The Sons of Molly Maguire: The Irish Roots of America's First Labor War

The Sons of Molly Maguire explores the roots of the secret society of peasant assassins in Ireland, the Mollies, who organized strikes, murdered mine bosses, and fought the Civil War draft. It reveals the links between the folk justice of the Mollies and the folk drama of the Mummers, and how the cradle of the American Mollies became a bastion of later labor activism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 03 April 2023
Publisher: Fordham University Press

The Sons of Molly Maguire, a rare book about the birth of a secret society, delves into the lost world of peasant Ireland to uncover the astonishing links between the folk justice of the Mollies and the folk drama of the Mummers. The book follows the Irish to the anthracite region, which was transformed into another Ulster by ethnic, religious, political, and economic conflicts. It charts the rise of an Irish secret society and a particularly political form of Mummery just before the Civil War, shows why Molly violence was resurrected amid wartime strikes and conscription, and explores how the cradle of the American Mollies became a bastion of later labor activism. Combining sweeping history with an intensely local focus, The Sons of Molly Maguire is the captivating story of when, where, how, and why the first organized labor movement in America emerged.

The Irish Potato Famine, the Civil War, and the turbulent emergence of the American labor movement are all connected in a captivating exploration of the roots of the Molly Maguires. A secret society of peasant assassins in Ireland that re-emerged in Pennsylvanias hard-coal region, the Mollies organized strikes, murdered mine bosses, and fought the Civil War draft. Their shadowy twelve-year duel with all powerful coal companies marked the beginning of class warfare in America. But little has been written about the origins of this struggle and the folk culture that informed everything about the Mollies.

A rare book about the birth of the secret society, The Sons of Molly Maguire, delves into the lost world of peasant Ireland to uncover the astonishing links between the folk justice of the Mollies and the folk drama of the Mummers. The link not only explains much about Irelands Molly Maguires—where the name came from, why the killers wore womens clothing, why they struck around holidays—but also sheds new light on the Mollies re-emergence in Pennsylvania.

The book follows the Irish to the anthracite region, which was transformed into another Ulster by ethnic, religious, political, and economic conflicts. It charts the rise there of an Irish secret society and a particularly political form of Mummery just before the Civil War, shows why Molly violence was resurrected amid wartime strikes and conscription, and explores how the cradle of the American Mollies became a bastion of later labor activism.

Combining sweeping history with an intensely local focus, The Sons of Molly Maguire is the captivating story of when, where, how, and why the first organized labor movement in America emerged.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781531502959