Reading up on my good Irish forebears in a book about nineteenth century politicians, I was astonished to find the following titbit:
Among the ladies, Gallus Mag, Sadie the Goat, Hell-Cat Maggie, Battle Annie Welsh and Euchre Kate Burns, whom a newspaper called the ?championship heavyweight female brick hurler? of Hell?s Kitchen, were all specialists in election day mayhem. Gallus Mag, who supported her skirt with suspenders, was a mean six-foot female who, armed with a pistol and a club, was employed as a bouncer at a dive called the Hole-in ?the-Wall. Sadie the Goat, a prostitute and all around rough-and-tumble fighter, ran with the Charlton Street Gang, a group of river pirates. She won her nickname by the way she would lower her head and butt like a goat in a fight. When aroused, Hell-Cat Maggie looked like an enraged tiger. Her teeth were filed to points and over her fingers she wore sharp brass spikes. (In a celebrated fight, she bit off the ear of Sadie the Goat.) The huge and violent Battle Annie, ?the sweetheart of Hell?s Kitchen,? was a terrifying bully. She commanded a gang of ferocious Amazons called the Battle Row Ladies Social and Athletic Club.
I am sure none of my ancestors were among this lot, but am proud of us triumphant Irish gals! (isn't history interesting sometimes)
