Tipperary? Well, Just Barely...
The Donnellys Located

By Bruce S. Elliot

There are few subjects in Canadian history about which so much rubbish has been written as the Donnelly family. This is particularily so concerning the family’s origins and background. That the search for this information has been difficult should not be unexpected, for the Donnellys were an obscure family of humble background which emigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland to Biddulph Township near London, Ontario, one of many such. In Canada they were well-known to court officials of their day, but so were many of their compatriots from what was then considered the most violent county of Ireland.

[...] The researcher who attempts to track down the hard facts about the background of this famous (or infamous, depending on which side one takes in these matters) family is forced to wade through a mire of earlier writing. Much of the literary output on the Donnellys is biased, uncritical, or frankly fabricated. [...]

Source: Bruce S. Elliot, "Tipperary? Well, Just Barely. . . The Donnellys Located," Families 22 (1983): 91-96.

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