Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (November 3, 1831–January 1, 1901) was a U.S. Congressman, pseudo-historian, populist writer and fringe scientist, known primarily today for his theories on the history of Atlantis and Shakespearean authorship, which modern historians consider to be pseudohistory.
Donnelly was the son of an Irish immigrant, Philip Carrol Donnelly who had settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On June 29, 1826 he married Catherine Gavin, a...
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Ignatius Loyola Donnelly (November 3, 1831–January 1, 1901) was a U.S. Congressman, pseudo-historian, populist writer and fringe scientist, known primarily today for his theories on the history of Atlantis and Shakespearean authorship, which modern historians consider to be pseudohistory.
Donnelly was the son of an Irish immigrant, Philip Carrol Donnelly who had settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On June 29, 1826 he married Catherine Gavin, a 2nd generation American of Irish extraction.
After starting as a peddler Philip studied medicine at the Philadelphia College of Medicine. He later contracted typhus from a patient and died at age 31, leaving his wife with five children.
Catherine Donnelly provided for her children by operating a pawn shop. Ignatius, her youngest son, was admitted to the prestigious Central High School , the second oldest public high school in the United States. There he studied under the presidency of John S. Hart excelling primarily in literature.
He then...
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