The Donnellys were Irish-Catholics, who had arrived in Sheffield by the late nineteenth century.  This branch of the family settled in the area around Scotland Street and Lambert Street, which was near the town centre.  It was one of the poorest districts in the town, where a high proportion of the residents were Irish, and where the cramped courtyards were filled with myriad trades.  Patrick Donnelly (c.1838-1877) was a fork grinder.  His death at the age of 39 left his widow, Emma (c.1833-1914?), to raise their family.  She worked as a fork burnisher.  In directories, the Donnellys appeared in 1905, when Donnelly Bros was listed as a fork grinder at Soho Wheel, Plum Street.  The brothers were not identified, but are likely to have been Emma’s sons.  By 1911, Donnelly Bros had disappeared and its place taken at Soho Wheel by Joseph Donnelly, fork grinder.  This was probably Joseph (1874-1943?), the son of Patrick and Emma, who had married Elizabeth Brady in 1899.  In the Census (1911), Joseph was a fork grinder and Elizabeth was a silver buffer at Mappin & Webb.  They had two sons, John (1901-1973) and Joseph (1907-1965), who followed the family trade of fork grinding.

The Donnellys then slip out of the picture (at least, as regards appearances in directories) until the late 1930s, when J. Donnelly, fork manufacturer, was listed at Sylvester Street.  In the Register of England & Wales (1939), Joseph Sen. was living at White’s Lane, Park.  He was a retired fork grinder.  His entry in the Register has annotations, which are not easy to decipher, but suggest that the family name was actually Mulcrone.  Joseph Sen. continued to use Donnelly for his surname and for the name of the firm, but Joseph’s sons – Joseph Jun. and John – used the name Mulcrone.   In 1939, John Mulcrone was living at Prince of Wales Road and working as a ‘cutters grinder’ (probably cutlery grinder).  

During the Second World War, the firm’s address was Arundel Lane.  John Mulcrone (Donnelly) took over J. Donnelly & Co after the War, when it remained at Arundel Lane and was listed as a carving fork manufacturer.   In 1956, John Mulcrone occupied Western Works, Portobello Street (the old factory of Christopher Johnson.  The facilities on three floors gave Mulcrone the chance to expand his production of all kinds of stainless steel forks (particularly carvers), besides a selection of round-tang cutlery.  One employee recalled a 60-hour week and a boss who was ‘a powerfully set man, working like his life depended on it, so that anyone visiting the firm would have thought he was just an employee.  He worked bang up to time and restarted bang on time … [but] … he looked after his employees – in fact, we were his extended family’ (Vin Malone communication to author).  John Mulcrone died at Weston Park Hospital in 1973 and was buried at City Road Cemetery (in Roman Catholic ground) on 11 December.  J. Donnelly & Co was incorporated in 1974.  Mulcrone’s sons – David, John, Raymond, and Danny – apparently worked in the firm at various times.  John launched MAB Products Ltd at Western Works for the manufacture of scissors and shears.  Donnelly’s, which employed about thirty workers, closed in 1981.  The firm was sold to Egginton.