O'Driscoll Boys

“	Colm doesn't give a damn about his men. All he cares about is numbers. If you can shoot a gun, and ride a horse, and kill without thought, you’re in.	„
	—Dutch van der Linde in "Old Friends"

The O'Driscoll Boys are an outlaw gang featured in the Red Dead series; appearing as an antagonistic faction in Red Dead Redemption 2, and as a hostile gang in Red Dead Online. They are led by Colm O'Driscoll and serve as the archenemies of the Van der Linde gang.

History[]

Background[]

The O'Driscolls have been around for about a decade as of 1899, having first emerged around the early days of the Van der Linde gang. After Dutch van der Linde killed Colm's brother, a long-standing rivalry arose between the two gangs. The O'Driscolls managed to attract many young men into their ranks, and thanks to their large quantity of members, covered a lot of territories.^[1]

Colm O'Driscoll is said to prefer quantity over quality when it comes to recruitment, so standards to join the gang are very low; all that is needed to qualify for membership is for one to be able to operate a gun, to ride a horse and to plunder and pillage without thought. The leadership's loyalty to their men is no different; every individual member is expendable and Colm appears to have a nack for easily finding replacements for the men he has lost.

This makes the O'Driscoll Boys very much the polar opposite of the Van der Linde gang. While the latter is smaller, it is a tight-knit group filled with some of the most prolific criminals and gunslingers of the time. The former, meanwhile, is just a huge horde of poorly equipped and trained nobodies, who only really have their sheer numbers as an advantage.

While most of the gang seems to be American, a significant portion of it is made up of Irish immigrants who have strong accents and common Irish names such as Patrick and Seamus. Indeed, Colm himself appears to be of Irish descent and the gang's color seems to be green, which is often associated with Ireland. The gang is ruthless and has no qualms about murdering innocents, including women and children.

Events of Red Dead Online[]

Members of the gang can be encountered in several gang hideouts, including Colter and Millesani Claim, at which the player can opt to clear. Otherwise, they may ambush them in random encounters, stranger missions, and at the drop-off locations of Trader deliveries.

Events of Red Dead Redemption 2[]

The O’Driscoll gang is first encountered at Adler Ranch, with some members having taken shelter there after murdering Sadie Adler's husband. After a confrontation with Dutch, Micah Bell, and Arthur Morgan, most of the members are killed, while the remaining survivor, upon interrogation, reveals the gang is planning to rob a train belonging to Leviticus Cornwall.

Dutch later leads a raid on the O’Driscolls’ main camp in Ewing Basin, stealing dynamite and blueprints, as well as killing a large number of their men. Whilst returning to Colter, the Van der Linde gang runs into a lone O'Driscoll, who is subsequently captured by Arthur Morgan. His name is Kieran Duffy, and he claims to dislike the O'Driscolls and has only been with them for a short period of time.

After being threatened with castration by Dutch, Arthur, and Bill Williamson, Kieran later leads the Van der Linde gang to a large O'Driscoll hideout where he claims Colm O'Driscoll himself resides. While a large number of the O'Driscoll gang is killed, Colm is nowhere to be found. Arthur is held up at gunpoint by the last remaining O'Driscoll but is suddenly saved when his attacker is shot dead by Kieran. Because he saved Arthur's life, the former O'Driscoll is then allowed to join the Van der Linde gang.

Eventually, Colm O'Driscoll invites Dutch to a parley, much to the latter's surprise. Dutch is suspicious of the affair but decides to meet with Colm nonetheless. Arthur is told to watch over his gang with a sniper rifle atop a cliff in case something goes wrong. Dutch's suspicion turns out to be true, as the meeting turns out to be a ploy to capture Arthur as he is kidnapped by a group of O'Driscolls. The reason for Arthur's capture was for Colm to lure the Van der Linde gang into a trap they had set, resulting in Dutch being arrested by the Pinkertons, and ultimately killed. Luckily, Arthur manages to escape his cell and returns to the gang's camp, injured but alive.

The O'Driscolls later kidnap Kieran and torture him for his betrayal. When they find out about the location of the Van der Linde gang's new hideout, they murder Kieran and send his mutilated corpse on horseback, carrying his severed head in his arms, into the camp, before launching a large attack. The Van der Linde gang manages to fight off the attack, although morale around camp is severely affected.

During the Van der Linde gang's brief separation due to the shipwreck on Guarma, Sadie starts hunting O'Driscolls. When Arthur scouts the prison where John Marston is being held using a hot air balloon, he retreats to shore upon being fired at, only to find Sadie being chased by a large number of O'Driscolls. He manages to rescue her, though not before their guide is killed.

