Dublin Boys Who Ran Away To New York In 1985: True Story

In August 1985, two Dublin boys, Keith Byrne (10) and Noel Murray (13) from Darndale, ran away to New York with a few coins. They took the DART, a ferry and a train to London, then bluffed their way onto an Air India jumbo at Heathrow with no tickets or passports. Airport police caught them at JFK. They never met Mr T, and were home four days after leaving.

First of all, move over Home Alone. I have a more unique story to share with you today.

In August 1985, two boys from Darndale on Dublin’s northside left home with a few coins in their pockets. Four days later, they were flying home from New York.

No tickets. No passports. No adults. And no, I am not joking, this happened.

It is an absolute one-of-a-kind story, and I still can’t believe I had never heard of it. Here’s what really happened, from the 1985 news reports, the Irish Times, RTÉ and the boys’ own telling.

Who were the two Dublin boys?

Keith Byrne was 10. Noel Murray was 13. Both came from Darndale, beside Coolock in north Dublin.

This was not their first adventure. The Irish Times reported in 2010 that they had already run away to Wales and Blackpool. They called it “bunking”, Deadline reported, which is Dublin slang for sneaking on without paying.

The big one started with a bag of spuds. Keith’s mother sent him to the shop for potatoes. When he dropped them home, she told him, “don’t go far, your dinner’s nearly ready”.

He recalled that line on RTÉ Radio 1 in 2010, and again in the documentary. On the way out, he met Noel. Off they went.

Ireland in 1985

Money was tight. Unemployment was high. In the documentary, Noel remembers a lot of people out of work.
The DART was brand new. Public services began on 23 July 1984.
The A-Team was huge. Mr T played B.A. Baracus in the NBC series from 1983 to 1987.
Air India Flight 182 was bombed off the south-west coast of Ireland on 23 June 1985. All 329 people on board died.

How they got from Dublin to New York

Stage	How they did it
Dublin to Dún Laoghaire	The DART, without tickets
Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead	Sneaked onto the Sealink ferry
Holyhead to London	The train, dodging ticket checks
A night in London	A man they met on the train put them up
Heathrow to JFK	An Air India Boeing 747, no tickets or passports

It nearly ended early. According to a UPI report from 20 August 1985, a ferry crew member spotted them on their first crossing and they were sent back to Dublin. They slipped away from the police and got back on the ferry.

As for money, RTÉ says they had only a few coins taken from a charity fountain.

At Heathrow, they held hands and said their mum was coming with the tickets, director Garret Daly told Deadline. In the film, Noel says they looked like two little innocent brothers. It took a few attempts.

Then they asked a passenger where his plane was going. He said New York. That was enough for them.

The jumbo was only half full, Keith told the Irish Times, so nobody came near them. Keith couldn’t manage the curry. The in-flight film was the Bond movie A View to a Kill.

Did they go to New York to meet Mr T?

Most retellings say the boys set out to meet Mr T. The truth is a little funnier.

In the documentary, they say they had no plan to go to America. When the man at Heathrow said New York, they thought of The A-Team. Maybe they could see B.A. That settled it.

Later, they told hotel security they had come to see B.A., and the men joked they would bring them. As Screen Daily put it, they never got to meet their idol.

So Mr T wasn’t the plan. He was the bonus. I pity the fool on gate duty that day.

How they were caught at JFK

At JFK, they were told to wait at the last barrier. Instead, they ducked under it. After a couple of hours wandering the airport, they asked a policeman the way into town.

Officer Kenneth White of the Port Authority Police stopped them. He was airport police, not NYPD, whatever you may have read, including on this site.

Keith kept insisting they were meeting his ma in town. White wasn’t buying it. RTÉ’s Morning Ireland described the pair as streetwise at the time, which was putting it mildly.

The hotel and the sightseeing

Then it got ridiculous.

Air India paid for the boys to stay in a big hotel, Deadline reported. The Irish Times said they had a suite and five security guards. Noel told Deadline they were “fed like lords”.

