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.

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The Latest Stories

Al Capone and The Irish Mob

by Owen Forsyth

Alphonse Capone or just Al Capone instantly recognizable as one of the most notorious and well-known figures of the Twentieth Century. He had many other aliases, Snorky, Scarface, Scarface Al, and Al Brown, used furniture salesman. Capone was both an ally and enemy to...

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...

Dennis “Dinny” Meehan – The Leader of the White Hand Gang

Dennis "Dinny" Meehan became leader of the White Hand Gang around 1910 and led the gang up until his death in 1920 when he was murdered, as is the occupational hazard when you choose that way of life. He was born in Brooklyn in 1889 and ran with the Warren Street Red...

A night with the Whyo’s

The Whyo's gang were described by journalists as one of the worst to have ever infested the city of New York. Founded in the late 1800's, they ruled the old Five Points neighborhood, the 4th & 6th wards with a reign of terror from 1860 to 1890, their call Why-ooo,...

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...

The Happy Hooligan, Knock Out Drops & Shanghaing

During the 1800's and early 1900's there was a practice that was used among some bartenders and saloon keepers, who were criminals themselves would spike drinks with knock-out drops or powders for the purpose of robbing a victim. In Fort Wayne, Indiana was a bartender...

The Manhattan Savings Institution Bank Robbery 1878

The Manhattan Savings Institution Bank Robbery. On October 27, 1878 The manager of the Manhattan Savings Institution found the vault empty and nearly $3 million in currency and securities was missing. In real dollars it remains the largest bank robbery in history. 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 – 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 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...

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...

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...

Lucky Luciano & The Rothstein Questioning

November 19, 1928, just thirteen days after Arnold Rothstein’s murder, “Charlie Lucky” Lucania aka Charles Luciano was arrested along with George Uffner, a narcotic associate of Charlie and Rothstein, and Thomas “Fatty” Walsh. They were accused of a payroll robbery of...

Egans Rats – The St. Louis Mob

Egan's Rats were an organized crime gang that had a considerable amount of power in St. Louis, Missouri from 1890's until 1924. The gangs criminal activity included bootlegging, labor slugging, voter intimidation, armed robbery, and murder. Although they were...

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...

The Untold Story of the Diamond Brothers Gang

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...

Spike O’Donnell – The Southside O’Donnells

James Edward O’Donnell or better known as “Spike” O’Donnell he was born on November 29,1889, O’Donnell was one of the few gangsters from the Capone era to retire from the rackets, pioneer the Chicago paving of streets, maintain his political clout and die of natural...

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.

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 James McBratney Murder

The James McBratney murder was a series of events that combined into one story but would have an impact on mob history. The common theory seems to be that McBratney was involved in the accidental killing of Emanuel Gambino, nephew of legendary mob boss Carlo Gambino...

John Connolly – When the good guys go bad

From the bad guys to the really bad guys and what makes this bad guy bad is that he was supposed to be a good guy, a federal agent sworn to protect and serve. He protected and served probably one of the most notorious and controversial gangsters in history, James...

Dean O’Banion The North Side Gangster

Dean O’Banion was born in Maroa, Illinois in 1892, where he spent his early childhood before moving to Chicago in 1901 with his father, brother, and sister. O’Banion’s mother, Emma Brophy, who was first generation Irish her parents were from Ireland, died of the...

The Tweed Ring

The Tweed Ring was a small group of people lead by William Marcy "Boss" Tweed who briefly ruled the Gilded Age of New York, through Tammany Hall until the 1870's. The Tweed Ring controlled New York City using fraud, bribery, and kickbacks to pocket massive amounts of...

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.