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George C. Parker – The Man Who Sold Brooklyn Bridge
George C. Parker also known as James J. O'Brien, Warden Kennedy, was a con artist born in New York to Irish immigrant parents in 1860, Parker would become best known for selling property he didnt own, notably the Brooklyn Bridge and many other national landmarks,...
John McKane Brooklyn’s very own Boss Tweed
John Y. McKane became Brooklyn's answer to Tammany Hall's Boss Tweed although McKane wouldnt be as quite well known, but his exploits were just the same. Back in the 1800's in the days when New York's Five Boroughs were still separate John Y. McKane was known as the...
The Green Lantern Saloon – St. Paul, Minnesota
The Green Lantern Saloon in downtown St. Paul dates all the way back to the 1920's and was a favorite water hole for criminals, such as the Barker Gang, John Dillinger and Babyface Nelson to name a few, it was owned & run by the Irish Godfather of St. Paul,...
Sophie Lyons – Queen of Thieves
Sophie Lyons was called the queen of thieves but while she was under the guidance of Frederika "Marm" Mandelbaum she was known as the princess of thieves. Sophie Lyons was one of Marm's best and brightest, almost like a daughter to her. Lyons would become one of the...
Veronica Guerin – A Reporter Killed Doing Her Job
Veronica Guerin was a crime reporter for the Sunday Independent before she was murdered by gangsters who controlled the drug trade in Dublin. In 1996 she was fatally shot while stopped at a traffic light. The shooting caused national outrage in Ireland. Investigation...
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...
“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...
Jacob Riis – Photographed The Gangs of New York
Jacob Riis was born in Denmark in 1849 and emigrated to the US in the 1870's, he was a pioneer in photography, a social reformer and journalist. He pioneered his use of photography and journalism to bring social changes in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where...
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...