Branigan, James Christopher (‘Jim’, ‘Lugs’) (1910–86), garda, was born 6 January 1910 in the South Dublin Union, James St., eldest among three sons and a daughter of John Alick Branigan (d. 1957), South Dublin Union official, originally of Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary, and Ellen Branigan (née Kavanagh; d. 1930) originally of Graiguenamanagh, Co. Kilkenny. The family lived in the union complex, which saw heavy fighting in 1916, when Jim witnessed the shooting dead of a British soldier. Educated at Basin Lane Convent (1915–19) and James's St. CBS (1919–24), he left school aged 14 to join Great Southern Railways as an apprentice fitter. Having no railway background and a quiet manner, he was bullied and sometimes even beaten up in the railway yards, but never retaliated. He heartily disliked his work and quit on finishing his apprenticeship in January 1931, joining the Garda Síochána 18 June 1931.
He qualified as a garda in December 1931 and served at the garda depot (1931–5) and Irishtown (1935–6). Having only barely qualified on the required chest measurement, he took up weight training, rowing, and boxing to fill out his slim 6 ft 3 in. (1.9 m) frame. He became a physical fitness fanatic, rising at 5 a.m. most mornings to train, and was a non-smoker and a teetotaller. Throughout the 1930s he fought in various inter-police boxing contests with the Garda Boxing Club. A rugged rather than skilled fighter, he fought at cruiser-weight (1931–6), light-heavyweight, and heavyweight (1936–9). His losses and victories were about equal, and in 1936 he won the Leinster heavyweight title. He also fought for the Irish international boxing team. During a bout in Germany in January 1938 he was knocked down nine times by a skilful opponent, but got to his feet each time. His courage won an ovation from the local crowd, which included Goering and Goebbels. He admired the Nazi emphasis on discipline and sport, and although he disagreed with Hitler's anti-Semitism he kept a scrapbook of his career and regarded him as ‘a great man’ (Evening Herald, 24 Jan. 1973). After being told by a garda doctor that such punishment could lead to brain damage in later life, he retired from the ring in 1939. He became a well known boxing referee, refereeing more than 16,000 fights (1949–83), and was treasurer of the IABA's Dublin board (1937–84) and of the Leinster council for twenty-seven years; he also coached young boxers and vigorously promoted the sport. Besides boxing, he was keen on soccer and especially hurling, and rarely missed a game in Croke park.
In 1936 he was assigned to Newmarket station in the Coombe, a sub-station of Kevin St.; he spent his entire career thereafter in the Kevin St. ‘A’ district. Cycling throughout his beat, he learned to foresee trouble and step in to prevent it happening. He used his local knowledge to forestall the activities of the notorious ‘animal gangs’, notably before the ‘Battle of Baldoyle’ (14 May 1940) and the ‘Battle of Tolka Park’ (22 March 1942), for which he was commended by Justice Martin Maguire. He became a well known figure, earning a reputation for dispensing rough justice on Dublin's streets. Rather than charging petty offenders, he admitted that he usually gave them ‘a bit of a going over’ and sent them on their way to avoid excessive paperwork. In the 1940s a Dublin criminal dubbed him ‘Lugs’ on account of his large ears; the nickname stuck but Branigan hated it and anyone foolhardy enough to use it risked ‘a few clips’. He rarely used a baton, but wore a pair of black leather gloves if trouble was likely. His mere presence, and especially the donning of his gloves, was often sufficient to calm tense situations. He made it a point of honour always to have the first charge of the new year, sometimes delaying the arrest of an offender seized earlier. In the late 1950s Branigan was popularly regarded as the man who tamed Dublin's teddy boys. In controlling their excesses in Dublin cinemas in 1957 he was obliged to see the film Rock around the clock at least sixty times, much to his annoyance. Close to the people on his beat, he often acted as an unofficial social worker, speaking up for young offenders in court, and trying to fix them up with jobs. He regularly sorted out domestic disputes, saving many marriages by giving stern warnings to husbands who beat their wives. Many criminals had a grudging respect for him, and he was often on good terms with their families – the mother of one such family recalled: ‘Mr Branigan always got a cup of tea in this house before he lagged any of me boys’ (Neary, 50).
He was promoted detective garda in July 1958 and was sometimes assigned as bodyguard to visiting celebrities in Dublin, including Elizabeth Taylor, Cliff Richard, and George Best. In December 1963 he was promoted to garda sergeant and given charge of a mobile ‘riot squad’ – a Bedford van code-named ‘Branno five’ – to deal with violent crime and gang warfare. He was still weight-training and sparring with young boxers well into his sixties, and remained on active duty with the riot squad till his retirement on 6 January 1973, having been granted a special extension of service three years earlier. He received many tributes on his retirement, but the one that touched him most was a canteen of cutlery and set of Waterford glass from Dublin prostitutes (‘pavement hostesses’ he preferred to call them), many of whom regarded him as a father figure.
He carried numerous scars from knives and bottles and was once even bitten on the rear while trying to subdue an offender by sitting on him. In court he referred to the biter as ‘worse than the Balubas. At least they cook you first’ (Evening Herald, 23 Jan. 1973), a remark for which he was reprimanded by his superiors. Although his outspokenness in court endeared him to the Dublin public and press, he believed that it was held against him by his superiors and was one of the reasons he never progressed beyond garda sergeant.
He was superintendent of security (1973–83) at Dublin's Zhivago nightclub in Baggot St. He moved from his home on Drimnagh Road to spend most of his retirement in Summerhill, Co. Meath, where he grew crops and bred budgerigars for competition. After several months of illness, he died 22 May 1986 in the Adelaide Hospital, Dublin, and was buried in Summerhill. He married (26 April 1941) Elizabeth Armstrong; they had four children.