Duffys Cut Fifty Seven Dead

In August 1832, 57 newly arrived Irish laborers from Donegal, Derry, and Tyrone died while building a stretch of railroad near Malvern, Pennsylvania, on a site now known as Duffy’s Cut. Contemporary records blamed cholera, but modern excavations uncovered a mass grave and skulls with blunt force trauma and possible bullet wounds, suggesting many of the men were murdered, likely by local mobs afraid of disease and hostile to Irish Catholics.

The grave lies about 30 feet below ground on land now owned by Amtrak, right beside an active rail line. Amtrak has refused to allow further excavation because of safety concerns, so most of the men remain buried beneath the tracks to this day.

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