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Making sense of the Molly Maguires -

The Molly Maguires were a secret organization of Irish-American coal miners allegedly responsible for a series of violent assaults, arsons, and murders in the coalfields of Pennsylvania and West Virginia between 1861 and 1875. Pictured are Molly Maguires meeting to discuss strikes in the coal mines in an illustration published in a 1874 edition of Harper's Weekly.

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Origins -

Similar organizations such as the Whiteboys and Peep o' Day Boys were already actively employing violent tactics to defend tenant farmer land rights for subsistence farming. Pictured are British soldiers attacking suspected Irish agrarian agitators c. 1760. Image: British Library

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Whiteboys -

With the agrarian rebellion gaining ground across Ireland, the authorities engaged in increasingly brutal methods of dispersal. Charles Moore, 1st Marquess of Drogheda (1730–1822) commanded the 18th Light Dragoons during operations against the Whiteboys in Ireland. Image: British Library

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Ribbonmen -

By the 19th century, the Ribbonmen, a popular movement of poor rural Catholics in Ireland, were similarly active against landlords and their agents. The image depicts a 1851 secret meeting of Ribbonmen. Image: William Steuart Trench

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Agrarian rebellion in Ireland -

These societies, represented by both Catholics and Protestants, shared a common goal, that of actively promoting agrarian rebellion in Ireland in response to miserable working conditions and evictions by tenant landlords. Victims were frequently Irish land agents and their middlemen. The authorities took a dim view of their increasingly violent methods and began cracking down hard on illegal gatherings such as the raid on an agrarian party in a house near Castleisland, Ireland, published as an engraving in the Illustrated London News.

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Where does the name "Molly Maguire" come from? -

While the Whiteboys were named for their habit of donning white linen frocks over their clothing, the Molly Maguires blackened their faces with burnt cork. But where did the name "Molly Maguire" originate?

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Molly Maguire, an Irish widow -

The society supposedly named itself after a widow who led a group of Irish anti-landlord agitators in the 1840s. On August 25, 1845, The Times newspaper traced the commencement of "Molly Maguireism" to Lord Lorton ejecting tenants in Ballinamuck, County Longford, in 1835.

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Liverpool, mid-1800s -

The Molly Maguires were also active in Liverpool, a city with a large Irish immigrant population. The first mention of the Mollies in this busy northern England seaport is in a 1853 newspaper article. The "Molly Maguire club" or "Molly's Club" was described as a "mutual defen[s]e association" supposedly looking after the interests of Irish residents. However, the Liverpool branch of the Molly Maguires was known for its gangsterism rather than any genuine concern for the welfare of Irish people.

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Great Famine -

Ireland's Great Famine (1845–1849), which was caused by the failure of the Irish potato crop and British government inaction, resulted in more than a million Irish emigrating to America, where a large concentration settled in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania in search of work.

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Pennsylvania -

Many Irish Catholics found employment in the coal fields of Pennsylvania. But conditions were harsh, and practically all the workers were routinely met with discrimination based on both their religion and heritage.

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Ancient Order of Hibernians -

The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization that has its roots in the agrarian movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836. The order was once thought to be a front for the Molly Maguires, and back in the day many members in the coal mining area of Pennsylvania did indeed nurture an association with the Molly Maguires.

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Rebellion -

The outbreak of the American Civil War in April 1861 saw many Irish miners drafted into Union ranks, forced into a conflict they considered none of their concern. Others began to rebel by going on strike only to see their places immediately filled by new employees.

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Vigilante justice -

Angry and disgruntled, these displaced individuals joined the Molly Maguires and began to threaten mining supervisors and scabs—those who filled their roles during strikes—with death. The situation escalated until mining officials were targeted with assassination. Pictured is the scene at the murder of mining superintendent Alexander Rae, allegedly through a Molly Maguire ambush, as Rae traveled to the Coal Ridge Improvement Company's colliery near Centralia, Pennsylvania, in October 1868.

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Violence escalates -

The violence escalated. In this image, masked members of the Molly Maguires gather to nail a man to a log to leave him to die of starvation in remote woodland.

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Assassinations -

On December 2, 1871, Morgan Powell, assistant superintendent of the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal and Iron Company, was shot and killed allegedly at the hands of the Molly Maguires. He died several days later.

