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61-936: The Irish were founded in 1968 as the Lucan Irish Six, named after the Black Donnellys . In 1982, the Irish won the Western Ontario Junior D Hockey League's championship. They went on to defeat the Langton Thunderbirds of the Southern Counties Junior D Hockey League 4-games-to-1 to win the OHA Cup as provincial champions. In 1987, the Irish again won the Western Junior D's playoff title. They defeated

122-727: A barn raising bee on Saturday, June 27, 1857, James Donnelly and Farrell fought. There are various accounts of what transpired, but in the end Farrell suffered a blow to the head from a handspike thrown by Donnelly, and died two days later. James Donnelly then went into hiding. Almost two years later, James turned himself in to Jim Hodgins, a sympathetic Justice of the Peace . James was sentenced to be hanged on September 17, 1859. A petition for clemency started by his wife Johannah caused his sentence to be reduced to seven years in Kingston Penitentiary . The Donnelly Stagecoach Line

183-718: A 4-game-sweep. The conference semi-final had the same result against the North Middlesex Stars . The conference final was against their rivals, the Thamesford Trojans , whom they defeated in five games to enter into the league finals for the first time in seven seasons. In the final, they met the Delhi Travellers . A tight series, the Irish were not to be denied as the defeated the Travellers 4-games-to-2 to win their fourth OHA Cup. After

244-540: A charter for the company on 19 August 1826. On that date, the formal structure of the Canada Company was put into place by the company's Court of Directors. John Galt, as secretary, had the first order of business. Tabling an abstract of the charter, Galt declared the name to be "The Canada Company" with directors and secretary as served on the Provisional Committee and listed in the charter. At

305-648: A husky Irishman, who was determined to drive the Donnellys out of business. This set the stage for the feud between the Donnelly Stagecoach and the Flanagan & Crawly Stage — the Stagecoach Feud, as it came to be known. Stages were either smashed or burned, horses were savagely beaten or killed, and stables burned to the ground. The violence that erupted as a result of the Stagecoach Feud

366-542: A lot of witnesses but can't find anything against us. Ryder swore that we lived neighbours to each other for thirty years and never had any differences, and had no reason for arresting us only we are blamed for everything... The presiding Magistrates are old Grant and newly made one, Casey. They are using us work that mad dogs. Mr. McDermid is attending on our behalf... they has the first trial in Lucan, and tomorrow again, and I am informed they are going to send us for trial without

427-501: A police officer, as well as various altercations with many residents of the Biddulph Township. The Donnellys were not found guilty of everything of which they were accused but through their actions they made many enemies within the township. This seems to indicate that the Donnellys were a constant source of strife and destruction in their community, but these types of crimes were common for the county in which they lived. It

488-527: A pub fight; Robert Donnelly (1853–1911); Thomas Donnelly (August 30, 1854–February 4, 1880); and Jennie "Jane" Donnelly (1857–1917). James's niece, Bridget Donnelly (May 1, 1858–February 4, 1880) also lived with them. The property the Donnellys settled on originally belonged to the Canada Company which sold it to James Grace. Patrick Farrell had leased part of the lot occupied by the Donnellys. In 1856, owner John Grace brought an action for ejectment in

549-466: A tittle of evidence. If so I will telegraph you when we start for London to meet us at the City Hotel, and get us bailed to take our trail before the judge, and I want you to handle the case in our behalf. There is not the slightest case for our arrest, it seems hard to see a man and women over sixty years of age dragged around as laughing stock. Yours truly, James Donnelly, SEN 2 Once the letter

610-418: A window in order to get a glimpse of the individuals who were attacking the house. John Kennedy and Carroll were only a few feet away from the bed where he was hiding with his wife. He could also place the faces of Big Mike Heenan, William Carroll and Patrick Ryder but the other faces were obscured by the darkness. Since Norah could not pull John to safety, Hogan got down on his knees and snuck out to where John

