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 Fatal Shooting of Beezy Garrity

In 1886 Danny Driscoll, who was co-leader of the Whyos gang was approached by 18 year old Bridget "Beezy" Garrity, who claimed she had been cheated by the owner of a bar operating within the Whyos territory in the Five Points in Lower Manhattan. Daniel "Danny"...

Theodore Allen – The Allen

Theodore Allen, or known as The Allen, was an American gambler, political organizer, saloon keeper and head of a criminal family in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century. Born in Syracuse in New York to well to do & deeply religious parents in 1823, he...

Dive bars, saloons and other places of sin

The photo is a picture of an unnamed dive bar on Thompson Street. Its part of an exhibition called How The Other Half Live, the photo was taken by Jacob Riis in 1888. Throughout early New York dive bars were as violent and dangerous as any of the other places around,...

Boiled Oysters Malloy – Saloon Keeper

Boiled Oysters Malloy was a criminal and dive bar owner in the Bowery during the mid to late 1800's, his name as you can guess came from his love of eating boiled oysters, which would have been a delicacy during that period. Boiled Oysters Malloy seemed to be at his...

“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.

“Vannie” Higgins in a Shootout in Bay Ridge Brooklyn

Charles "Vannie" Higgins lived in an apartment on Ridge Boulevard, in Brookly much to the annoyance of his neighbors. He was known as the last Irish Boss of Brooklyn or the “czar of Brooklyn liquor interests" or the Brooklyn beer baron, though he would strongly deny...

Bloody Williamson

Williamson County in Southern Illinois during the 1920's was a lawless place, there was the Herrin Mine Massacre where 23 people were killed during a strike, bootlegging and Prohibition were in full effect and this would set the stage for an all out war between hated...

Texas Guinan – Queen of the nightclubs

Born in Texas in 1884 to Irish parents, some sources say one or both of her parents were born in Dublin, Ireland. Mary Louise Cecilia Guinan, better known as Texas Guinan was a movie star and star of the New York stages. But she is probably best known for being the...

George Cassiday – The Bootlegger to Congress

George Cassiday was born in 1892 and fought in the First World War and a founder of the Irish Veterans Association upon his return after the war, he found employment difficult after the war and almost by accident he became a bootlegger, he would also become known as...

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...

The St. Valentines Day Massacre

On this day, 90 years ago one of the most famous Mob Hits of all time took place, the St. Valentines Day Massacre in Chicago, where seven men were shot to death by rival gangsters. What started with the death of Dean O'Banion in 1924 ended on St. Valentines Day in...

Diamonds hit on Schultz

October 15, 1928, Arthur Flegenheimer aka Dutch Schultz and his partner Joey Noe (pronounced Noy) we’re drinking in the Swanee Club, a notorious speakeasy on West 125th Street in Harlem. Just as the sun began to rise, Dutch and Joey left the Swanee and headed downtown...

“Dapper” Danny Hogan

Danny Hogan was a gangster and boss of Saint Paul, Minnesota's Irish Mob during Prohibition. Originally born in California, he settled in Saint Paul around 1909. He turned to organizing major crimes in the city. He became so closely connected to Saint Paul's political...

The Gustin Gang

At the turn of the 20th-century criminal gangs sprouted up in the Boston Irish wards, the Gustin gang was first to dominate and control the scene. The name of the gang came not from any of the members, but from the name of a street off Old Colony Avenue in South...

Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll

Originally from Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland the Coll family emigrated in New York in 1909 Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll joined up with with Dutch Schultz‘s gang and quickly rose through the ranks; by the late 1920s, he was an enforcer and assassin for the gangster....

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.

Waxey Gordon

Irving Wexler better known as Waxey Gordon was born to Polish - Jewish Immigrants in 1888, he grew up to become an infamous Prohibition Era gangster who specialized in bootlegging, illegal gambling and in later years, narcotics. He grew up in New York's Lower East...

Lew Baker – The Man Who Shot Bill The Butcher

Lewis Baker was a patrolman in the New York Police Department who was employed as a "slugger" for Tammany Hall. He was involved in voter intimidation and election fraud during the 1840s and 1850s but he is mostly known as the man who shot & killed William "Bill...

The St. Valentines Day Massacre

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...

Easy Money for Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll

With the police, media and his enemies all looking for him, Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll had been hiding in Upstate New York, around Albany with rumors that he was working on an alliance with none other than Jack "Legs" Diamond, who himself had run into legal difficulties...

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.