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James McParland -

The string of assassinations and acts of sabotage led the US authorities to act. Private detective and Pinkerton agent James McParland (1844–1919), an Irish native, was assigned to infiltrate the secret society, which he did so using the pseudonym James McKenna. McParland/McKenna spent two and a half years living alongside the coal miners, eventually gaining their trust.

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Robert Linden -

Another Pinkerton agent, Robert Linden, was brought in to support McParland and assigned to the Coal and Iron Police for the purpose of coordinating the eventual arrest and prosecution of members of the Molly Maguires.

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Jack Kehoe -

McParland's principle objective was to ingratiate himself with John "Black Jack" Kehoe, the alleged leader of the Schuylkill-area branch of the Molly Maguires. He lived at Hibernian House in Girardville, Pennsylvania (pictured).

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Undercover -

Jack Kehoe is seen here surrounded by his family and offering a seated McKenna a glass of wine.

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A double life -

McParland's undercover operation was fraught with danger. But he fooled everybody with his double life. In this images he is standing, center left, in disguise as James McKenna and holding a rooster as the village locals gather to witness a cockfight.

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Michael Lawler -

Michael Lawler was another high-ranking member of the Molly Maguires who welcomed the undercover Pinkerton agent into his home. Lawler owned a house and tavern in Shenandoah (pictured).

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Initiation -

In fact, it was Michael Lawler who initiated McParland/McKenna, seen here on his knees, into the Molly Maguires, a secret ceremony that took place in Lawler's bedroom (pictured).

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Pat Dormer -

This is the exterior view of Sheridan House in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, a tavern owned by Molly Maguire member Pat Dormer.

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Terrible working conditions -

As a "member" of the Molly Maguires, 'McKenna' was taken down a coal mine by his colleagues to experience firsthand the working conditions endured by coal miners.

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James Carroll -

As with many of his cohorts, active Molly Maguire member James Carroll earned a living by running a saloon, over which he built a house. His premises were in Tamaqua. A newspaper article suggests the tavern served as a regular rendezvous for the Mollies.

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Pinkerton triumphs -

James McParland's undercover operation provided agency boss Allan Pinkerton (pictured) with enough evidence to arrest several alleged members of the Molly Maguires. The Pinkerton agency had been hired by District Attorney for Schuylkill County Franklin B. Gowen. In a controversial move and despite a conflict of interest, Gowen appointed himself chief prosecutor at the forthcoming trials.

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Sensational trials -

The first in a series of trials described as "sensational" began in January 1875. They would continue until 1877. Pictured in the Pottsville courthouse in 1876 are alleged Molly Maguire members John Kehoe, Michael O'Brien, Chris Donnelly, John Donahue, James Roarty, Dennis Canning, Frank McHugh, John Gibbons, and John Morris, all charged with conspiracy to murder.

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Conviction for murder -

Pictured: alleged Molly Maguire member Pat Hester on trial for the murder of mine superintendent Alexander Rae. Guilty verdicts were based almost entirely on McParland's testimony, and 20 men were sentenced to death—10 of whom were executed on June 21, 1877, also known as "Black Thursday."

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Execution -

Six of the convicted defendants are seen walking to the scaffold at Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 1877. In 1979, Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp granted a posthumous pardon to John Kehoe after the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons investigated his trial and the circumstances surrounding it. Image: Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

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Carbon County Jail -

Trials were also held in the town of Mauch Chunk (modern-day Jim Thorpe) where the accused were locked up in the Carbon County Jail. Today, a historic marker stands outside the jailhouse where four members of the Molly Maguires were hanged. 

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Eckley Miners' Village -

The village of Eckley in Pennsylvania was planned and built in the 1850s as a miners' village. Later abandoned, it received a new lease of life after being chosen as a location by filmmaker Martin Ritt for his production of 'The Molly Maguires' (1970). So unchanged was the village from the 1870s that it provided a suitably authentic backdrop for the picture. Today the entire site is owned and operated as a museum by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

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'The Molly Maguires' (1970) -

'The Molly Maguires' stars Sean Connery as John "Black Jack" Kehoe, the rebellious leader of the secret organization.

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'The Molly Maguires' (1970) -

Richard Harris portrays Pinkerton detective James McParland/James McKenna, seen here with Samantha Eggar as the fictional Miss Mary Raines. 

Sources: (History) (UK Parliament) (History of Yesterday) (National Park Service)

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