He was known simply as the Irishman.

Always dressed smartly in suits, John Friel drove about Glasgow in a Rolls-Royce with its own personalised plate, F1.

For several decades he was a major figure in the Glasgow underworld and a fierce rival of Glasgow crime godfather Arthur Thompson snr.

Thompson snr ran his criminal empire from his home in Provanmill Road in North Glasgow while Friel was based in the Southside - controlling most of the crime in the city between them.

Friel was born in 1944 in Donegal and arrived in the city penniless as boy.

By the time of his death, he had built up a major multi-million property empire including hotels restaurants, shops and pubs - said to have been made from drug dealing and high value frauds.

He also operated a number of sauna and massage parlours in the city.

Friel had friends in high places and among other criminals.

Glasgow Times:

Over the years he earned a reputation as a Mr Fixit, capable of sorting out conflicts among big underworld players in Glasgow and beyond.

Friel was also said to have connections with republican figures in the IRA and was even believed to have raised money for their cause.

One man who got to know him well was Bryan McLaughlin, who came into contact with the Irishman while serving as a detective with Strathclyde Police more than 40 years ago.

In his 2012 memoir Crimestopper, he said: "I first heard of Friel in the late 1970s when he was released from prison after being caught with a gun and explosives in a Glasgow club.

"He was given seven years for possessing the gelignite and another year for having the revolver.

"The crime was said to have sectarian overtones and he was refused bail because he was said to have IRA links

"On the day of his court appearance security was tight with uniformed and plainclothes officers on guard."

Mr McLaughlin wrote how Friel - who liked people to call him Mr Friel - masterminded a series of schemes from which he made vast fortunes.

He added: "One of them was called the Lump and involved him claiming to have supplied Irish workers to the building trade through a job creation scheme.

"But he didn't provide all of the men he claimed for, and civil servants were left chasing him for the money he had fraudulently obtained."

Mr McLaughlin arrested Friel in 1980 for his alleged involvement in a £28,000 booze scam for which he was given a further six months behind bars.

In 1985 he was jailed for a year and fined £7500 after being caught with cocaine which had been bought in London.

But for most of his career he managed to evade the clutches of the police and other law enforcement agencies.

He was also said to have been behind an assassination attempt on Thompson snr in 1988, during which the intended target had a lucky escape.

A bearded Irishman, said to have IRA connections, turned up at a demolition yard which Thompson owned in Carmyle in the East End.

He calmly walked into the yard to speak to the crime boss, and when he was shown to his office opened fire on Thompson at point-blank range.

However, the gun jammed.

When it eventually went off, a bullet ricochet off the floor and lodged in Thompson's groin.

The hitman then ran out and into a waiting car.

Thompson did not call the police or an ambulance but signed into a private hospital in the West End of Glasgow and told doctors the injury was caused by a broken drill bit. 

However, they knew a bullet wound when they saw it and duly informed the police.

When detectives called on Thompson at his hospital bedside he refused to cooperate and even had his lawyer, the late Joe Beltrami, with him.

Meanwhile armed police had arrested the shooting suspect during a flat raid in Cathcart Road in the Southside.

They found no guns but seized £300 from the suspect - possibly a partial payment for the hit.

At an identification parade, Thompson also refused to identify the Irish suspect.

Six others who had witnessed the demolition yard attack also refused to identify him - including Thompson's brother-in-law.

They also retracted statements they had previously given to the police.

As a result, the gunman was set free and returned to Ireland.

Friel was also said to have had an infamous bust-up with Thompson's son, Arthur jnr.

The younger Thompson claimed Friel had cheated him out of £50,000 over a drugs deal. 

In revenge, a car with firearms in the boot was dumped outside the gangster's home and the police tipped off.

But the stunt was said to have infuriated Thompson snr - despite his rivalry with Friel.

It was also claimed that Friel narrowly escaped a hit when Thompson jnr sprayed a pub where he was drinking with machine gun fire. 

Thompson jnr was murdered in August 1991 outside the family home in Provanmill Road while on week leave from prison.

He had been serving a nine-year sentence for drug dealing imposed in 1985 and was on a training for freedom programme.

The man charged with the murder, Paul Ferris, was cleared at the High Court in Glasgow in June 1992 after a three-month trial while Thompson snr died from a heart attack nine months later.

In 2003, Friel was named in one newspaper as one of Scotland's richest crooks due to his vast empire.

He died in August 2009, aged 65, in his home in Croftfoot after a stroke and was found dead by a family member.

Following his death, it appeared his business empire may not have been as successful at first thought with company accounts showing debts of more than £1.5m.

The money was owed to Abbey National on mortgages it had loaned on 11 properties in Scotland - including a hotel in Perthshire.

The accounts showed that Friel also had bars in Glasgow, Renfrew, Perth and a property in Thornliebank where his firm was registered - though his own name could not be found on the list of directors.

One underworld figure said at the time: "Everybody is asking, where did the money go?"

Many of the city's major gangland figures attended Friel's funeral at Christ the King Church in King's Park.

After the burial at Linn Cemetery, the official wake was held at the nearby King's Park Hotel.

Mourners ranged from former Glasgow Baillieston MP the late Jimmy Wray to members of the city's underworld.

Wray, then 71, insisted he had no worries about being associated with the millionaire crime boss.

He said: "I knew John since he was a boy. I was upset at him passing away.

"I was delighted his family asked me to carry the coffin. I don't care what anybody says." 

Several hours after the funeral a major gangland figure was threatened at gunpoint by a rival who he had allegedly slashed outside a nightclub 20 years previously.

Both had been at the earlier funeral service.

The gunman later confronted the man at a bar in Glasgow city centre, which was owned by Friel.

The pub had been the venue for a booze-up involving dozens of mourners following the official wake.

A source added: "The pub was like a who's who of the Glasgow underworld but until the gun was pulled, it seemed everyone had put their differences aside to pay their respects to John.

"There was a large contingent from Ireland, including senior Republicans, and the drink was flowing.

"After that, things got a bit out of hand."

It was said Friel died only hours before sealing a £1m drug deal with suppliers at the giant Metrocentre in Newcastle upon Tyne.

It was also rumoured that the stroke may have been caused by him sampling the cocaine to test its purity.

Friel's life was also touched by tragedy.

His son, James Brodie, 27, died of a heroin overdose in the Gorbals in 1998.

While one of his closest friends, Manus O'Donnell, 52, was shot and stabbed to death near East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, that same year.

Mr McLaughlin added: "Friel was a master of the blarney but his gift of the gab never extended to spilling the beans on criminal pursuits.

"After several meetings with him I quickly realised he would talk for ages and tell you nothing."