671-487: Is believed to have been one of the spies. Jim Feeheley would visit the Donnelly house earlier in the night as a distraction and to get an understanding on the type of situation they would be encountering that night. There were some more problems associated with these plans such as the fact that the society had not planned on Donnelly leaving the Donnelly home and taking his horse to Big Jim Keefe. The society thought Keefe

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732-454: Is believed to have been started May 24, 1873, by William Donnelly, and was a huge success. The line of stages , which ran between London , Lucan , and Exeter , was operated by William and his brothers Michael, John, and Thomas, even rivaling the official mail stage that had been in business since 1838. The Hawkshaw stage line soon felt the pressure of competition from the Donnellys. In October 1873, Hawkshaw sold his stage to Patrick Flanagan,

793-515: The British parliament , which was given royal assent on June 27, 1825. It was originally formed to acquire and develop Upper Canada's undeveloped clergy reserves and Crown reserves , which the company bought in 1827 for £341,000 ($ 693,000) from the Province of Upper Canada . Founded by John Galt , who became its first Superintendent, the company was successful in populating an area called

854-482: The Court of Common Pleas of Huron County. Squatting was a common North American frontier practice often supported by the courts in the establishment of common law property rights . The judge, recognizing the improvements Donnelly had made to the land during his ten-year occupancy, split the lot, awarding Donnelly the north 50 acres (20 ha) and Farrell the south. Despite the settlement, hard feelings remained. At

915-755: The Huron Tract – an achievement later called "the most important single attempt at settlement in Canadian history". The company is unrelated to the modern-day Canadian charity of the same name (Canada Company: Many Ways to Serve), founded in 2006 by Blake Goldring , which assists former Canadian military members and their spouses in regaining civilian employment after service in the Canadian Armed Forces . The Canada Company assisted emigrants by providing good ships, low fares, implements and tools, and inexpensive land. Scottish novelist John Galt

976-636: The Tavistock Braves of the Southern Counties Junior D league 4-games-to-3 to win the OHA Cup for the second time as provincial champions. In 1988, all remaining Junior D leagues were consolidated into the Western Junior league. In 1991, the league dropped the Junior D label and became the OHA Junior Development League. Starting in 1988, the Irish set out to prove they were the "cream of the crop" in this new league. After

1037-484: The 1988-89 season, the Irish made it all the way to the league finals, but were thwarted by the Lambeth Lancers . In 1990, 1991, and 1992, the same scenario repeated over and over again. The Irish would finish highly ranked in their league, would make it all the way to the finals and three years in a row they would meet the Thamesford Trojans who beat them each time. In 1999, after finishing second overall in

1098-658: The 2006-07 season, the OHAJDL was disbanded and the Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League was formed. In the 2006-07 season , they finished seventh overall in the league. In the league's conference quarter-finals, the Irish met their match in the Thamesford Trojans who defeated them 4-games-to-1. Black Donnellys The "Black" Donnellys were an Irish Catholic immigrant family who settled in Biddulph township , Upper Canada (later

1159-706: The Biddulph Peace Society and many other local residents in the process, but less so than the Donnelly family's past and present use of both violence and intimidation. In August 1879, a militant splinter group of the Peace Society began covert meetings at the Cedar Swamp Schoolhouse in Biddulph. Constable James Carroll was part of the splinter group, as were many other local Irish-Canadians with long lists of grievances against

1220-759: The Catholic parish in London, Ontario . This was because the Donnelly family had many Protestant friends who later attended their funeral. When the Tithe War was still a recent memory among many local residents and the Land War was taking place against Protestant Anglo-Irish landlords in Ireland, James Donnelly donated money towards the establishment of a local Anglican Church in Canada parish. This further outraged

1281-523: The Donnelly family. This group became known as the Vigilance Committee / Society, which was later blamed for the massacre of the Donnelly family. Members of the Vigilance Committee allegedly gathered at the Cedar Swamp Schoolhouse late in the evening of February 3, 1880, before proceeding to the Donnelly homestead. William Donnelly survived and was listed as the informant on the death certificates for all five, dated April 1 and 2, 1880, with

