Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch enjoyed a caravan holiday on a visit back to Ireland from his sun-kissed Spanish base.
The crime boss took a spin out to Co Louth only 40 minutes up the road from his Dublin home.
It is understood he stayed at a caravan and has been seen walking along the fabulous four-mile beach.
One villager said: “A few of the people in the caravans couldn’t believe it when they saw Gerry.
“He was hanging out with his friends and was as nice as pie to everyone.
“He seems to like the area, it is the kind of place where people come and go all the time and nobody pays much attention.
“A lot of Dubliners have bought caravans and mobile homes here in recent years because it is so easy to get to for a week or a weekend away.”
A young father was executed in a local village during the notorious Drogheda drugs feud.
Keith Branigan, 29 was painting his family’s mobile home in one of the caravan parks when a lone gunman shot him a number of times in August 2019.
It is believed the killing was carried out by a rival traveller gang led by the late Cornelius Price.
No one has ever been charged with the murder.
The Hutch family had no connection with either of the groups involved in the Drogheda feud.
Since he was cleared of the murder of David Byrne in the Regency Hotel shooting a year ago by the Special Criminal Court, Gerry Hutch has spent most of his time split between Dublin and Lanzarote.
He is regularly seen out and about on the popular holiday island and has a home outside Puerto del Carmen, and owns a number of properties there.
The source added: “He was in the area a few months ago. He is a very polite man and doesn’t cause any trouble.
‘Bit of a celebrity’
“He is a bit of a celebrity to be honest. We get a lot of visitors from the north and Dublin around here.
“There used to be a lot of Gardai around here during the Troubles because it was a popular holiday haunt for IRA men but not any more. Apart from the murder of young Branigan there is little or no crime here.”
Gardai are still investigating the Hutch family’s criminal dealings however it is unlikely that the Monk will face any further charges.
He was photographed in Lanzarote in the last week or two sipping a pint of lager outside a pub.