recent gangland murder victim "Fat" Frankie Ryan narrowly escaped with his life in the same gun attack.
OTHER GANGLAND-STYLE MURDERS: There have been several other gangland style murders in Limerick in recent years although these cannot be attributed to the feud.
November 2002: The shocking murder of nightclub doorman Brian Fitzgerald prompted one of the biggest murder investigations by gardaí in the Limerick division. Mr Fitzgerald (34) was shot dead outside his home near the Mill Road, Corbally, as he returned home from work in Doc's nightclub.
It is believed he was targeted by a criminal gang after he refused to allow them to deal drugs on the premises. An English national, James Martin Cahill from Birmingham, is currently serving a life sentence for his role in Mr Fitzgerald's murder. However, it is understood that gardaí believe a number of other people also played central roles in the murder of the father of two.
June 2004: James Keane (20) shot dead one of his best friends, Stephen Carey (24), at College Avenue in Moyross. Keane, from Craeval Park in Moyross, shot his friend in an argument after a five-day drink and drugs binge and was later jailed for life.
October 2005: The body of David Nunan (25) from O'Malley Park, Southill, was found in a country lane in the village of Parteen, Co Clare, on the outskirts of Limerick city. Nunan, who was shot in the back, had been released from Limerick Prison just four days before his murder after serving a sentence for firearms offences. Gardaí believe that Nunan may have been involved in a row behind bars with a known criminal and this led to his murder.
November 2005: Darren Coughlan (18) from Pineview Gardens died several days after he was savagely beaten by a gang of youths in a frenzied attack.
Gardaí said they were treating the incident as a random attack but the victim was related to David "Frog Eyes" Stanners, one of the men serving a life sentence for the murder of Kieran Keane.
It is thought the teenager may have been singled out after he crossed members of a gang involved in the ongoing feud with associates of the Keane killers.
Compiled by Karl O'Hanlon