The security men took them to see the Brooklyn Bridge, the Bronx and the Empire State Building. They came home with I Love New York T-shirts, souvenirs and a few dollars.

If you’re planning a less eventful trip, my New York City tips might help. You will need a ticket, mind.

The serious side

It wasn’t all sightseeing. Air India had lost Flight 182 off the Irish coast only weeks before. The film-makers say the boys’ trip caused a major terrorism alert.

In the documentary, the boys describe hard questioning by airline investigators. They were taken back to the airport to show, step by step, how they got through. A stewardess from the flight confirmed their story.

Noel’s father, Alan Murray, put the worry well to UPI: “If two kids can do it, what’s to stop anyone from doing the same?”

How they got home

The boys were put on an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin via Shannon. Their plan was to hop off at Shannon and dodge the trouble waiting at home.

Instead, they took their shoes off and fell asleep. They woke at Dublin Airport on Monday 19 August, to gardaí welcoming them home and a crowd of photographers.

UPI reported they were taken to meet their parents at a nearby garda station. Keith’s mother said she hadn’t slept a wink since Thursday.

A radio news report at the time, replayed in the documentary, said they were home “none the worse for their adventure and a little richer”. Newspapers from Dublin to New York carried the story.

The documentaries and the film

In 2010, RTÉ Radio 1’s Documentary on One told the story in Don’t Go Far… Your Dinner’s Nearly Ready, produced by Paul Russell with Ronan Kelly.

In 2021, Garret Daly made the short documentary Nothing to Declare for Mixed Bag Media, produced by Martina McGlynn. Keith and Noel tell the story together, in their own words.

It won Best Short Documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2021, which qualified it for the Oscars. It was also nominated for Short Film at the 2022 IFTAs, RTÉ reported.

Here’s the official trailer, from the film-makers at Mixed Bag Media.

In the US and Canada, The New Yorker has made the full film available on its website. In Ireland, RTÉ One gave it its TV premiere on 2 August 2022, so it’s worth checking RTÉ Player.

A feature film based on the story was announced in May 2020. Conor Ryan wrote the script, and Frank Marshall’s Kennedy/Marshall Company came on board. Marshall is best known for his work alongside Steven Spielberg.

As far as I can find, the film is still in development. I look forward to watching it when it does come out.

Why the story still makes us laugh

Part of it is the sheer cheek. Two lads with a few coins got past a ferry, a train, Heathrow and Air India in about two days.

Then there’s the nostalgia. Garret Daly told Deadline he wouldn’t let his own children, the same age, cycle down the road.

When the Facebook page Rare Irish Stuff shared the story in December 2015, TheJournal.ie reported over 27,000 likes in a day. Every few years, it goes round again.

We even have the perfect word for what they did. They legged it. There’s plenty more like that in my guide to Irish slang words.

Dublin boys in New York, 1985: FAQ

Who were the two Dublin boys who ran away to New York in 1985?

Keith Byrne, aged 10, and Noel Murray, aged 13, both from Darndale in north Dublin.

When did the Dublin runaways go to New York?

August 1985. UPI’s 20 August 1985 report says they vanished on the Thursday (15 August), flew from Heathrow on the Saturday (17 August) and were home on the Monday (19 August).

How did they get on a plane without tickets or passports?

They told staff their mum was coming behind them with the tickets. Then a passenger told them which plane was going to New York, and they found empty seats on board.

Did Keith and Noel ever meet Mr T?

No. They only thought of B.A. Baracus when they heard the plane was going to New York, and they never got to meet him.

Where can I watch Nothing to Declare?

In the US and Canada, The New Yorker has the full film on its website. In Ireland, it premiered on RTÉ One in August 2022, so check RTÉ Player.

Where are Keith and Noel now?

Both are in their fifties. In 2010, the Irish Times found Keith still living in north Dublin. Noel told Deadline in 2021 he had never been back to New York.