The Irish Mob | Dublin | New York | Chicago | Boston - English

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

The Untold Story of the Diamond Brothers Gang

by Owen Forsyth

This photograph, which was taken in 1926, is quite an unusual police line-up for in 1926 these four were known as the Diamond Brothers gang, headed by the infamous Jack "Legs" Diamond and his younger brother Eddie. Also in the photo is Thomas "Fatty" Walsh, another...

“Dapper Dan” McCarthy – Union Racketeer

by Owen Forsyth

“Dapper Dan” McCarthy was one of Dean O’Banions North Side gangsters, along with other such notorious names as Hymie Weiss, “Schemer” Drucci, “Bugs” Moran, “Nails” Morton & Louis “Two Gun” Altierre. Sometimes known as Handsome Dan McCarthy, “Dapper Dan” was mainly...

Kevin Kelly

by Owen Forsyth

Kevin Kelly was a member of the Westies who joined the gang in the late 1970's. He worked his way up through the ranks of the gang, starting off as an enforcer and debt collector. He would be used by the older members as muscle to collect their loans. In one instance...

The Five Points

The Five Points was a 19th-century neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York. The neighborhood was bound by Center Street to the west, the Bowery to the east, Canal Street to the north, and Park Row to the south. The Five Points stood on what is now Park, Worth &...

John Allen – The Wickedest Man in New York

John Allen, also known as E.E. Van Allen or "The Allen" was a notorious underworld gangster and who owned a saloon on Water Street in early New York. Born in Syracuse in New York to well to do & deeply religious parents in 1823, he was one of nine children. Two of...

The Distinguished Owen Vincent Madden of Hot Springs, Arkansas

Owen Vincent Madden was a quiet an unassuming character in Hot Springs, Arizona, he married the postmasters daughter, Agnes Denby. He was often seen out on the streets tipping his hat to the women. He was always quick to give impressive donations to the Boys Club. He...

Corlears Hook – The Lower East Side

Corlears Hook was once a middle-class neighborhood on the Lower East Side of Manhattan which in the 1820's began its descent into a den of crime, vice and sin. It was once a Native American Settlement and then an industrious shipyard, the neighborhood was about to...

Dandy Johnny Dolan – More Than a Comic Book Character

Dandy Johnny Dolan was the subject of a Simon & Kirby comic book in the 1940's, based on the life and crimes of the real John Dolan, who was born in 1849 in Lower Manhattan, he became the leader of one of the most notorious gangs in the mid to late 1800's, The...

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.

Charles Vannie Higgins – His Life and Crimes

Charles Vannie Higgins was born in 1897 and is generally regarded as the last Irish Boss of Brooklyn, he was born in the Bay Ridge area in Brooklyn. He built up a successful bootlegging operation but he was never really considered a big time mobster, he has almost...

Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll & His Gang

After a disagreement with Dutch Schultz over the robbery of a dairy in the Bronx among other things, "Mad Dog" Coll broke away and started his own gang, taking some of Schultz's guys with him, they attempted to muscle in on Schultz’s rackets. This started a gang war...

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...

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...

Little Augie Orgen’s Fatal Mistake

It’s believed the partnership between Jack “Legs” Diamond and Jacob “Little Augie” Orgen started when Jack cut Little Augie into his narcotic and bootlegging business, for a slice of Little Augie’s Labor Union racket. This deal didn’t sit well with Little Augie’s top...

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...

Danny Walsh – Bootlegger

Danny Walsh was a mobster from Providence, Rhode Island involved in bootlegging during Prohibition. He was the top underworld figure in southern New England, and last major Irish-American gangster in the region, until his kidnapping and apparent murder in 1933. When...

The Coll Schultz War Part 1

During the 1930's a gang war broke out between two former associates Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll & Dutch Schultz which would leave a trail of bodies and resulting in the death of "Mad Dog" Coll. The Coll brothers Peter and the younger Vincent worked as gunmen and...

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...

Owney “The Killer” Madden – Leader of the Gopher Gang

When Madden assumed control of the Gopher Gang in Hell's Kitchen his territory stretched from below 42nd Street and along the lines of the Hudson Duster territory near the Hudson River. The Gophers and the Hudson Dusters were enemies and would frequently engage in...

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.

Martin Foley – The Viper

Martin “The Viper” Foley was a Dublin criminal and at one time part of Martin Cahill’s gang, he has survived 5 assassination attempts and has 14 bullet wounds from those attempts. Foley has 40 convictions for various criminal offences including armed robbery, burglary...

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...

Chicago’s 1920’s Taxicab Wars Part 1

Chicago's Taxicab Wars took place throughout the 1920's when rival taxi company's went to war with each other to gain business and to put the other out of business. The Taxicab Wars seen kidnappings, shootings, bombings and murders in open warfare on Chicago's streets...

Paul Castellano & The Westies

On this day, 16th December, was one of the most famous Mob hits of all time, the death of Mafia boss Paul Castellano. It was a significant event in Mob history, the death of a boss and the rise of another boss, John Gotti. But it was another murder would bring Paul...

Charles Vannie Higgins – His Life and Crimes

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.