Joseph A. "Kid" Shanahan (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1873 – 1883), also known as Thomas Lynch, was a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

criminal, river pirate and member of the

Patsy Conroy Gang The Patsey Conroy Gang or Patsy Conroys were a group of river pirates active along the New York City waterfront of the old Fourth Ward during the post-American Civil War era. For nearly twenty years the Patsy Conroys dominated the area of Co ...

. In May 1883, he was convicted with Thomas J. Reily, James McMann and James Moran of the attempted robbery of the sloop ''Victor'' while anchored at

Flushing Bay Flushing Bay is a tidal embayment in New York City. It is located on the south side of the East River and stretches to the south near the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. It is bordered on the west by LaGuardia Airport and the Grand Central Parkw ...

. Upon boarding the vessel, they were forced to jump overboard at gunpoint by the ship's mate John Williams, although he rescued three of the would-be assailants from drowning while the gang's leader Moran was picked up by Captain Price of the nearby sloop ''Rebecca''. Held in The Tombs in place of a $3,000 bail, Shanahan was tried for burglary and felonious assault, pleading guilty to all charges. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment at Sing Sing Prison."Ten Years Apiece For Pirates, Quick Justice For Crimes Less Than Thirty-Six Hours Old". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 19 May 1883.

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Gang members of New York City American pirates 19th-century pirates {{US-crime-bio-stub