The Donnellys: Powder Keg, 1840–1880

A violent family living in violent times.

In the 1840s, the Donnelly family immigrates from Ireland to the British province of Canada. Almost immediately problems develop as the patriarch of the family is sent to the Kingston Penitentiary for manslaughter, leaving his wife to raise their eight children on her own.

The children are raised in an incredibly violent community and cultivate a devoted loyalty to their mother and siblings, which often leads to problems with the law and those outside of the family.

The tensions between the family and their community escalate as the family’s enemies begin to multiply. The brothers go into business running a stagecoach line and repay all acts of violence perpetrated against them, which only worsens the situation.

Refusing to take a backwards step, the Donnellys stand alone against a growing power base that includes wealthy business interests in the town of Lucan, the local diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, law authorities and a number of their neighbours.

Reviews

“John Little has once again taken a great Canadian mystery and given it fresh life and new insights. He did it with Tom Thomson, and now he has done it with the infamous Donnelly murders. This is investigative journalism as good as it gets.” — Roy MacGregor, OC, author of Canadians: Portrait of a Country and Its People
“True crime fanatics will relish Little’s vivid and inspired storytelling.” — Library Journal

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A violent family living in violent times.

In the 1840s, the Donnelly family immigrates from Ireland to the British province of Canada. Almost immediately problems develop as the patriarch of the family is sent to the Kingston Penitentiary for manslaughter, leaving his wife to raise their eight children on her own.

The children are raised in an incredibly violent community and cultivate a devoted loyalty to their mother and siblings, which often leads to problems with the law and those outside of the family.

The tensions between the family and their community escalate as the family’s enemies begin to multiply. The brothers go into business running a stagecoach line and repay all acts of violence perpetrated against them, which only worsens the situation.

Refusing to take a backwards step, the Donnellys stand alone against a growing power base that includes wealthy business interests in the town of Lucan, the local diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, law authorities and a number of their neighbours.

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Details

Dimensions:

544 Pages
9in * 6in * 1.2158in
1.65lb

Published:

November 02, 2021

City of Publication:

Toronto

Country of Publication:

CA

Publisher:

ECW Press

ISBN:

9781770416291

Book Subjects:

HISTORY / Modern / 19th Century

Featured In:

All Books

Language:

eng

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