for a Donnelly to use force to get what he wanted. And it was more apt to be a threat to kill than a warning! No constable in his right mind attempted to arrest or rebuke an individual who showed neither fear of death nor any remorse.
In January 1879 Father John Connolly arrived in the area at the request of Bishop Walsh. The Bishop wanted the good Father to investigate all the crimes that had been occurring in the parish. Father Connolly walked the roads of the parish and interviewed people about barn burnings, animal mutilations, beatings, and thefts that were ongoing in the parish. A grim picture was painted of the violent Donnelly boys.
Father Connolly created a Property Protective Association. Members of this group would go from farm to farm to search for stolen property. This was meant to help determine who was committing the crimes. The association later changed its name to the Biddulph Peace Society. Members met at the Cedar Swamp School on what is now Highway 23.
James Donnelly wanted to join this organization, but his son William persuaded him not to do it. He believed that someone would hide stolen goods on their property in order to see them charged with theft. William was not far off the mark. Already this Society had formed an inner committee for the purpose of determining ways to deal with the Donnellys. The time for action was nearing. When Patrick Ryder’s barn was burned to the ground, this vigilante group advised him to charge the Donnelly boys with the crime. Unfortunately for the Society, all the Donnelly sons were accounted for on the night the barn was burned. Ryder didn’t stop there; he charged James and Johannah with the crime. Who really burned the Ryder barn down? Was this justice or was it vendetta?
Everyone ended up in court, but there was no evidence to prove James or Johannah had burned the barn down. Justice Grant of the court allowed for one more court date to be set. Ryder and his friends of the inner committee knew full well that the Donnellys could bring false-arrest charges against the men who had been responsible for their trial. This would mean payment of monetary damages to the Donnellys.
The committee met at the Cedar Swamp School to discuss what they should do. They decided to pay the Donnellys a visit on the night of February 3, the day before the next court date. They would tie them to trees and beat them, if necessary to extract confessions for all their crimes. As a precautionary measure they asked James and William Feeheley, friends of the Donnelly family, to find out where the Donnellys would be on that night. The Feeheley brothers were promised $500, the amount outstanding on the elder Mr. Feeheley’s mortgage. If the brothers didn’t agree, their father would lose his farm.
Meanwhile, the Donnellys had gone to Lucan that day for supplies and to pick up young Johnny O’Connor to house-sit the farm the next day while they were at court.
James Feeheley paid a call at the Donnelly home that night. He talked with Tom, Johannah, and Johannah’s niece, Bridget, who was visiting from Tipperary, Ireland. He heard James Sr. talking to someone in the bedroom and thought it was his son, John Donnelly. He also saw that Tom was going to sleep in the bedroom near the kitchen and Johannah was to sleep in her bedroom with Bridget. Feeheley left then and stayed nearby to watch. At about midnight 35 men, led by 28-year-old constable James Carroll, left the Swamp School and headed for the Donnelly home. They met Feeheley and heard what he had to say. The vigilantes surrounded the house.
Constable Carroll gave the men orders to wait outside until he gave them the word to enter. Carroll then opened the door and entered Tom’s bedroom. He lit a candle and snapped a set of handcuffs on Tom. Carroll informed him that he was under arrest.
Johannah came out of her bedroom to see what the commotion was all about. She returned and asked Bridget to get up and feed the kitchen fire to warm the place. Carroll proceeded to James Donnelly’s bedroom. He told Donnelly that he had another charge against him and ordered him to get up. James got dressed and Johnny O’Connor handed him his coat, one that he had been using as a pillow, but Johnny remained in the bed. Carroll seemed oblivious to Johnny. It was apparent that Constable Carroll was drunk.
Carroll asked James where his son John was. James replied that he wasn’t at home and turned to Carroll and demanded that he read the charge. At that moment Carroll shouted and the men surrounding the house charged in, swinging clubs. James was struck first and sank to the floor near the stove. Bridget ran from the kitchen through the darkened living room and up the stairs to the loft. Johnny O’Connor hid beneath his bed. Tom Donnelly ran through the front door where the men who had remained outside repeatedly stabbed him in the back with a pitchfork and clubbed him over the head. Then they dragged him back into the house and laid him down over the hatchway to the root cellar. Johannah was beaten in the kitchen. Even their small dog was clubbed and beheaded. A group of men went in search of Bridget who had hidden in the loft. They returned a few minutes later with her dead body.
Tom groaned and his scalp was laid open with a shovel.
For the finale, they splashed coal oil over the beds and on the floor, set the place on fire and fled up the Roman Line in search of William Donnelly who lived at Whalen’s Corners, a distance of nearly three miles. Johnny O’Connor waited no longer and fled through the back door. He remembered hearing Johannah groan but didn’t stop to help her. The house burned to the ground.
Robert Salts, author of You Are Never Alone, described what happened next. “Many of the men had done and seen enough and set off for home. The inner core of the group pushed on to Will’s house.
“Their plan was to go out into Will’s rented barn and beat up his stallion. When the horse made noises, the men figured that Will Donnelly would come out and they would club him to death. They beat and whipped the horse but no one came out.”
The vigilante group then surrounded Will’s house and Jim Ryder called out, “Fire, fire, open the door.”
Robert added, “In the house were four people. Martin Hogan, a friend of Will’s had stopped by. Martin was planning on threshing grain in the barn of Morkin, a neighbor, down the road the next day. As it was late Will told him to stay overnight, because he would wake everybody up in the Morkin household. John Donnelly was staying overnight to take the cutter and Will and his parents to that final court case in Granton. John and Martin shared the bed in the small room off Will’s bedroom.
Donnelly tombstone with birth and death dates, including those slain on February 4, 1880. Bridget Donnelly was just twenty-two years old.
“Norah Donnelly was expecting their second child in June and had retired early. When Will came to bed, he asked Norah to move over. She told Will he had to climb over her as she had her side of the bed warmed up. This probably helped save his life, for when the vigilantes pounded on the door, it was John who sprang out of bed. He went through Will’s room saying that someone was shouting that there was a fire. John lit a candle as someone called, ‘Is that you Will?’
“John responded, ‘Yes’ and opened the door.”
A nervous vigilante saw a figure at the door and opened fire; the shotgun blast blew more than thirty holes in John’s chest. Then a muzzle-loading rifle ball went through his lower abdomen. He was mortally wounded and died a short time later. The vigilantes, having shed enough blood for one night, left for their homes. It wasn’t until 4:00 p.m. the next day that the coroner arrived at James Donnelly’s home. After the ravages of the fire, only two small steps at the front of the cabin remained. It was then discovered that souvenir hunters had already helped themselves to artifacts and body parts. Bridget’s head was gone and so was the right arm. Johannah’s head had also disappeared. It was reported that when Robert Donnelly arrived the next day from St. Thomas, he kissed the burnt exposed liver of Tom and the blackened heart of his father.
A number of years
