James Christopher Branigan

James Christopher "Lugs" Branigan (6 January 1910 – 22 May 1986) was a well-known member of the Garda Síochána in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as an Irish boxer and boxing referee. He has been described as a "legend and part of Dublin mythology," but has also been criticised for alleged police brutality.

The nickname 'Lugs' refers to his prominent ears. A keen boxer, he achieved his nickname 'Lugs' early in life due to his cauliflower ears, a condition most common among amateur wrestlers, rugby players, mixed martial artists and grapplers, it is said he got the name because of his ears by a Dublin criminal in the 1940s – a nickname he disliked. He was the son of John Alick Branigan, an official of South Dublin Union, and Ellen Branigan (née Kavanagh). He was educated at Basin Lane Convent and James' Street Christian Brothers School. He had particularly targeted Teddy Boys of Detective Branigan:

Nowadays, in more politically correct times, he would probably be abolished by the Garda Ombudsman Commission, and possibly also prosecuted...Had his unit, known as Prevention and Detection of Street Nuisances, been continued rather than disbanded on his retirement, I suspect that the streets of Dublin would be considerably safer than they are now....I am dealing primarily with my experiences in trials on indictment, which evolved from a situation in my early days where there was an attack on Garda behaviour in virtually every case, to a situation in which there is now virtually no criticism of garda conduct in my court. In what I might describe as the bad old days, there were frequent allegations of verbals being floated in the police car on the way to the station or on the stairs leading from the cells to the dock...I never hear such allegations now.

Senator David Norris, a civil rights campaigner and longtime member of Seanad Éireann (the Irish Senate), said in the senate chamber in 1993 that:

There is an onus on us to ensure that the guardians of law and order are protected. We have reached the point where the balance of advantage has been taken from the gardaí and given to the criminals. As a university student I recall seeing Garda "Lugs" Branigan in the Olympic Ballroom. He parted the hordes like the Dead Sea to take three people who were in front of the band stand into the back alley and rendered his own justice. Nobody protested. I am not suggesting that we return to those days but I believe that the balance has gone too far in the other direction.

On 28 January 2009, RTÉ Radio 1's Liveline, a popular talk programme, featured callers reminiscing about Detective Branigan and his activities as a Garda in Dublin.

In November 2015 he was the subject of a documentary on TG4, in which he was both praised for his work and criticised for excessive violence.

He died in the Adelaide Hospital on 22 May 1986. and under a Garda escort, his body was brought to Summerhill where he was buried.