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Killings defy pat answers BY PATRICK MALONEY Free Press reporter Why were the Donnellys executed with such savage brutality by their neighbours? There are almost as many theories as there were memâ€" bers of the expansive Irishâ€" Catholic Donnelly clan. Among the explanations: > The Donnellys were scapeâ€" goated as troublemakers who upset their neighbours. »They were successful, making their fellow Irish immigrants jealous. » They terrorized the area. The late Orlo Miller, in his 1962 book The Donnellys Must Die, delved deeper into the Fiery feud‘s cultural aspects. The London historian wrote the real reason the Donnelly clan stoked so much anger was that they consorted with area Protestants and followed soâ€" called British laws and tradiâ€" tions, rather than sticking to their Irish Catholic roots. "This is the real genesis of the events that turned a Canaâ€" dian township into a seething cauldron of hatred and claimed a score of lives," he wrote. Area turmoil "turned a Canadian township into a seething cauldron of hatred and claimed a score of lives." Orlo Miller, historian => On the stark black tombâ€" :. stone that once marked .=~the Donnelly grave, <~ the word "murdered" & > was engraved along with ~~ each victim‘s name. THE SURVIVOR ANNIVERSARY EVENTS Commemorative events planned for the 125th anniversary of the Donnelly massacre: Johnny O‘Connor, 11 A bootlegger‘s son, staying with the Donnellys the night of the massacre, he survived by hiding under a bed. On stage > A new play by Londoner Chris Doty, The Donnelly Trial, focusing on the botched trials of the accused, debuts in its first public reading Thursday, Feb. 3, at 7 p.m., at London‘s Central Library‘s Wolf Performance Hall. > Admission is $15. > The play will be performed June 30 to July 11 at the historic Middlesex County courthouse in London, where the two trials were held in the year after the killings. > "I‘m not making up the dialogue here. Everything‘s based in fact," Doty. said. "This really is as close as you can get to the Donnellys." In Lucan On TV > A new documentary on the Donâ€" nellys airs on History Television this fall, a spokesperson for the channel said. A film crew for the project was in the Lucan area late last year. » A Lucan bus tour on Thursday retraces the vigilante mob‘s route the night of the killings. » It departs Lucan Community Centre every halfâ€"hour, starting at 8 p.m. «> Admission is $10 a person or $25 for up to five family members. > Proceeds go to the Donnelly Museum‘s fundraising efforts. momimummsmmmuen