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1342-402: The Donnellys refused to sign the pledge. The Vigilance Committee formed out of the Peace Society. Evidence indicates that The Biddulph Peace Society or some of its individual members may have been responsible for some of the arson , property damage , and physical violence cases in Biddulph. The Peace Society used vigilantism , however, as means to enforce the traditional code of silence and

1403-757: The Lucan and Area Heritage Society formed to document and preserve local history, and the organization opened the Lucan Area Heritage & Donnelly Museum in 2009. James (March 7, 1816–February 4, 1880) and Johannah (née Magee) Donnelly (September 22, 1823–February 4, 1880) immigrated to Canada from Moneygall , County Tipperary , Ireland, with their first child, James Jr. (1842–1877), in 1842. After arriving in Canada, they settled as squatters in Biddulph Township in southwestern Ontario. They had seven more children: William Donnelly (1845–1897); John Donnelly (September 16, 1847–February 4, 1880); Patrick Donnelly (1849–1914); Michael Donnelly (1850-1879), killed in

1464-405: The attacks and ran towards the front door, as he was running, Tom Ryder was waiting for him with a pitchfork and thrust the sharp points into Tom multiple times. Once Tom was limp on the ground, James Maher, Timothy Toohey and Patrick Quigley carried his body back into the house and placed it in the kitchen with his parents while Carroll removed his handcuffs from his wrist. "Hit this fellow on

1525-436: The bodies still inside and went hunting for John. Originally the massacre was not intended to have any witnesses, however the Peace Society did not intend for Johnny O’Connor to be at the Donnelly's farmhouse and for him to escape the fire. Johnny O’Connor was a young farm boy that had gone to the Donnelly's house to assist them with farm work; it was not until later in the night that Mr. Donnelly had encouraged Johnny to spend

1586-435: The cause of death listed as "supposed to be murdered." There were many feuds associated with the reason behind the death of the Donnellys, however, what is considered to be the "final straw" was the belief that the Donnellys committed arson against Patrick Ryder's barn. After the fire, some members of the community had had "enough" of the Donnellys and decided to take the law into their own hands once they heard that there

1647-464: The commotion. Carroll slowly moved from Tom's bedroom into Mr. Donnelly's bedroom, where he noticed that John Donnelly was nowhere to be found; their plan was to kill all the Donnellys in a single location. The commotion woke up Mr. Donnelly and he noticed that his son was handcuffed and proclaimed "what have you got against us now?" Carroll responded that they were being charged with another crime. At that moment in time, Tom requested that Carroll read

1708-642: The company, and its close alliance with the Tory elites, known as the Family Compact , were important contributing factors to the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837. In 1833, his colleague William "Tiger" Dunlop took over as Superintendent of the Company and continued Galt's work for a short time before resigning. Appointed Secretary of the Canada Company in 1824 John Galt helped to obtain

1769-412: The difference was that the men were not as relaxed as they were at the beginning of their rampage so they decided to try to get Will Donnelly to come out of the house, instead of storming it. They attempted to do this by beating his prized stallion in order to lure him out of the house in response to the dying screams of his horse. The problem was that the stables were so far from the home and no one inside

1830-410: The family returned to their bed, and fell asleep. Once the decision to attack the Donnellys was made, the Peace Society got together at roughly one o’clock in the morning to drink before they mounted the attack on this family; this is referred to as the "water of life." The men used the liquor as a way to numb their senses as well as use it as a way to enhance their courage and their motivation. Once

1891-412: The family's homestead by a vigilante mob on 4 February 1880, leaving five of the family dead and their farm burned to the ground. No one was convicted of the murders, despite two trials and a reliable eyewitness. Information about the family and the events surrounding their deaths was suppressed locally for much of the 20th century, due to many residents possibly having ancestors who were involved. In 1995

