Thanks for that link, Wildlone. An excellent website.

So Kelly did write an account of his life, on which Carey clearly based the prose style of the novel. But there was no Mary Hearn, and no child.

It's remarkable that Ned's mother, Ellen Kelly, survived into her nineties given the tough life she had. She outlived seven of her twelve children, and some of her grandchildren as well.

The reactions to the book in Australia seem to have been similar to those in Ireland about the Michael Collins film. Professional historians and keepers of the flame disliked the playing fast and loose with the facts while most others saw it as capturing the essence of the character and the story.