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A History of The John Boyle O'Reilly Club as told by Michael Donnellan

Mr. Michael Donnellan, from Killshany, County Clare, came to the United States in He joined the John Boyle O'Reilly Club in which had been organized in Membership requirements were very strict.

Character references and the background of prospective members were privately investigated both in the United States and in Ireland.

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Anyone having trouble with the law would be denied acceptance into the organization. Bi-monthly meetings took place and members were admitted with a password, which was changed periodically.

The first meetings which Mr. Donnellan attended were held over Jim Linehan's Saloon on Worthington Street in Springfield, MA.

The meeting room had the appearance of a literary club and not an Irish organization which at that time was sending aid to Ireland. Conventions would be held every few years for all Irish organizations meeting in such areas as Atlantic City, NJ and Revere,