05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Lavish ‘Scarface' grave of notorious gangster with Wayne Dundon links unveiled
Stephen 'Pablo' (Reilly) O'Reilly died following a crash in Offaly on May 20 last year and was regarded as being one of the midlands' most violent and dangerous criminals
One of the tributes which took centre stage at the funeral of Stephen O'Reilly.
This is the elaborate final resting ground of the once feared and volatile career criminal Stephen 'Pablo' (Reilly) O'Reilly.
The solid marble memorial extends to several feet in length and towers above scores of other headstones inside the grounds of Coosan Cemetery in Athlone.
The father-of-one, who died following a single vehicle road crash in Offaly on May 20 last year, was regarded as being one of the midlands' most violent and dangerous criminals with a string of convictions to his name.
He had also been closely aligned to a feared Longford-based crime gang and was due before a number of courts across the midlands for serious alleged offences.
Reilly's burial plot consists of a solid marble headsone finish with a series of ornate features including a high-end watch and images of the career criminal's muscle bound physique.
A video of the extravagant grave was posted on social media showing the lavish and intricate carvings that make up the deceased gangster's resting place.
Two lion's heads sit at the end of a solid marble headstone dividing a high end watch that lies in front of a head shot of the late mobster.
A pair of carefully sculpted columns complete the opulently finished headstone, which is supported by a solid marble carving while emblazoned with the epitaph: 'The world is ours'.
The video, which has attracted almost 90,000 views on social media platform TikTok, features an excerpt of gangster-esque rap music in a modern day remake of the 1983 Hollywood crime blockbuster Scarface.
Those words feature the voice of Al Pacino as Cuban drug lord Tony Montana saying: 'What do you think I am? A f****** worm like you? I told you, don't f*** with me,' amid the sound of a gun being loaded in the background.
Stephen O'Reilly
Details surrounding the unveiling of Reilly's elaborate final resting place comes just a matter of days after the Athlone burial grounds hosted its annual Cemetery Sunday service less than 48 hours after gardaí uncovered a stockpile of machetes and other weapons inside the graveyard.
Despite no concrete link to any specific gang or faction in particular, gardaí are hoping to make progress over the coming days in tracing the identities of a number of suspects they believe were behind the discovery.
Reilly's sudden death just over a year ago brought with it one of the most extravagant funerals and displays of wealth the midlands town of Athlone has seen in recent memory.
Reilly, who was in his early 30s and also known as O'Reilly, was buried in a large gold-coloured coffin which was lifted into his home in Beechpark West through a front window for his wake.
A sea of ornate floral tributes were likewise laid out in honour of the feared gangster outside Coosan's Our Lady Queen of Peace Church.
One of the tributes which took centre stage at the funeral of Stephen O'Reilly.
One of those displayed a portrait of Reilly showing off his ripped physique with the brazen epitaph: 'The real Pablo….The one and only gangster Reilly'.
Another equally elaborate and brash tribute carried an illustration of a container full of white powder accompanied underneath by the words: 'No comment'.
Another reference to Reilly's criminal past was an equally crass image, this time directed at a named garda.
In the decorative and bordered display, the crude tribute read: 'Detective….0 Reilly 1' below a bottle of black pepper.
Another showed a portrait of Reilly showing off his ripped physique with the words 'The real Pablo, the one & only Gangster Reilly.'
The latter moniker was one the midlands criminal more than lived up to in clocking up 51 convictions at the age of just 21.
'He was an extremely violent individual,' a source told the Irish Independent.
The extravagant headstone of Stephen 'Pablo' Reilly.
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'From an early age, he got involved in burglaries in and around Athlone and was suspected of hiding firearms and drugs for a notorious midlands based crime gang.'
In one infamous case he was jailed for two years over a threat to a sister of Roy Collins, an innocent businessman killed by the Dundon gang in Limerick in 2009.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening to kill or seriously harm Leanne Collins at a court hearing in 2011.
It emerged during the case that he knew a man who was friendly with Wayne Dundon, but the trial judge said he did not believe Reilly intended to carry out threats.
Dundon, and Nathan Killeen of Hyde Road, Prospect, in Limerick, are currently serving life sentences for the murder of Mr Collins at the Coin Castle Amusements Arcade on 9 April, 2009.
Although Reilly pleaded guilty he denied he threatened to rape and slit the throat of the woman who was a hairdressing student in Athlone at the time.
Reilly admitted telling Ms Collins that Limerick's gangland figure Wayne Dundon would give him 'good money' for killing her, but said he didn't know Dundon.
He had phoned her and she later told gardaí he threatened to rape her, slit her throat and shoot her during that call.
While he was on High Court bail for that offence, he made a second threat to kill her, this time within earshot of a garda.
It was heard in court how Ms Collins said she had left Athlone because of intimidation and she believed the threats were real and that Reilly is friends with a man from Limerick who is friendly with the Dundons.
Floral tributes left to Stephen Reilly (inset)
Reilly apologised for the threats and said he wished he could change what he had said.
The trial judge said he believed Reilly was sincere in his apology and remorse and said the full facts of the case were less sinister than they appeared.
He referred to reports which described O'Reilly's 'harrowing' life of neglect, abandonment, violence, and brutalisation.
He said Reilly is a man as much sinned against as sinning and is now 'doing his best beyond his years to maintain family unity'.
Viewed in isolation the threats to shoot and rape Leanne Collins, and slit her throat, sounded dreadful 'particularly coupled with connotations of a notorious Limerick figure in the mix,' he said.
But he was satisfied they were impulsive rather than sustained threats and that there was no intention to follow through on them.
'In one sense they were no more than vulgar abuse,' he said.
He imposed two consecutive one-year sentences and suspended the final six months.
