, 1876-12-01
Origin of the Molly Maguir...

The organization has a very large mem
bership in Pennsylvania, the headauar-
ters of the chiefs being there also. One
Of these, while in a communicative
mood yesterday, furnished your CORE
spondent with the following facts about
the origin and formation of the Molly
Mcguire Society. The body Is but one
OF the numerous organizations that
came into existence in Ireland during
the latter part of the last century.
These secret bodies were known bv diff
ferent appellations, such as the "Lev-
ellers, the white Boys" the Hearts
o Steel" or Steel Boys" the Peep
O Day Boys" the " Right Bows" and
others. These, although operating un-
der different names, had generally but
one common purpose in view, which
was to resist the rapacity of landlords,
who rented their lands far above their
value, and, when the tenant had not the
means to pay promptly on trent day."
seized his goods or flung him and his
family out to perish by the roadside.
Many persons are said to have died
through exposure by these cruelties.
At the time when the name of a land
lord in Ireland was the synonyme of
cruelty, there lived in the. County of
Roscommon an old woman named Molly
Mcguire. She had small holding of
land, and struggled hard to bring up
the family of boys which her husband
had left her. The constant failure of
the crops made her somewhat tardy in
paying her rent, and at length the land
agent-an unscrupulous man-deter-
mined to eject her from the little home
that was so full of sacred recollections
to her. He summoned his "c crow bar
Brigade gang of men kept in those
days by every land agent for the pur-
pose OF. evicting tenants, throwing the
houses over the heads of those who re-
fused to leave, and seizing the cattle of
others for rent-and went to the "shul-
ing" (hut or cottage) of Molly Mcguire
The gray-haired matron was alone at
her spinning wheel when the cruel gang
came. They commanded her to leave
but so attached was she to the old hearth,
so heartbroken at the prospect of evie-
ton, that she said she would die first,
and refused to be dragged from the hut
The brigade then commenced their work
of destruction, and, laying their icono-
elastic hands on the cottage, soon
hurled it over the PROSTATE form of old
Mrs. Mcguire, who was killed in the
ruins. The cruel act stirred the popu-
lar sentiment to q white heat, and at the
old woman's wake, o few enraged and
desperate men pledged themselves to
be revenged for her death. Headed by
two of Molly Maguire's sons, they
banded themselves into q society, to
which they gave the murdered woman's
name, and in short time it spread
throughout the adjoining Counties of
Mayo and Galway. Land agents were
occasionally shot, barns burned. and of
ten in the morning an agent went into
his domain and was shocked to see his
fine herd of cattle disfgured by having
their tails cut of during the night.
These atrocities continued for some
time, but at present are unknown in
Ireland. The introduction of the Molly
Mcguire movement in the coal regions
occurred about the close Of the war. It
was revived by some dissatisfied and
desperate miners for the purpose Of hay-
ing revenge on mine bosses and others
in authority in and around the collieries,
and received its title from some of the
old workmep who in their younger days,
at home, held tryst with the leaders in
some secluded spot where the ''peelers"
would not be likely to find them.