Ignatius Donnelly

On November 3, 1831, Ignatius Loyola Donnelly was born and died on January 1, 1901. He was an American Congressman, populist writer, and fringe scientist. He is mostly known for his crazy ideas about Atlantis, Catastrophism (especially the idea that an ancient impact event changed the lives of ancient societies), and who wrote Shakespeare. A lot of people think these works are examples of fake science and history. The words of people like Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, and James Churchward...See more

On November 3, 1831, Ignatius Loyola Donnelly was born and died on January 1, 1901. He was an American Congressman, populist writer, and fringe scientist. He is mostly known for his crazy ideas about Atlantis, Catastrophism (especially the idea that an ancient impact event changed the lives of ancient societies), and who wrote Shakespeare. A lot of people think these works are examples of fake science and history. The words of people like Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner, and James Churchward from the late 1800s and early 1900s are similar to Donnelly's. Donnelly was the son of Philip Carroll Donnelly, who moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from Fintona, County Tyrone, Ireland, and made it his home. The author Eleanor C. Donnelly was his sister. On June 29, 1826, Philip married Catherine Gavin. Catherine was the daughter of John Gavin, who had also come to America from Fintona, County Tyrone, Ireland. Philip first worked as a salesman and then went to the Philadelphia College of Medicine to become a doctor. Catherine took care of her kids by running a pawn shop. Ignatius, her younger son, got into Central High School, which is the second oldest public high school in the United States and is known for being very good. He studied there under the leadership of John S. Hart and did especially well in literature. See less