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Molly Maguire (n.)

1867, a member of a secret society in the mining districts of Pennsylvania (suppressed in 1876), which was named for an earlier secret society in Ireland (1843) formed to resist evictions and payment of rents and to terrorize those involved in the processes. From Molly (see Moll) + common Irish surname Maguire. There appears never to have been a specific Molly Maguire, but members were said to sometimes wear women's clothing as disguise, hence the name.

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