By Tom Deignan

The show revolves around an Irish American clan with criminal ties in Hell’s Kitchen. The cast is largely young and unknown, but the production team includes Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, heavyweights in the film and TV worlds.

The hype surrounding the show might obscure the fact that its title comes from a notorious episode in Irish immigrant history.

Numerous books have been written about these events, which took place a century earlier in Canada. The site of what’s been called the “Donnellys Massacre” remains popular with tourists.

So, who were the real Black Donnellys?

They were born in Co. Tipperary. James and Johannah Donnelly went to Ontario, Canada some time in the 1840s.

Like many immigrants from the era they had little money, and so the Donnellys began to live on a parcel of land that was not legally theirs.

More concerned with survival then with the law, the Donnellys erected a home and raised their children. By the 1850s there were nine members of the Donnelly family.

In 1855, however, the rightful owner of the Donnelly property sold it to a man named Michael Maher, who in turn rented it to a fellow named Patrick Farrell.

But by now the Donnellys had worked the land to the point where they felt it was rightfully theirs. So James refused to hand it over when Patrick Farrell came to claim it. A brief court settlement was struck, granting some of the land to Donnelly and some to Farrell.

But that peace held only until June 25, 1857.

At a social gathering, Donnelly crossed paths with Patrick Farrell. Of the several books written about these events, none are clear as to precisely how events spiraled out of control and became violent. It is also believed that tensions between Irish Catholics and Protestants in the area contributed to many such land conflicts.

What can’t be disputed is that when all was said and done, Patrick Farrell lay dead with a hole in his head. It is believed he was stabbed in the temple with some kind of spike.

So, James Donnelly went on the run from the law. For roughly a year he evaded the authorities (sometimes dressing in women’s clothes to do so).

But in the end, living in the Canadian wilderness was too trying, and James turned himself in. He was set to be hanged in the fall of 1858, but his wife managed to convince authorities that a jail term was sufficient punishment.

By 1865, James Donnelly was released from prison. His fellow Irish immigrants in the area never forgot –- or forgave –- James Donnelly’s crime.

Fifteen years later, in the midst of one of those infamous Ontario winters, James Donnelly, his wife, their sons, John and Tom, and even a niece named Bridget, were murdered. It would become known as the Donnelly Massacre.

It was around midnight on a February evening when the Donnellys were awoken by a knock at the door. A member of a local peace society informed James that there was another criminal matter he might be involved in. Discussions became heated, but that was nothing compared to what was about to happen.

As if a cue was given, over a dozen men are believed to have swarmed the Donnelly home. They showed no mercy, leaving five dead bodies behind, including Bridget, a twentysomething relative over for a visit from Ireland.

When the vigilantes went to another house to kill one more member of the Donnelly clan, they did not know that they left something behind at James and Johannah Donnelly’s house — a young boy who was asleep when the murders came, and witnessed most of the horror while hiding.

He was able to testify at a later trial and identify some of those who sought revenge on James Donnelly and his family, nearly 30 years after they began squatting on land that was not theirs.

Obviously, this is one of the darker episodes in the history of the Irish diaspora, with conflict among fellow immigrants rising until blood was spilled and then vengeance gained.

Who knows what the NBC TV version of The Black Donnellys will offer? The first episode will reportedly be about Jimmy helping his brother Kevin pay off a gambling debt with a truckload of stolen designer shirts.

It’s not likely, however, that this fiction will match the brutal facts of the lives –- and deaths -– of the black Donnellys.

(Contact at tomdeignan@ earthlink.net)