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1952-486: The first attack of the massacre; creating an element of surprise. Carroll walked into the room and slowly took the handcuffs out of his pocket (these were given to him by the Constable Hodgins) and handcuffed Tom Donnelly while he was still asleep. Once Tom Donnelly was handcuffed, Carroll proclaimed that "he was under arrest," just as Tom sat up in bed along with Ms. Donnelly and Bridget Donnelly due to all

2013-479: The first meeting of the board, it was declared that four directors would rotate off the Company beginning in 1829. Alexander Macdonell was a Roman Catholic Scotsman who accepted the government promise of 200 acres (0.81 km ) in Upper Canada to every soldier who emigrated. He had been the chaplain of a Catholic Scottish Glengarry regiment. Macdonell was a conservative legislative councillor from 1831 leading

2074-534: The granting of those rights to landholders at a set price. In 1928, a plaque was erected in Huron county, Pioneers of the Huron Tract 1828-1928 , commemorating the work of the men who developed the Huron Tract and the families who lived there, starting in 1828. By 1938, the Canada Company held just over 20,000 acres (81 km ) of unsold land, while the company shares were valued at 10 shillings. It had become

2135-409: The ground; McLaughlin and Ryder walked up to the body and placed seven more shots into his body as a form of punishment for his action against the community. Norah Donnelly (Will Donnelly's wife) heard the commotion and rushed out and when she saw John's body on the ground, she tried to pull him to safety but he was too heavy for her to move. Will Donnelly hid in the bedroom and was able to peer through

2196-440: The head with that shovel and break his head open!" It was said that either Jim Toohey or Patrick Quigley bashed Tom's head in three or four times. Once Mr. Donnelly, Ms. Donnelly and Tom Donnelly were all lying on the ground, the men realized that Bridget Donnelly was nowhere to be found. A group of men went upstairs and found Bridget hiding and they began to beat her to the point where they were able to bring her limp body down

2257-576: The league standings the Irish fought all the way back to the league final. The Irish defeated the Wellesley Applejacks 4-games-to-3 to win their third ever OHA Cup. In 2006, the Irish twelfth overall in the OHAJDL standings. As low seed in the standings, the Irish were figured to lose out in the early rounds of the league playoffs. They entered the conference quarter-final against the Exeter Hawks and walked right through them with

2318-670: The mainly Irish settlers against the Reform movement and Mackenzie. An executive councillor in 1817 and legislative councillor in 1820 in the government of Upper Canada, Bishop Strachan sought special status for the Anglican church. The company retained the mineral rights of the land it sold. In 1919, it quitclaimed and transferred those rights to the Crown. In 1922 and 1923, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario authorized

2379-570: The massacre, which would have continued to Big Jim Keefe's house. There were two trials in London, Ontario, at the courthouse on Ridout Street. Canada Company The Canada Company was a private British land development company that was established to aid in the colonization of a large part of Upper Canada . It was incorporated by royal charter on August 19, 1826, under the Canada Company Act 1825 ( 6 Geo. 4 . c. 75) of

2440-401: The men had had enough alcohol in their systems, they began to walk in the direction of the Donnellys' home; there were also many witnesses that stated they could hear the group of men coming down Roman Line that night. When the group of men finally arrived at the house, they surrounded the perimeter of the property and James Carroll took the first step inside the house, which was considered to be

2501-480: The men were not expecting him to be there that night, they did not know to look for him as a witness. The first one to fall to the ground was Mr. Donnelly; he was beaten rapidly and James Maher hit his skull repeatedly causing brain damage; Mrs. Donnelly on the other hand fought hard against her attackers. However, she was eventually beaten to the ground by Carroll while Tom Donnelly was fighting extremely hard to protect his family as well as himself; he broke free from

