Frank Sheeran: The Irishman and His Secrets
Frank Sheeran’s life reads like a crime thriller—except the violence, betrayals, and backroom dealings weren’t fiction. Known as The Irishman, Sheeran was a labour union official with close ties to the Bufalino crime family, a trusted enforcer for Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, and a man accused of knowing far too much about the criminal underworld. His story, told in Charles Brandt’s book I Heard You Paint Houses, formed the basis for Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (2019), starring Robert De Niro as Sheeran, Al Pacino as Hoffa, and Joe Pesci as Bufalino.
Yet, much of what Sheeran claimed—especially his alleged role in the disappearance of Hoffa—has been debated by historians, law enforcement, and fellow mobsters. Was he truly the man who pulled the trigger, or was he simply an old man embellishing his past? Let’s look at the facts behind the legend.
Early Life: A Fighter from the Start
Frank Sheeran was born in Darby, Pennsylvania, in 1920. The small, working-class town on the outskirts of Philadelphia shaped him into a tough, hardened individual. His father, Thomas Sheeran Jr., was of Irish descent, and his mother, Mary Agnes Hanson, was Swedish. From an early age, Frank was forced to fight—literally. His father would make him spar with boxing gloves, toughening him up in a way that suggested an early introduction to brutality.
With limited prospects, Sheeran enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941, just before the United States entered World War II.
World War II: A Training Ground for Violence
Sheeran’s military service is central to his later life, as he often claimed that it was during the war that he learned to kill without hesitation. He served in the 45th Infantry Division—nicknamed The Thunderbirds and sometimes The Killer Division. His 411 days of combat far exceeded the average soldier’s 100 days.
He fought in some of the most brutal campaigns of the war, including the invasions of Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio. He later participated in the invasion of southern France and fought through Germany. Sheeran openly admitted to committing war crimes, recalling how he and his fellow soldiers summarily executed German prisoners. In his mind, these experiences desensitised him to murder, making his later work with the mob feel routine.
One anecdote he shared involved ordering German POWs to dig their own graves before shooting them—a dark foreshadowing of the work he would later do for the Mafia.
The Road to Organised Crime: Teamsters and the Mob
After being discharged from the army in 1945, Sheeran drifted through life, working as a truck driver and a labourer. His real break came in 1955 when he met Russell Bufalino, the quiet but immensely powerful head of the Bufalino crime family. Bufalino took Sheeran under his wing, first using him for small errands before trusting him with more violent tasks.
Bufalino eventually introduced Sheeran to Jimmy Hoffa, the charismatic and fiercely ambitious leader of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Hoffa, who was under constant pressure from the Mafia and the federal government, needed muscle—someone who could enforce discipline and eliminate threats. Sheeran quickly became one of Hoffa’s most trusted enforcers.
Hoffa’s first words to Sheeran were supposedly:
“I heard you paint houses.”
The phrase was mob slang for contract killing—the “paint” being the blood that splattered on the walls. Sheeran responded:
“And I do my own carpentry.”
This meant he not only killed but also disposed of bodies.
Sheeran became deeply involved in Teamster politics, eventually rising to become the president of Local 326 in Wilmington, Delaware. But as the 1960s and 70s progressed, Hoffa’s conflicts with the Mafia escalated. His determination to regain control of the Teamsters after his prison sentence put him at odds with powerful figures like Bufalino and the New York Mafia families. This would prove fatal.
The Disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa
On 30 July 1975, Jimmy Hoffa vanished from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Metro Detroit. He had reportedly been lured there under the false impression that he would be meeting with Bufalino’s men to discuss his return to power.
Decades later, Sheeran told Charles Brandt that he had been ordered to kill Hoffa. According to his account, Sheeran, Hoffa, and Salvatore Briguglio (another mob enforcer) drove to a nearby house. Once inside, Sheeran shot Hoffa twice in the back of the head. He claimed that Hoffa’s body was later cremated.
However, not everyone believes Sheeran’s story. Critics point out that Hoffa’s murder was almost certainly a Mafia-ordered hit, and there’s little evidence that Sheeran was involved. The FBI did find bloodstains in the house where Sheeran said Hoffa was killed, but the DNA did not match Hoffa’s.
Still, no other compelling theory has emerged, and Hoffa’s body has never been found.
The Murder of Joe Gallo
Another controversial claim from Sheeran’s I Heard You Paint Houses confession was that he killed Crazy Joe Gallo, the flamboyant New York gangster gunned down at Umberto’s Clam House in Little Italy in 1972.
According to Sheeran, Bufalino ordered the hit after Gallo became too unpredictable. Sheeran claimed he personally walked into the restaurant and shot Gallo in front of his family.
However, most Mafia historians believe Gallo was killed by a member of the Colombo crime family, not Sheeran. Witnesses from the time describe multiple shooters, and Sheeran was never a suspect until he made the claim himself decades later.
Prison and Final Years
Sheeran’s criminal career caught up with him in 1980 when he was convicted of labour racketeering and sentenced to 32 years in prison. He served 13 years before being released due to poor health.
He spent his final years in a nursing home, battling cancer and giving his final interviews to Charles Brandt. In these last days, he seemed to seek redemption, confessing to crimes he had never been charged with. Whether he was being truthful or simply embellishing remains a matter of debate.
Sheeran died on 14 December 2003, at the age of 83. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon, Pennsylvania.
The Irishman: Fact or Fiction?
Frank Sheeran’s life has been mythologised, particularly after I Heard You Paint Houses and The Irishman. Some of his confessions have been widely disputed, while others seem credible. What is clear is that Sheeran was deeply involved with the Mafia, participated in violent crimes, and had close ties to Hoffa and Bufalino.
But was he Hoffa’s killer? The truth may never be known. Regardless, his story remains one of the most fascinating in the history of American organised crime—a tale of loyalty, betrayal, and the brutal realities of the underworld.