Waking the Tree

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    • The Souls of St. Olcan’s

    My great-grandfather and his siblings are buried together under one stone with their parents at St. Olcan’s Cemetery in Armoy, Antrim, Northern Ireland. When I visited my grandfather’s birthplace, I took the opportunity to document all the gravestones in his churchyard – 797 souls – and 39 of them were born before 1830, the earliest in 1771.
    The Souls of St Olcan’s @ Find a Grave

    The Public Record Office fire of 1922 destroyed parish records for many Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist and Quaker parishes. Catholic records were never stored in the PRO but due to Penal Laws, they didn’t start keeping parish records until 1820-1830. Civil birth, marriage and death records also survive but coverage begins in 1864 – quite late. All of that taken together makes it hard to push a family tree back into the 18th century in Ireland and that’s where graveyards can be quite helpful.

    My great-grandfather and his siblings are buried together under one stone with their parents at St. Olcan’s Cemetery in Armoy, Antrim, Northern Ireland. When I visited my grandfather’s birthplace, I took the opportunity to document all the gravestones in his churchyard – 797 souls – and 39 of them were born before 1830, the earliest in 1771.

    I was on the hunt for people with my surname and, indeed, there were 2 headstones commemorating 6 people with my name – but I’d never heard of them and didn’t know how we were connected. In the first grave, were 4 men – John, Archie, Robert & Anthony Mullan. In the second, a man and a woman named Mary & Daniel Mullan.

    I began by researching Mary. She worked as a housemaid in Bonamargy, near Ballycastle. She died at the age of 60 and never married. Her married sister, Jane, was present at her death and from Jane’s marriage record, I got the name of their father – Robert O’Mullan. That’s my father’s name too, but my father was a carpenter, not a herdsman. Their mother was Isabella McAlister, and Isabella is also a family name. My 2nd great grandmother Isabella is buried only yards away from Mary.

    From there, I was able to daisy chain, record by record, until I found all 9 of Mary’s siblings – and it was a hard life. One died of whooping cough, one of paralysis, one was crushed by a gate, and some emigrated to Scotland. It turns out, 5 of the 6 people buried in these 2 graves were siblings – none of them married. But what of the 6th man?

    It turns out Mary Mullan gave birth to Anthony Mullan over 100 years ago in the Ballycastle workhouse. She was in her late 20s and the father is unnamed. Given the time, the place and the fact that she worked as a housemaid, I think there is no chance she would have been allowed to raise her son. Given that he was buried with his uncles, and not his mother, it seems more likely that they did. When I recorded their graves online, I linked them as mother and son, and I cried for them a little when I did.

    I still can’t tell you how we’re connected, but I somehow feel that we are.

    PARENTS

    • Robert O/Mullan. b. abt. 1845. Herdsman. Armoy
    • Isabella McAlister. b. abt. 1851. Armoy.
    • m. abt 1870

    CHILDREN

    • James. Baptized 28 Jun 1871 Armoy (a twin). Unmarried. Died 26th June 1915, Cromaghs, Armoy. Accidental asphyxiation, crushed by a gate.
    • Robert. Baptized 28 Jun 1871 Armoy (a twin). Unmarried. Died 17th Dec 1903. He had paralysis for 3 years, died aged 31. Brother Hugh present at death.
    • William Henry. Baptized 8 Jul 1873 Cloughmills. Died of whooping cough. 3 months old. His mother, Isabella, present at his death.
    • Rose. Born 23 Jul 1874, Antrim. Married David Morgan of Castle Street, Ballycastle on 20 May 1896 in Ballycastle. Moved to Old Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
    • Daniel. Baptized 26 May 1877 Dunloy + Cloughmills. Unmarried. Died ?? August 195?
    • John. Baptized 22 May 1879 Armoy. Unmarried. Died 16th Nov 1943 acc:tombstone, died 15th November 1943 according to civil record, aged 64.
    • Hugh. Baptized 09 Apr 1881 Armoy. In 1901 census with parents…Lose track after that…
    • Archie. Born 28th April 1886. Unmarried. Died 20th Dec 1961, aged 75.
    • Jane. Born abt 1889. Married to James Cassley 09-Nov-1911 (Ballycastle). Died & buried 1969 in Glasgow, Scotland.
    • Mary. Born abt. 1883. Unmarried. Housekeeper in Bonamargy outside of Ballycastle. Died there 15th July 1943, aged 60. Her sister Jane present at her death.
    • Anthony. Born 9th April 1911. This was Mary Mullan’s child. She was a domestic servant and gave birth to Anthony in the Ballycastle workhouse. Father is unnamed. Anthony died 12th Sept 1982, aged 71 years and is buried with 3 of his uncles. Unmarried.