The Molly Maguires was the name given to a group of 1880s Irish Catholic Pennsylvanian miners, who may, or may not, have been involved in acts of terror in the US, but who were certainly the victims of such as the largely Protestant mine-owners organised against the impoverished workers and crushed all resistance. This film pits two fellow Irishmen against each other, the leader of the group and a fellow Irish Pinkerton sent to infiltrate them, each justifying to themselves their action and each... on the way to hell.