Blood of the Donnellys. David McRae

and his gang of White Boys!” Granddad snorted. “Punks, all of them! Strutting around town with white floppy laces in their black boots!”

      “George!” Grandma scolded.

      “White Boys?” I said questioningly, but Granddad didn’t bother to elaborate.

      Grandma sighed. “You’ve started, George, so you might as well finish.”

      “Well?” Jennifer prodded. She, too, wanted to know more and waited for Granddad to speak.

      “The White Boys,” Granddad began, “was the name of a Catholic secret society that had its origins in Ireland a few centuries ago. The members strongly supported the teachings of the priests and the doctrines of the church. Anyone not fully following the dictates of the pope and the Catholic Church was excluded. Those people became known as Blackfeet and often suffered persecution from the White Boys.”

      “Blackfeet?” I mused.

      “That’s how you get the name Black Donnellys, Black O’Reillys, or Black O’Tooles,” Granddad said. “Any family not fully supporting the Catholic Church or who fraternized with the Protestants had the name Black attached to them.”

      “So the Donnellys weren’t evil?” I asked.

      “No,” Granddad said, “I wouldn’t say that. When it came to drinking and fighting, they could beat the best of them. But I also think they weren’t popular because they had friends and did business with everyone in the community, particularly the Protestant Irish.”

      Grandma coughed. We knew she wanted Granddad to stop, otherwise he’d go on for hours.