The "Donelan" spelling is a common, and relatively correct, variant of "Donnellan".

There was a Thomas Donelan in Burr Oak Township of Winneshiek County, Iowa who was about 8 years older than Michael Patrick Donlin. Thomas was born in County Clare on 17 March 1829, and Married Mary Ann Begly (also born in County Clare, ca. 1835) in 1856. He died in Burr Oak Township and was buried in St. Agnes Cemetery at Plymouth Rock in Winneshiek County.

A John Nicholas Gossman, who died in Decorah, Winneshiek County, IA in 1941, married a Katherine Mary Kate Donelan^[73].

Burr Oak is 98 miles from Lancaster, WI.

The 1860 census for Chicopee, Hampden County, MA includes a Thomas and Ellen Begley.

It occurred once in the 1860 census in Boston, but not in Hampden County. However, the "Donolan" spelling was used once by Michael Patrick^[74] and once by a James Donolan who married in Springfieeld^[75].

The "Donelan" spelling was also used by a Thomas Donelan in Erin, Rice County, MN in 1900. He was born in Wisconsin in April 1861, and his wife

Mary was also born in Wisconsin. Their children were born in Minnesota beginning in February 1895^[76].

The "Donelan" spelling was also used in several other Iowa locations, notably Dubuque. In 1860, a James B. Donelan and Bridget Donelan were living in different households. There was a J. B. Donelan (presumably James B. Donelan) in Dubuque in 1870. A James Donnellan from Dubuque married in Grant County, WI on March 3, 1886. The parents of this James Donnellan were James and Eliza Donnellan, presumably of Dubuque, though this James was born in Pittsburgh, PA.

A Michael Donelan is buried in Alton Twp., Waseca County, MN. He was born on 8 September 1818 and died on 13 May 1889^[77].