Molly Maguire

[ muh-gwahyuhr ]

noun

1. Irish History. a member of a secret terrorist society organized in Ireland in 1843 to prevent evictions by the government: so called because the members disguised themselves as women.
2. U.S. History. a member of a former secret association, organized about 1865, that terrorized the mine operators' agents in an effort to get relief from oppressive conditions in the anthracite coal-mining regions of Pennsylvania: ceased to function about 1877.

Molly Maguire

/ ˈmɒlɪ məˈɡwaɪə /

noun

1. Irish history a member of a secret society that terrorized law officers during the 1840s to prevent evictions
2. (in Pennsylvania from about 1865 to 1877) a member of a society of miners that terrorized mine owners and their agents in an effort to obtain better pay

Word History and Origins

Origin of Molly Maguire¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Word History and Origins

Origin of Molly Maguire¹

C19: the name refers to the female disguise adopted by members of these societies

Example Sentences

And yet it was curious, too, for if she had had it on, how did it get loose to go floating around Molly Maguire's yard?

From Project Gutenberg

Molly Maguire was there, and all her children around her, gaping.

From Project Gutenberg

I dare say the next flood will find it in Molly Maguire's kitchen.

From Project Gutenberg

He got up that Molly Maguire series for the new cleaning fluid.

From Project Gutenberg