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2562-429: The night and assist them with the livestock in the morning. The O’Connors were considered to be good friends of the Donnellys and assisted them regularly with chores around their farm; the mob did not take this into consideration when planning their attack. At roughly two in the morning, the Peace Society arrived at Whalen Corners; they surrounded the house, in a similar way as they did to the Donnellys' house. However,

2623-496: The other unwritten social rules of Irish culture , which the Donnelly family were never shy about violating. For example, at a time when the religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland was still in living memory, Fr. John Connolly was reported to be preaching anti-Protestantism from the pulpit when James Donnelly stood up, denounced the priest for his sermon, and said his family would from that time on attend

2684-413: The plan was to be changed when they arrived on the Donnelly property. In the beginning, their original intent was to only "hurt" the Donnellys and to "bring them as near the dissolution point as possible." The Peace Society accordingly set up surveillance of the Donnelly property in preparation, to determine who was in the home at what times, and how they would enter the property in the dark. Jim Feeheley

2745-557: The province of Ontario ), about 25 km northwest of London , in the 1840s. The family settled on a concession road which became known as the Roman Line due to its high concentration of Irish Catholic immigrants in the predominantly Protestant area. Many Irish Canadians arrived in the 19th century, many fleeing the Great Famine of Ireland (1845-52). The Donnellys' ongoing feuds with local residents culminated in an attack on

2806-404: The stairs to where the rest of her family was located. To increase the amount of blood that was shed in a single household, one of the men bashed in the dog's head with a shovel because it would not stop barking. After the group realized that they were missing John Donnelly, they decided to create another plan for that night to rid their community of the Donnellys; they lit the house on fire with

2867-572: The time at which they passed by his home. They had picked up Johnny O'Connor from town, because James Donnelly needed assistance on the farm; this was a normal occurrence. When the chores were completed it was Mr. Donnelly that insisted that Johnny O'Connor stay the night and to sleep in Mr. Donnelly's bed as a form of protection as well as the bed was extremely big. As the Donnellys were getting ready for bed, Feeheley stopped by to say "hello" before returning home from Whalen's. Feeheley did not stay long; he

2928-400: The warrant; since there was no warrant involved, Carroll let out a signal for the men to come storming into the house with their clubs. At this point, the men were beginning to beat Mr. Donnelly, Ms. Donnelly and Tom Donnelly; Bridget Donnelly was able to escape and race up the stairs in order to hide from her attackers. Johnny was so terrified that he hid underneath Mr. Donnelly's bed; since

2989-417: Was able to hear what was going on outside. Jim Ryder called for "Will!" while carrying a shotgun to the side door of the house. Will Donnelly was woken up by the calling out of his name. However, when John opened the door to Will's house, he was greeted by a hail of gun shots to the chest and groin; thirty holes were made in his chest that pierced his lung, broke his collarbone and several ribs. John dropped to

3050-413: Was delivered, the day carried on as it normally would; at roughly 4 o'clock Johnny, James and Jim returned to their house on Roman Line. This timeframe was given by William Casey because he stated that he remembered the sound of the Donnellys speeding down Roman Line and that they were being "reckless." Casey stopped what he was doing in the front yard to bear witness to this recklessness and took note of

3111-424: Was generated by the Peace Society was to visit the Donnellys' family home on the night of February 3. The original plan was to handcuff the Donnelly men, escort them from the homestead, where they would be hanged from a tree until they confessed their many violent crimes against their neighbors. However, one of the problems with their plan was that no one really knew how this could be properly executed. Therefore,

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3172-510: Was going to be handling the Donnelly's case against Patrick Ryder. He wrote; Mr. Meredeth, SIR- On the fifteenth of last month Pat Ryder's barn were burned. All the vigilance committee at one pointed to my family as the once that did it. Ryder found out that all my boys were at a wedding that night. He at once arrested me on suspicion, an also sent a constable after my wife to St. Thomas. The trial has been postponed four different times, although we are ready for our trial at any time. They examined

