The Donnelly Album: The Complete and Authentic Account of Canada's Famous Feuding Family

by Ray Fazakas

Book Overview

The Donnelly Album By now everyone in Canada knows at least one version of the brutal slaying of members of the Donnelly family on the night of February 3, 1880. The Donnelly Album tells in compelling... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1895565618
• ISBN13: 9781895565614
• Release Date: September 1995
• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Length: 331 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.3" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

The fabulous Donnellys

This book is excellent. I came across it while looking for something entirely different but what a great thing. I fell in love with this mishappen family as women are wont to do with "bad boys." Couldn't put the book down!

If you want the truth,details and about everthing else about the Black Donnellys,this is the book.

The fighting,feuding,barn burning,animal mutilation and general mayhem around Lucan,Ontario,went on for about 35 years,and finally ended with 5 members of the Donnelly family being murdered in their homes by a vigilante committee on that awful night of February 4,1880.It was a national story that shocked the young nation of Canada.Canada had only recently become a country in 1867.These were often rough and ready times ,both in Canada as well as the US.This is the same period when,with the American Civil War over in 1865,the west was opening up with range wars,cattle drives,gold strikes,train robberies,and outlaws like Jesse James and the shoot-out at the OK Corral with Wyatt Earp,Doc Holliday,and all. The fighting and feuding in the Donnelly story had all together different origins.The source of trouble came from a whole different scene of problems that were brought ,mainly by settlers who came from the County Tipperary,Ireland. The story of the massacre had just about disappeared from the radar scope when a pulp writer,Thomas P Kelly wrote a book,"The Black Donnellys"in 1954 and created a huge interest and sold millions of copies.Being a pulp writer he did only enough research to tell the essence of the story,filled in the details from his own imagination,including conversations as he saw them.It made for exciting reading but as time went on, readers and other authors spent a lot of time nit picking about what he wrote. The author of this book heard about the story on the radio in 1962 got interested,read Kelley's book and spent years researching everything about the Donnellys and the history of the county;and finally in 1977 produced this book.He was a lawyer by profession and approached the whole story as would one preparing for a trial.He researched all the records,read everything ever written,talked to an endless stream of people,and,as as a result, produced a book that is totally factual and includes just about everything there is to know about what happened.The book is over 300 pages ,has pictures and/or illustrations of just about everyone and everything involved with the story.He has maps,documents,you name it,he's got it in the book.His writing style and overall organization is so good,the reading could not be easier.He not only researched the story,he has made it a lifelong hobby,interest,or or maybe even an obsession.Like I said,if there is anything you would want to know,you'll find it in this book,and you can count on it being as correct as one can make it. There is no doubt that there is nobody who has researched the story as he has,and for such a long time,and he gives it all to us in this book. If you have ever wanted to go into the real details of the story or plan to visit Lucan to see where it all took place and visit the church,graveyard,the Roman Line,the Swamp schoolhouse,the site of the Donnelly farm,the village of Lucan and the many buildings that still exist;this is the bible and guide for you.He also gives a

The Only Authentic Account

This is the only authentic account of this tragedy, and there is another sequel by this author that is just as informing.

Best writing on the Donnellys

This the best and most interesting of the Donnellys era. One of those books you hate to set down to finish later.