Colm himself is later arrested near Saint Denis, where he is tried and sentenced to death by hanging. His gang hatches a plot to help him escape, and Colm is confident as he takes his place at the gallows. Dutch, Sadie, and Arthur foil the plan after they discover one of his gang members preparing a sniper rifle on the adjacent building overlooking the gallows, and identify O'Driscolls in the crowd of onlookers waiting to aid in Colm's escape. Much to Colm's shock, he realizes his men have been incapacitated after Dutch and Sadie take two of his gang members hostage. He then looks up to the roof of the adjacent building, only to see Arthur waving at him from the rooftops. He can then only watch in horror as his execution proceeds as planned and he is ultimately executed, with his criminal career ending with the snapping of his neck. After Colm is hanged, Sadie erupts in anger and murders the gang members she and Dutch were holding hostage. A shootout erupts between first the O'Driscolls and then the local Law Enforcement against Dutch, Sadie, and Arthur.

The O'Driscolls are greatly weakened by their constant battles with the Van der Linde gang, the relentless hunts by law enforcements,^[2] and the death of Colm. The remnants of the gang, led by a member named Tom, are hiding at Hanging Dog Ranch.

If Arthur agrees to help Sadie: The last of the O'Driscolls are eliminated by Sadie Adler and Arthur Morgan by request of the former. The last O'Driscoll left is Tom himself, who is stabbed viciously and killed by Sadie, as he was the one who murdered her husband. This skirmish spells the end for the O'Driscoll Boys, with their remaining leader and members all eliminated, thus wiping them out for good.

Epilogue[]

By 1907, some of the gang's former hideouts are occupied by the Laramie Gang.

Known Members[]

Colm O'Driscoll - Founder and leader until 1899; hanged in Saint Denis for his crimes.
Colm's Brother - Killed by Dutch van der Linde at some point prior to 1899.
Tom (aka "Fat man with a beard") - Becomes leader in 1899 following Colm's hanging; stabbed to death at Hanging Dog Ranch by Sadie, in revenge for killing her husband.
Kieran Duffy (formerly) - Stable boy who was forced to become a member, before defecting to the Van der Linde gang; later captured, tortured and decapitated by the O’Driscolls.
Billy - Part of the raid on the Adler Ranch; killed by either Dutch, Arthur, or Micah.
Seamus - A member who was mentioned in "Blessed are the Peacemakers"; killed by a member of the Van der Linde gang at some point prior to 1899.
Paul - A member who was positioned as a sniper on the rooftops of Saint Denis, to prevent Colm from being hanged; killed by Arthur in a knife fight.
Liam - member and guard for the Ewing Basin hideout.
Patrick - A member who accompanied Colm to discuss handing in Arthur to the Pinkertons.
Unnamed member - Arrested in Strawberry; killed by Micah whilst escaping.
Donal - A member mentioned in a letter addressed to Ben Calloway.^[3]
Declan - A member who was present in "Outlaws from the West,” as revealed in a conversation between Arthur and tied-up Kieran in Colter ^[4].

Associates[]

Ben Calloway - Doctor in Valentine who ran a protection side business with the O'Driscoll Boys.
Hector Barlow^[5] - Station clerk in Strawberry

Locations[]

Hideout: Ewing Basin (temporarily in "Old Friends")
Hideout: Six Point Cabin
Hideout: Hanging Dog Ranch
Hideout: Lone Mule Stead (temporarily)
Hideout: Colter (Red Dead Online)
Hideout: Millesani Claim (Red Dead Online)^[6]
Possible camps:
- Southeast of Citadel Rock, between the 'E' and 'W' of "New Hanover".
- Inside the curve of Dewberry Creek that is east of the words "The Heartlands".
- East of the Trapper in western Big Valley.
- South-southwest of Wallace Station, in the woods or a small cave on the south shore of Little Creek River.
- West-southwest of Downes Ranch.
- East-southeast of Fort Wallace, in the rear leg of the Legendary Elk marker.

Missions appearances[]

Red Dead Redemption 2

Trivia[]

The O'Driscoll Boys in several respects resemble the real-life Dalton Gang (sometimes known as the "Dalton Boys" or "Dalton Brothers") and its successor, the larger Doolin-Dalton Gang (regarded as the original Wild Bunch, which in turn was a separate entity entirely from Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch). These 1890s-era gangs were recognized for the Irish heritage of many of their leaders and members, as well as for their violent exploits and deaths.
The O'Driscoll Boys is the only gang that simultaneously has camps and hideouts in more than one territory (West Elizabeth and New Hanover), which stands testament to the gang's large size.
- They are also the only gang that cannot be encountered in the epilogue. The only exception is that they can be found in the Valentine doctor's backroom in 1907 if the player hadn’t previously robbed it.
- Henchmen of the O'Driscoll Boys usually wear large black hats & coats. Ambushers often wear black face coverings.
It is possible to trigger a random encounter with the O'Driscolls in New Austin in the Epilogue.^[7] Given their disbandment in 1899, this is most likely a glitch.
They are the only gang that will incur a wanted level if their bodies are seen, this is most likely a bug.
If the player as Arthur goes fishing with Javier, Javier will discuss how they had planned to rob a coach but saw it filled with women and children and spared them. But later on, they read in the newspaper that the O’Driscolls had attacked the same coach and not only robbed it but massacred everyone in the coach.