WOONSOCKET - As a bus driver for RIPTA while pursuing his doctorate degree at Providence College, which he earned in 1991, Scott Molloy got to know Woonsocket inside out.

As an author researching his new book, "Irish Titan, Irish Toilers, Joseph Banigan and 19th Century New England Labor," the University of Rhode Island professor of labor and industrial relations tells the story of a child laborer and his rise to become president of the U.S. Rubber Company in Woonsocket.

"This is a rags-to-riches story," said Molloy, a 62-year-old West Kingston resident. Joseph Banigan, he said, "was a pretty remarkable guy and probably one of the greatest Woonsocket residents."

The 308-page book, published by University of New Hampshire Press, completes Molloy's 10 years of research on Banigan, who turned his Woonsocket Rubber Company into the leading rubber shoe manufacturer of its time.

From the URI library to Ireland's County Monaghan where Banigan was born, Molloy chased down every lead he came across.

"People said I would never find anything," said Molloy, adding, "if you look long enough, you'll find something."

Once the research was done, it took Molloy another two years to write the book. "Writing is the easy part. Research is the difficult part," he said.

These are the books that are generally never written because the source material is so scarce, he said, adding that he stuck with it because it is the story of the hardships and struggles of the working class.

"In some ways I was lucky," he said. "Without so much material, I could give my own interpretation," enabling him to "release your own forces of imagination."

The question that kept gnawing at Molloy as he researched and wrote was, "How did a kid from the potato famine become so successful?"

Escaping starvation and death in Ireland, Banigan came to Providence in 1847 only to experience poverty, child labor and discrimination here, said Molloy.

Molloy theorizes that such horrors haunted Banigan throughout his life - "I think he was always looking over his shoulder," he said - and may have been the reasons for his rise to the heights of American industry and wealth.

According to a press release, on June 27, 1867, Banigan and his partners incorporated the Woonsocket Rubber Company on Social and Clinton streets in Woonsocket. In 1889, after establishing several operations in Millville, Mass., Banigan opened the Alice Mill for the Woonsocket Rubber Company, which was named after his mother. Molloy said it was the premier shoe production facility in the world. Its success almost scuttled the formation of the U.S. Rubber Co. cartel in 1892 because none of the companies had a comparable facility.

While building his rubber empire, Banigan did not forget his fellow Irish countrymen, hiring them to work in his factories and treating them with a dignity they had never experienced. In his book, Molloy said that during the mass arrival of Famine refugees, the Irish population in Rhode Island swelled and was the dominant immigrant group in Woonsocket.

Banigan, who died at the age of 59, helped the immigrant populations and made huge donations to hospitals and organizations. A devout Catholic, he was a supporter of St. Charles Church in Woonsocket and the construction of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Providence.

"He was the largest philanthropist the Catholic Church ever had," said Molloy, adding that Pope Leo XIII knighted him, the second American to receive such recognition.

Molloy, a supporter of the Museum of Work & Culture, which tells the story of French Canadian immigrants who left Quebec to come to work in the mills and factories of Woonsocket, will speak about his new book there in an upcoming Rangers Lecture Series program next January.

Molloy said he has a great appreciation of Woonsocket.

Of his days as a bus driver in the city, Molloy said he remembers picking up the elderly - mostly women - in the high-rises, and they would all be speaking French.

He recalled that the bus "went right by Ye Olde Fish and Chips" restaurant at South Main Street and that he would call ahead and put in his order. Then he'd make a quick trip inside the eatery, with the bus running, to get his order.

Molloy's book is available in local bookstores, and online at Amazon.com, Booktopia.com, Overstock.com and University Press of New England at upne.com/1-58465-690-5.html.