Crime & Law

Fund set up to support family of murdered Irish chef Shaun Brady raises €90,000

Brady was shot dead in Kansas City after intervening in the suspected theft of a car

Shaun Brady is survived by his wife Kate and their two young children, Seamus and Mary. Photograph: Brady's KC
Shaun Brady is survived by his wife Kate and their two young children, Seamus and Mary. Photograph: Brady's KC
Olivia Kelleher
Sat Aug 31 2024 - 10:55

A memorial fund set up to support the wife and two children of Irish chef Shaun Brady, who was shot dead outside his restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday afternoon, has raised in excess of $100,000 (€90,000).

The GoFundMe page was created by the organisers of the annual Kansas City Irish Fest, which is taking place this weekend.

Mr Brady, a native of Nenagh in Co Tipperary, had a “deep pride in his culture and a contagious enthusiasm for celebration”, they said, highlighting Mr Brady’s contribution to the local community since he moved there more than a decade ago with his Missouri-born wife Kate.

Mr Brady, who is survived by his wife and their two young children, Seamus and Mary, will be remembered at a 9.30am Irish Fest Mass in Kansas City on Sunday.

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The traditional Irish breakfast that he was responsible for organising every year has been cancelled. Instead, family, friends and members of the hospitality community will gather and remember the father of two.

Mr Brady co-owned Brady’s KC restaurant in the Brookside area of Kansas City. Two male juveniles arrested in connection with the case have since been charged with his murder. The teenagers, who cannot be named due to their age, are charged with second degree murder and “attempted stealing”. They are being held in secure detention.

[ Murder of an Irish man: Killing of chef Shaun Brady highlights Kansas City’s shocking gun problem ]

Mr Brady was bringing refuse to a bin outside his restaurant on Wednesday when he noticed that men were interfering with a car. He intervened in the suspected theft and was shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

In 2022, Mr Brady told the Kansas City Star that he and his friend Graham Farris had worked “20-hour days” to open their restaurant on time for St Patrick’s Day that year.

Mr Brady grew up in a family of four and started making meals when he was a young man to help his mother Mary.

He told the paper that he had honed his skills by watching his grandmother cook. He also enjoyed hanging out in the kitchens of family friends who were in the business.

Mr Brady moved to Dublin as a teenager and worked his way up the ladder in restaurants in the city. He was one of the youngest in his class when he graduated as an executive chef, having completed a course in the Dublin Institute of Technology.

He said that he had “bounced around” at restaurants in Europe and Asia.

“While travelling, if I found a restaurant I really liked, I would go back to the restaurant the next day and knock on the door, ‘Do you need help?’” he said. “I would offer to work for free and watch what was going on in the kitchen.”

Mr Brady met his wife, Kate, while she was travelling in Ireland. The couple lived in Chicago before relocating to Kansas City in 2013.

Mary Kate Gliedt, executive director of the Kansas City Irish Centre, said they were “heartbroken” at the death of their “stalwart supporter and true friend” Shaun.

“His restaurant Brady’s was an extension of himself – warm, open and welcoming to everyone.”