Shaun "Shamrock" McGinty (2024)

Shaun "Shamrock" McGinty is a minor antagonist in HBO's The Wire.

He is portrayed by Richard Burton.

Personality[]

Much to Stringer Bell's frustration, Shamrock is terrible at his job, regularly making careless or poorly thought-out decisions such as taking notes on a criminal conspiracy; the only reason he holds such a high rank in the Barksdale Organization is due to the increasing scarcity of component members. His incompetence is a major contribution to the Barksdale Organization's downfall, as his lax supervision of Bernard is what allows Lester Freamon to supply the Barksdales with bugged phones.

Biography[]

Season 2[]

Shamrock serves as Stringer Bell's administrative assistant while Avon Barksdale is behind bars.

Stringer sends Shamrock and Bodie to Philadelphia to collect a package of drugs. Unbeknownst to them, Stringer gave them the assignment as a test of loyalty, and they're being followed by Tank and Country, two trusted Barksdale soldiers. When the package they were supposed to pick up turns out to be nonexistent, Shamrock and Bodie still report every detail of the operation to Stringer. Stringer, seeing that their report matches up with that of Tank and Country, is impressed with their honesty.

In the wake of a shoot-out over territory, Stringer tasks Shamrock with driving Bodie to dispose of the guns used in the firefight. They try to drop it off of a bridge into the water, but they are careless and the bag of guns lands on a passing ship instead. However, not much comes of it since fingerprints were already wiped off the guns.

Shamrock is also involved in the framing of Officer Tilghman, a corrupt prison guard who sells drugs to the prisoners. The plan is for Avon to expose Tilghman in exchange for an early parole hearing. Stringer, Shamrock and Country follow Tilghman and discover that he gets his heroin from Mostly Blind Butchie. Stringer sends Shamrock to deliver tainted heroin to Tilghman through Butchie, resulting in the deaths of five prisoners and sparking an investigation into the import of drugs into the prison. Shamrock also plants drugs in Tilghman's car.

Season 3[]

Stringer tasks Shamrock with supervising the Barksdale Organization's meetings and maintaining Robert's Rules of Order in said meetings. He tries to take notes on the first meeting of the New-Day Co-Op, a coalition of Baltimore drug lords, but Stringer reminds him how stupid it is to take notes on a criminal conspiracy and promptly destroys those notes.

Shamrock also serves as a buffer between Stringer and the activities of the streets by taking phone calls on Stringer's behalf and organizing meetings in safe places. Shamrock is also tasked with making sure Bernard properly acquires burner phones for the Barksdale Organization. Stringer forbids Bernard from buying more than two burner phones per store, but Shamrock doesn't bother to enforce this rule and Bernard starts purchasing burner phones in bulk from Lester Freamon, an undercover police detective investigating the Barksdale Organization. As a result, Freamon is able to put large quantities of bugged phones in the hands of the Barksdales.

When Avon gets out of prison on parole, Shamrock continues to serve as Stringer's administrative assistant, overseeing the lieutenants and crew chiefs. He peripherally assists in Avon's conflict with Marlo Stanfield by sending messages back and forth to Barksdale soldiers. Shamrock is arrested when the police raid the Barksdale Organization's wartime safehouse just as Avon prepares to kill Marlo. Following his arrest, Shamrock is never heard from again.

External Links[]

• Shaun McGinty on The Wire Wiki.

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