The Irish Mob | Dublin | New York | Chicago

The Irish Mob is a website dedicated to tracking the history of organized crime, gangsters, mobsters, bootleggers, gun moll’s, showgirls and more. The majority of the stories published on this website are about the people, places and things connected to The Irish Mob from the Gangs of New York Era through the Prohibition Era right up to recent times.

So what is Charles “Lucky” Luciano doing with three Irish Hoods? In 1926 they were all brought in for questioning for Felonious Assault. What it was in connection with was an attempted robbery of Charles Haffman & Albert Levy. The Line up was Eddie Diamond, Jack “Legs” Diamond, Thomas “Fatty” Walsh & Charles “Lucky” Luciano.

What Is The Irish Mob?

The Irish Mob is the oldest organized crime group in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs—depicted in Herbert Asbury’s 1928 book The Gangs of New York—the Irish Mob has appeared in most major U.S. cities, including Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

Wikipedia

The Latest Stories

Pat Nee

by Owen Forsyth

Born in the Irish speaking part of Ireland, Ros Muc, Connemara in County Galway, Patrick Nee emigrated to the US when he was young, along with his parents and siblings. The family settled in Boston. When the Vietnam War broke out Pat Nee joined up with the Marines and...

Joe McDonald

by Owen Forsyth

Joe "Joe Mac" McDonald, one of the founding members of Boston's Winter Hill gang, along with Buddy McClean and Howie Winter. Joe Mac was known "as a very serious man not to be trifled with under any circumstances".In the 1960's Joe was part of a crew who were caught...

Paul McGonagle

by Owen Forsyth

Paul McGonagle was one of the leaders of the Mullen’s gang in Boston during the mob war, along with Pat Nee. The Mullen’s were primarily a crew of up to 60 members that specialized in armed robbery, among other things. As the mob war ground on, with losses mounting on...

The Hudson Dusters

The Hudson Dusters were a street gang that were founded in the late 1890s by “Circular Jack”, “Kid Yorke”, and Francis “Goo Goo" Knox, the gang began operating from an apartment house on Hudson Street. Goo Goo Knox, a former and noted member of the Gopher Gang who...

Captain John H. McCullagh

John H. McCullagh was an officer and police captain in the NYPD, John McCullagh was also known as "Farmer John". Born in 1842 in Tyrone, Ireland and emigrated with his family the US when he was a child. During his career he battled notorious gangs and river pirates...

The Water Street Revival

Water Street was originally located on the waterfront in the 4th Ward on the Lower East Side which is now the Financial District today. “For at least twenty-five years, Water Street was probably the scene of more violent crime than any other street on the continent.”...

Mulberry Street / Mulberry Bend

The photo is a picture of an unnamed real Gang of New York in Bandits Roost an alley somewhere in Mulberry Street. Its part of an exhibition called How The Other Half Live by photographer Jacob Riis. If the Five Points of Manhattan was the poorest, most crime-ridden...

“Old Smoke” John Morrissey

"Old Smoke" John Morrissey was born in Templemore, County Tipperary, Ireland in 1831. Around 1833 his parents emigrated to the U.S and settled somewhere near Troy, New York. In 1848 Morrissey moved to New York City and married the daughter of a ship's captain, Sarah...

Early Characters

The earliest recorded organised criminal gang in the United States was in 1825. They were based in one of the most notorious slums in the world at the time, The Five Points in New York’s Lower East Side.

Read about some of the craziest characters from the days of the Gangs of New York. People like Bill “The Butcher” Poole & John Morrissey, gangs like The Dead Rabbits, Whyos & Plug Uglies, places like Shang Drapers Dive Bar or Billy McGlory’s Armory Hall.

Prohibition Era

You will read about some of the most Notorious Names in Mob History on this website, Bosses, Hitmen and more. From New York to Chicago to Boston some of the biggest names all in one place.

“Jelly Roll” Hogan & The Hogan Gang – St. Louis

Edward "Jelly Roll" Hogan was the leader of the Hogan Gang and arch enemy of the Egan's Rats Gang in St. Louis, Hogan and his gang strong armed their way into the illegal alcohol business and had many running battles with members of Egans Rats along the way. And like...

The very last picture of Legs Diamond

The very last picture taken of Jack “Legs” Diamond, just 9 hours before he was killed. Jack’s Attorney Daniel H. Prior, Alice Diamond and Jack shortly after he was acquitted. It is said that Jack went out celebrating his acquittal, followed by a visit to his mistress...

