The Molly Maguires Book Review

Anthracite coal mining jobs in Pennsylvania enticed new immigrants who came from Ireland. Many of those immigrants came to the United States after the Potato Famine. The coal mines were not the center of attention during the 1860s and 1870s; a secret society called the Molly Maguires had full attention. The Molly Maguires were Irish coal workers who faced hard working conditions, and they retaliated by murdering individuals who were in charge of running major coal companies. The name of the secret society was first found in County Monagham, Ireland by an author W. Steuart Trench. Trench wrote about the society in his book The Realities of Irish Life. The Molly Maguires in Ireland consisted of local peasant organizations who wanted justice against their landlords and agents. During this time period many secret societies consisted of men and those men dressed as women. The Mollies in the United States did not partake in dressing in the women. The name “Molly” is said to be representing a mythical Irish woman who begged for bread for her children during the Great Irish Famine of the 1840s.

Bannan was the paper editor for the Miners Journal. In his newspaper he lashed out at the Irish because of their religion, culture, ways of working, and drinking habits. 
 The Civil War ended in May of 1865, and allowed many soldiers to go home. The aftermath of the homecomings was social instability in the anthracite region. The Molly Maguires were credited with four assassinations, numerous beatings, assaults, and robberies between 1865 and 1868. The violence did calm down after 1868 for two reasons: the introduction of a new police and judicial system, and the rise of a well-organized labor union. During the time of the decline of violence there was only two more assassinations up until the.second wave of Molly Maguire violence began in October