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Pat O’Mullan’s Cottage
In the 1980s, my parents were directed by locals to the O’Mullan homestead. They didn’t realize it at the time but they photographed a cottage that was occupied by my great-grandfather’s siblings – Pat, Elizabeth and Mary Anne. My direct ancestors never lived there.
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A Farm at ‘Lake’ Hamilton
The O’Mullan family, including my 3rd great-grandfather William O’Mullan, leased a fair bit of acreage in Mount Hamilton – but it looks as though they had to drain a lake to get it. They rented portions of what was a lake in 1832, drained it, and brought it entirely under plough by 1837.
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Did we have a farm in Ireland?
As a kid, I remember thinking that my grandfather’s family owned a farm called ‘Moyaver’ in a place called ‘Armoy’ – – but none of that turns out to be true. Here’s what’s true…
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Patrick Hassett: A Sapper from Clare
Patrick Hassett, my 2nd great-grandfather, was born around 1840. The population of Clare, Ireland peaked the year after he was born – 286,394 souls. By the time he was 10, 50,000 of them would be dead from famine and 25% would have emigrated with between 30-50% dying in the crossing.
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McAllens of Westminster
Daniel McAllen was a shoemaker born in Ireland around 1821 to James McAllen, a labourer. He emigrated first to England before the age of 20, and then to America at the age of 28, in 1848.
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Rooneys of Chorley
Elizabeth Rooney, my great-grandmother, was born in Chorley, Lancashire on the 7th of October, 1883 to John Rooney – an Irish immigrant to England who worked all his life as a farm labourer.
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John Patrick O’Mullan
On January 4, 1907, my grandfather, John Patrick O’Mullan was born to Daniel William Mullan and Elizabeth Gallagher in Moyaver, County Antrim, Ireland. They christened him at St. Olcan’s church – where his father was christened and his family is buried.
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The Shoemaker’s Cottage
My 2nd great-grandfather, Daniel O’Mullan, moved to Moyaver from Mount Hamilton around the time he married Isabella Scally. They lived in a cottage on the Limepark Estate.
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The Browns of Newark
My great-grandmother, Honora Brown, was baptized ‘Honora’ in Newark, NJ in 1872. She was called ‘Lenora’, then ‘Eleanora’, and finally ‘Eleanor’. Her granddaughter and 2nd great-granddaughter are both named Eleanor.
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John J. Costello of Newark
My great-grandfather, John J. Costello, was a blacksmith born in Connecticut probably in June of 1871. He moved to Newark, NJ sometime in early childhood and lived there until he died there at the age of 35 from kidney failure.
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What does O’Mullan mean?
O’Mullan derives from the Gaelic surname O’Maoláin, which dates to before the 10th century. ‘Maol” means bald or tonsured. So Maoláin refers to a monk or a disciple, or really anyone who shaves their head as a sign of religious devotion.