Person:Bridget Mullin (1)

Watchers
     
Bridget Mullin
  1. John MullinAbt 1841 - 1877
  2. Bridget MullinAbt 1844 - 1915
  3. Margaret MullinAbt 1851 - 1908
  • HHugh MurtaghAbt 1843 - 1899
  • WBridget MullinAbt 1844 - 1915
m. 27 Jun 1863
  1. Margaret Murtagh1864 - Bef 1977
  2. John Murtagh1867 - 1941
  3. Mary Murtagh1868 - Bef 1878
  4. Thomas Murtagh1870 - 1928
  5. Ellen Murtagh1873 - 1873
  6. Hugh Murtagh1874 - 1900
  7. Dennis Murtagh1877 - 1877
  8. Mary Ellen Murtagh1878 - 1880
  9. Joseph Murtagh1880 - 1952
  10. Annie Murtagh1883 - 1969
  11. Agnes Murtagh1889 - 1966
Facts and Events
Name Bridget Mullin
Gender Female
Birth? Abt 1844 County Mayo, Republic of Ireland
Marriage 27 Jun 1863 Burnley, Lancashire, Englandto Hugh Murtagh
Death[1] 14 Jun 1915 Burnley, Lancashire, England
Burial[2] 17 Jun 1915 Burnley, Lancashire, EnglandGrave number 8117, Burnley Cemetery

Bridget died just four months after her youngest daughter, Agnes (my grandmother) married, so was not known to my parent's generation.

There are several photographs in my mother's collection which she considered to be of Bridget Mullin, but I am convinced that they are of two different women! The face in the photo I have chosen has a likeness to Agnes' face, so it is probably the right person!

Bridget's Birth Place

In the 1911 census, Bridget finally names the place in Ireland where she was born. While "Co. Mayo" can be deciphered without difficulty, the first element presents a challenge (and one transcriber has come up with something which is clearly incorrect). See below:


For comparison, there was a need to find another Irish-born Mullin, resident in/visiting Burnley in 1911. Using Family Search, I found 39-year-old Michael Mullen, a "Ballina Ireland Resident", and 46-year-old Andrew Mullan, a "Boumconlon Resident County Mayo". I can now narrow down Bridget's origin, with reasonable confidence, to either the village of Bonniconlon in the Townland of Bunnyconnellan, or elsewhere in that Townland. Bunnyconnellan is east of the town of Ballina: all the same area. See: [1]

No Memories

No memories of Bridget have been passed down. Perhaps because Agnes married above her class, my mother's generation were brought up very much as members of their father's family and embraced a pride in its history and considerable achievements. Both my mother and her youngest brother unquestioningly held the view that Murtagh/Mullin history was not worth knowing, (though they had Murtagh aunts, uncles and cousins in their lives). They appeared to have been discouraged from thinking about where their maternal ancestors came from, or what they were like. For Agnes, now a member of a mill-owning family, it would not be helpful if her children said things to relatives about origins in the Burnley slums, preceded by life in Mayo - a famine black-spot.

I was surprised to discover that, in the 1861 census, the still unmarried Bridget was living with her parents in Burnley. I had never been under the impression that they immigrated. Searching in the online parish records revealed three additional babies who died, making Agnes at least the 11th birth, not the 8th as I had supposed.

Image Gallery
References
  1. Prayer Bookmark: death of Bridget Murtagh/Mullin.
  2. grave record&monument: Murtagh, H&B.
  3.   Year of Birth:
    Bridget was not consistent concerning her age! I have 7 records of her age: her marriage certificate; her memorial & grave record, and 5 census returns. I would say that in the censuses of 1901 and 1911 she was definitely failing to admit her age, and that these are best ignored. From the remaining records, it seems likely that she was born between 1843 and 1845.