AK'S Genealogy Research: Irish Ancestral Sources

My Irish Great-Grandmother with her son and granddaughter

For many years I had no idea where my Irish Great-Grandmother Helen Mullen-Mason came from. I only knew she was born in Ireland. My father thought she was born in Cork, Ireland. That was a common misunderstanding as most Irish immigrants travelled from a port in Cork to the US. I only found out that was erroneous when I received a copy of her sister's eulogy which stated she was born in Co. Galway, Ireland. Her parents names were said to be Patrick Mullen and Mary Huvane, also according to the eulogy. I was thinking Huvane didn't sound like an Irish surname. I was told it was Spanish. I have since found out it isn't Spanish but a variant of a surname common to the area, Hoban.

Here are all of the sources I've used to discover more about my Irish ancestry:

1. The first source I had access to was Helen's sister's Eulogy, naming their parents and place of origin. The eulogy stated "Mary Kathleen Mullen was born in County Galway, Ireland on February 1, 1888, just two months after Mary Frances Clarke died. The BVMs motherhouse was still St. Joseph's on the Prairie and Mt. Carmel was only a dream." Bridget Mullen, Sister Mary Kathleen, was a younger sister of my great-grandmother.

2. With the parents names was I able to find a marriage record for my Great Great-grandparents Patrick Mullen and Mary Huvane. The fact Huvane is so uncommon allowed me to find the correct marriage record quickly by cross referencing Mullen and Huvane. I wrote to Ireland to get this marriage document which is now online and free (I give the Irish Civil registration website link below).

3. With the ecclesiastical parish name I was able to order a church record microfilm from my local family history center. I found some baptismal information for my family and further confirmation of the information from the marriage record, which stated the family lived in the Townland of Pollaturick. My great-grandmother's date of birth seems to be off by a day however?
These church books are now searchable at the National Library of Ireland website. You just need to know the name of the parish. Click on the microfilm you want to search, and a digital copy will come up.

Milltown Baptisms

4. Armed with this information I posted on Irish Genealogy message boards. I found some posters with the unusual Huvane surname. I heard back from someone with quite a bit of information about the Huvane family. This family was from bordering Co. Mayo. The spouse of the cousin who answered my inquiry has provided me with a great deal of information. She and her husband have visited Pollaturick, and the Huvane (Huane) townland of Fallakeerin. She was able to get in contact with a cousin who wrote to her regarding the whereabouts of my living cousins. We now know that Tom Huvane and I are 4th cousins. We also match as 4th cousins at AncestryDNA.

5. I found both my Mullen and Huvane family on Griffith's Valuation of Ireland. The valuation gives information about their property, and the name of the landlord. The name of the Landlord can lead to more information about families.

You can search Griffith's Valuation at this website click link

The maps associated with Griffith's Valuation give the exact location of property. You can find the exact location of your ancestors property by using the numbers and letters.

6. I had also found the family on the 1901 Census using Family History Center Microfilm. The 1901 and 1911 Censuses are now online here. They weren't when I started researching. I now have the family in both censuses. Helen, my Great-Grandmother left Ireland in 1898 and is not enumerated with the family.

7. Findmypast Ireland has court records online. I was able to find family in these records. Some relations were housed for a time in Castlebar Prison.

8. Relatives also appear in landed estate records at Findmypast Ireland.

9. Findmypast Ireland also has dog license records which will tell you what kind of dogs your ancestors owned. I found out my ancestors had mostly black and red border collies. These dogs were working dogs for herding their sheep.

10. When the parish microfilms came online at the National Library of Ireland website I was able to get additional marriage information for my Great Great-grandparents Pat and Mary Mullen. This record was missing from the LDS microfilm I looked at. I found out Mary Huane or Huvane-Mullen was living in Ballindine, Mayo, Ireland when she got married. Something I didn't know.

Church marriage record book

11. I never thought I would be able to go a generation further back from my Great-Great grandparents because the parish registers for their parishes are in poor condition, and only go back to the mid to late 1800's. Happily I was wrong. Recently the 1851 Census of Ireland has come online which has allowed me to go another generation back in time. The 1851 Census is actually a reconstruction. In my case its source is pension records. It contains the maiden names of Pat and Mary's mothers.
You can search the 1851 Census at The National Archives of Ireland website

1851 Census Ireland reconstructed.

12. I was wondering when my Great great-grandparents died in Ireland, for years? I had absolutely no idea when they died or where? I found deaths of Patrick Mullens on the civil registration index at FamilySearch for Galway. I had no idea which one he might be? There were a number and I couldn't order copies from Ireland for all of them. I could not find anyone that appeared to be Mary Huvane-Mullen, however? Thankfully these civil registration records are now online! I was able to find the death record for Patrick Mullen he died August 13, 1930, in his home in Pollaturick. His wife was alive at the time. I still haven't found her death information?
You can find digital copies of the original Irish Civil registration records at the IrishGenealogy.ie website.

13. When you have the townland names for your ancestors you can use Google maps to take a street view tour of the townland. It's been very rewarding being able to see the area my ancestors came from using Google street view.