3233-473: Was just there to observe the property for the Peace Society; however he did not notice that the John Donnelly voice he thought he heard coming from Mr. Donnelly's bedroom was actually Johnny O'Connor's voice. In fact, John Donnelly had gone to Big Jim Keefe to pick up the vehicle in order to travel to their trial in London, Ontario, in the morning; he stayed there over night. Once the goodbyes were said,

3294-423: Was laid out on the shores of Lake Huron to be the centre of the settlement of the Huron Tract. The company then assisted in the migration of new settlers, bringing them to the area by means of a steamboat, which the company also owned, on Lake Ontario . John Galt was dismissed and recalled to Great Britain in 1829, for mismanagement, particularly incompetent bookkeeping. General mismanagement and corruption within

3355-509: Was located and pulled him into the bedroom, which left a bloody trail behind him (John Donnelly died five minutes after). The men of the Peace Society were so worn out from their previous attacks that they decided to just survey the perimeter until someone showed their face inside; the members of the household hid in the house for almost three hours before the group decided to leave the property. "There's been enough bloodshed tonight boys. Let's go home." These words spoken by Jim Feeheley ended

3416-524: Was mostly blamed on the Donnellys and gave the family a bad reputation. From that time on, almost every crime committed was blamed on the family, but although they were charged with numerous crimes, "few convictions were secured against them". In the buildup towards the murder of the family, the Donnellys became well acquainted with local law enforcement. There are various accounts of assault, arson , trespassing , verbal assault , attempted murder, murder of Patrick Farrell, theft , robbery , assaulting

3477-403: Was no supporting evidence linking the Donnellys to the burning of the barn. This news reached the congregation of St. Patrick's Church and the priest addressed that an "evil had fallen among the community" and offered a reward of C$ 500 for the "detection of the wicked persons" and he vowed that the "guilty party" would be punished for the crime of arson. There were many considerations as to what

3538-452: Was not just the men of the family who would get into altercations with the law as Johannah was noted to swear at officers quite often, specifically Constable Carroll. In June 1879, Father John Connolly created a Peace Society/Association in Biddulph. He asked everyone who attended St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church to pledge their support. Both members and supporters of the society agreed to have their homes searched for stolen property, but

3599-414: Was spying for them; and finally, they also did not expect hired farmhand Johnny O’Connor to be inside the house during the night chosen for the attack. It can be said that the day of February 3, began like any other day in the Donnelly household. In the morning, James Donnelly sat down at the kitchen table with his son, Tom, and asked him to write a letter to Alderman Edmund Meredith, the London lawyer who

3660-636: Was the company's first Canadian superintendent. He first settled in York ( Toronto, Ontario ) but selected Guelph as the company's headquarters, and his home. The area was previously part of the Halton Block, 42,000 acres of former Crown land. Galt would later be considered as the founder of Guelph. The company surveyed and subdivided the massive Huron Tract, built roads, mills, and schools and advertised lots for sale to buyers in Europe. The town of Goderich

3721-860: Was the right form of punishments; some residents believed arranging for the Donnellys to face fines and jail time would be acceptable. However, others believed that summary execution would be a better form of punishment. "Big" Jack Kennedy, William Feeheley, Pat Dewan, Heenans (Dennis, Anthony and Michael), John Lanphier, James Harrigan, Ryders (Mr. Ryder, Jim, Patrick Jr., "Sideroad" Jim, Thomas and Daniel), McLaughlins (Martin and John), Ted Toohey, John Cain, James Maher, Quigleys (John and Patrick), Patrick Breen, James McGrath, John Purtell, Michael Blake, Ryans (John, Ned and Johnny), William Thompson, John Dorsey, John Bruin, Michael Madigan, James Kenny, and James Carroll. Firearms, pitchfork (Tom Ryder), axe (Purtell), shovel (Pat Quigley and Tim Toohey), clubs and shortened wooden stake made of cordwood. The original plan that

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