Tracing the Two Mullen Family Houses of Pollaturick: What the 1926 Census Didn’t Tell Me

 

The Cement Era Publishing Company. (1913). The Cement Era: Devoted to cement, concrete and related machinery (Vol. 11). Cement Era Publishing Company.

I went into the 1926 Census with high hopes. After years of trying to untangle the story of the two houses on the old Mullen property in Pollaturick, Milltown, Co. Galway, I thought this census — finally released after a century — might give me the missing pieces. Instead, it handed me a new mystery.

For context, four structures can still be found on the land today:

1. The ruins of what appears to be a piggery

2. Two houses

3. A small structure I originally assumed was a cow house or cart house

My central question has always been simple: How old are the two houses? The answer, however, has been anything but.

What the 1926 Census Actually Says

Unlike the 1901 and 1911 censuses, the 1926 returns give almost no detail about the houses themselves. No construction materials. No notes on whether they were stone, mud, or cement. Just one line that matters:

Two 3‑room houses stood on the Mullen land in 1926.

That’s it.

The acreage, however, was more helpful. It confirmed that Patrick Mullen Sr.’s 57 acres had been divided between his sons Patrick Jr. and Michael, each receiving roughly 28 acres. Both men are listed with 28 acres in 1926, matching the family story and the valuation records.

But the census didn’t tell me which two buildings were the houses — and which were something else.

The Cement House That Never Appears on Any Map

One structure on the property — the mostly cement house near the road — has always bothered me. It never appears on any Ordnance Survey map, even though OS maps are usually meticulous.

Since it’s absent from the 1913–1914 revision, I assumed it must have been built sometime after that survey. Cement cottages were becoming popular in Ireland around that time, promoted as healthier, sturdier replacements for the old stone-and-sod dwellings. The government even offered 60‑year repayment terms to encourage families to upgrade.

So why would a solid cement house be missing from the maps?

To test my assumptions, I asked several AI models. Gemini suggested the house might have been considered a “temporary structure,” and therefore omitted — but that explanation doesn’t hold up. Cement cottages were not temporary. They were seen as modern, sanitary, and permanent. Other AI models agreed: a cement house should have been mapped.

Which brings me back to the original problem:

If the present road‑front house wasn’t there in 1913–1914, where was the second house listed in the 1901 and 1911 censuses?

What the Maps Actually Show

This is a map showing the current location of the houses on the property:

Here’s the timeline as the maps reveal it:

1838 Ordnance Survey (black & white and color versions)

Both show a house on the Mullen land in the same location as the older surviving cottage today

1860s reprint of the 1838 survey

Identical — still one house.

1892 resurvey

More detail, but still no sign of the cement house.

1890s Land Office 25‑inch edition

This map was created for the Land Purchase Acts and is extremely detailed. It shows the main house and a smaller structure behind it. This could be the second house listed on the census records, but it could also be another outbuilding? The the long narrow structure was likely a farm building.

1913–1914 6‑inch revision

This is where things get interesting. The map shows:

• The main house

• A smaller outbuilding or cottage behind it

• A long narrow farm building

• The last 6 inch map (Geohive) now shows the possible cottage beside the house

Below is the last 6 inch version from the Geohive site. The cement house by the road isn't on the map.. Even more puzzling: the smaller cottage beside the main house appears here, but it never appeared on earlier maps. Yet it clearly existed — and still exists.

So the maps themselves are inconsistent

The 1913-1914 6 inch version at the National Library of Scotland doesn't show the cottage.

Could the “Cow House” Actually Have Been the Second Dwelling?

For years I assumed the small structure near the house was a cow house or cart house. It looked utilitarian. It sat at an angle. It wasn’t large.

But then I noticed something that changed everything: It has a large fireplace.

Outbuildings in rural Ireland did not have large fireplaces. Cottages did.

When I asked AI models about this, they unanimously agreed: a fireplace of that size indicates human habitation, not livestock housing.

A neighbor once mentioned that “another house” had stood behind the main house. That comment never made sense to me — until now. There were structures recorded on the maps behind the older house.

If the road‑front cement house wasn’t built yet in 1901 or 1911, then one of the unidentified structures on the maps must have been the second dwelling listed in those censuses.

And the only structures that fit the evidence — maps, ruins, chimney, and census data — is the one I had mistakenly labeled a cow house, and also possibly the small structure behind the house..

So Where Does This Leave the Timeline?

Here’s the most likely sequence based on everything we know:

• Pre‑1838: One house on the property

• 1838–1890s: Still one house

• Between 1890 and 1901: A second small cottage is added beside the main house or behind the house

• 1901 & 1911 censuses: Two households recorded — matching the two cottages

• 1913–1914 OS revision: Three possible cottages appear, and/or farm buildings

• Post‑1914: The cement house near the road is built, replacing the older second cottage

• 1926 census: Two 3‑room houses — likely the main house and the newly built cement house

• Today: The main house survives; the older possible second cottage survives as a ruin; the cement house stands by the road

The “cow house” was almost certainly not a cow house at all. It was a cottage according the AI models.

The Mystery Isn’t Fully Solved — But It’s Finally Taking Shape

The 1926 Census didn’t give me the answers I hoped for, but it forced me to look harder at the physical evidence: the maps, the ruins, the chimneys, the footprints of buildings long gone.

And now, for the first time, the pieces are starting to align.

The little structure I dismissed as a cow house may actually be the key to understanding the entire property — the second home where one branch of the Mullen family lived before the cement house was ever built.