The Molly Maguires were a clandestine society of Irish miners who struggled against the brutal work conditions in the Pennsylvania coal mines. It was formed in 1843 in Ireland and continued its activity in America. Although a legitimate self-help organization for Irish immigrants existed in the form of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Molly Maguires used this as a front for some of their own activities. Both groups fought discrimination against Irish and Catholics. In the case of the Mollies, the fighting took the form of violence and destruction, mimicking the attacks against English landlords in Ireland.

They were forced to disband in 1877 after being in existence for about twenty years because a Pinkerton National Detective Agency spy infiltrated the organization and informed on the activities of the members. The agent, James McParlan, using the alias of James McKenna, became a trusted member of the organization. About twenty members of the group were hanged after being convicted of complicity in the murders of about twenty-four mine managers.

Four members of the Molly Maguires, Alexander Campbell, John "Yellow Jack" Donohue, Michael Doyle and Edward Kelly, were hung on June 21, 1871 at a Carbon County, Pennsylvania prison in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, for the murder of mine bosses John P. Jones, and Morgan Powell following a trial that was later described by Carbon County judge, John P. Lavelle, as follows:

"The Molly Maguire trials were a surrender of state sovereignty. A private corporation initiated the investigation through a private detective agency. A private police force arrested the alleged defenders, and private attorneys for the coal companies prosecuted them. The state provided only the courtroom and the gallows."

A movie based on these events was called The Molly Maguires and was released in 1970.

Irish folk band The Dubliners refer to the Molly Maguires in one of their songs:

Molly Maguires
(Bill Martin/Phil Coulter)

Make way for the Molly Maguires
They're drinkers, they're liars but they're men
Make way for the Molly Maguires
You'll never see the likes of them again

Down the mines no sunlight shines
Those pits they're black as heck
In modest style they do their time
It's Paddy's prison cell
And they curse the day they've travelled far
Then drown their tears with a jar

So make way for the Molly Maguires
They're drinkers, they're liars but they're men
Make way for the Molly Maguires
You'll never see the likes of them again

Backs will break and muscles ache
Down there there's no time to dream
Of fields and farms, of womans arms
Just dig that bloody seam
Though they drain their bodies underground
Who'll dare to push them around

So make way for the Molly Maguires
They're drinkers, they're liars but they're men
Make way for the Molly Maguires
You'll never see the likes of them again

So make way for the Molly Maguires
They're drinkers, they're liars but they're men
Make way for the Molly Maguires
You'll never see the likes of them again

External links

• Brief history of the Molly Maguires (http://www.lehigh.edu/~ineng/paw/paw-history.htm)
• Molly Maguire information (http://www.tnonline.com/coalcracker/mollies.html)
• Coal mining, mine fires and the Molly Maguires (http://www.columbiapa.org/county/historical/molly_maguires.html)
• History and Ritual of Irish Fraternal Organizations: Ancient Order of Hibernians, Molly Maguires, Orangemen, and Royal Black Knights of the Camp of Israel (http://mill-valley.freemasonry.biz/marin_hibernians_orangemen_royal_black_knights.htm)
• Eckley Miners' Village (http://www.fieldtrip.com/pa/76362070.htm)