Charles “Vannie” Higgins – The Last Irish Boss of Brooklyn

Charles "Vannie" Higgins was a mobster and one of the most prominent bootleggers during Prohibition. Known as "Brooklyn's Last Irish Boss", Higgins was notorious for his escapes from the police and law Higgins was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1897. He learned to be a...

The Roaring Twenties

The Roaring Twenties. The Prohibition Laws, the Eighteenth Amendment & Volstead Act, had just been passed banning the sale of alcohol across the United States but it was largely ignored in the cities, New York, Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis etc.Before Prohibition...

John Patrick Looney

John Patrick Looney was a gangster in Rock Island, Illinois during the early 20th century. Looney served as the model for John Looney, a character in Max Allan Collins' graphic novel Road to Perdition. The character was renamed John Rooney and portrayed by Paul Newman...

Red Kane kills the Yellow Kid in court – Egans Rats St. Louis

Red Kane or Thomas Kane as he was known as, was a leading figure in one of the most vindictive gang wars to have ever happened in St. Louis. Red Kane was sentenced to serve a 12 year term in prison for the murder of Fred “Yellow Kid” Mohrle, who Kane had shot and...

Dean O’Banion The North Side Gangster

Dean O'Banion was born to Irish parents who lived in Maroa, Illinois where he spent his early childhood before moving to Chicago in 1901 with his father and brother after his mother's death. They settled in Kilgubbin on the North Side of Chicago it was notorious...

The Fox Lake Massacre

The Fox Lake Massacre was an event when Prohibition Era violence spilled over into Lake County, northeastern Illinois on June 1, 1930. Gangsters from Terry "Machine Gun" Druggan & Frankie Lake's gang were gunned down at Manning's Hotel in Fox Lake. That area of...

The failed hot on Eddie Diamond

Sometime in 1927, Eddie Diamond was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, by the following year Eddie packed up his family, his wife Kitty and young son John and moved out west to Denver. Eddie also took with him, one of Jacks torpedos, Dominick Bifano. Meanwhile...

Mad Dog Coll’s Final Phone Call

February 8, 1932, Vincent Coll and his unidentified bodyguard took a short stroll from the Cornish Arms, where Coll was staying to the London Chemist drugstore, both on West 23rd Street, with the two men wanting to make phone calls. Coll walked into one of the booths...

Prohibition Era

You will read about some of the most Notorious Names in Mob History on this website, Bosses, Hitmen and more. From New York to Chicago to Boston some of the biggest names all in one place.

The Sheltons special delivery for Charlie Bergir

The Sheltons were once described as Americas bloodiest gang and for good reason, they were locked in a war with their main rival who was once an ally, Charlie Birger. The Agnes & Ben Shelton raised 10 children on a farm near Fairfield, in Wayne County, Illinois....

Boss Tweed – The Most Corrupt Politician of his Time

Boss Tweed or William Magear Tweed was legendary for his total corruption & his enormous financial takings throughout his political career in the mid 1800's and in all honesty could probably put the politicians of today to shame. Some estimates say in today's...

The Ballymount Bloodbath

The Ballymount Bloodbath is an incident that happened between two groups in a warehouse in Dublin on the 6th October 1999 and would lead to a series of tit for tat revenge killings between the groups. The Ballymount Bloodbath was a day when six men were kidnapped,...

Billy McGlory’s Armory Hall

Billy McGlory opened McGlory's Armory Hall at 158 Hester Street in the late 1870s. It very quickly became a popular underworld hangout, frequented by thieves, pickpockets, and procurers throughout the old Fourth and Sixth Wards for nearly two decades.It was described...

The Roaring Twenties

Notorious Names

From tough guys like Pat Nee from Boston to Jimmy Coonan, Mickey Featherstone & The Westies gang all the way to the biggest name of them all James “Whitey” Bulger, who was Boss for more than 20 years and went on the run for a further 16.

About This Site

This website is for educational purposes only, all information is as reliable as the sources it came from and not presented as undeniable facts, just a resource for helping readers look into the history of the Irish Mob. All images belong to their respective owners. From time to time there will be graphic content, such as crime scene’s etc.

I am an amateur writer and I research these stories from various sources and try to put together some interesting articles as a hobby. I always did like the stories about the Mafia and eventually found my way into reading and learning about the Irish Mob, Whitey Bulger in particular and from there I started to learn about other characters and writing about them.