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William Cullen - Staff Sergeant Galway Militia, Loughrea

GalwayLoughrea (Galway)

Hi

Looking for burial place and any records relating to William and his wife Rosetta who lived in Loughrea between approx 1864 until after his death in September 1878. William retired from the regular Army and joined the militia at Loughrea, living in the old Barracks (Presumably on Barrack Street). His wife, Rosetta was a shopkeeper on Main Street, selling sundry goods (Slater's Directory).

I visited Loughrea last year but was unable to locate where William may have been buried. He died in Barracks.

William and Rosetta were local to Ahascragh (Both attended Sunday School there) and were married there on 21st Dec 1841.

Shortly after his death, Rosetta moved to a Charity home for Soldiers Widows at Kingston Upon Thames in London and died in 1900. I am unable to locate her grave there and it is possible that she was brought home and buried in Loughrea alongside her husband, but I was unable to find his grave.

William was an old soldier who saw service in the Crimea (Shot by a Russian at Sebastopol), India, China and the Med and died in service while at Loughrea. I have visited Belfast, Carrick, Dublin, Ahsacragh, Tyagh and Loughrea in an effort to locate this man and I would now like to, at least identify his final resting place.If I am right, St Brendan's is built over the old Police / Military Barracks so I believe I have at least been in the location where he passed away.

His marriage record states that he was born in Tynagh and there is reference to him being a Police sub-constable at that time (23 yrs of age) but there is no trace of this in the PO in Belfast) and yet, his Army record states he was born in Kiltoghart Parish, Co Leitrim!

I would be so gratefull for any information about either William and his wife or / and the Galway militia at Loughrea.

Thanks

mhpcullen@gmail.com

3 replies

Regarding William being a Police sub-constable when he married, aged 23, RIC rules were that the minimum age for joining the force was 19, (18 if your father had served in it) and you had to have served 7 years before you could marry. So the minimum age for marrying was 26 (or 25 if eligible to join at 18). So it doesn’t appear that a 23 year old RIC sub-constable would be eligible to marry.  So either some rules were broken, or he wasn’t 23, or he wasn’t in the RIC.

Elwyn, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘IrelandXO Volunteer

Hi Elwyn,

Entirely agree - and this is where the pain starts :) I do not believe he was in the RIC, however this is mentioned on his marriage record and that of his daughter's baptism record. I also do not believe it is a coincidence that he provided two different places of birth (One for the marriage and the other when attesting for the Army -  I think there must have been a fundamental reason for him to have declared these statements the way he did. It is probable that he lived in Ahascragh (Wife' and her family were resident here) after his marriage (His first born was baptised at Ahascragh) which would suggest that he lived there. This would also have been against the rules as they were required to be stationed away from their local Parish.

My father always told me that the family name was 'Greene' not Cullen and that there was a story about someone having been run out of a Parish because of his job. (He stated it was because he was a tax collector and 'his luck ran out') In actual fact, Rosetta's father was employed as a Process Server - not a popular job at any time, but the Tithe Wars would have meant that this was a particularly hazardous career to follow.  His wife Catherine was a Greene and were married at Ballymacward. 

The death of Rosetta's father occurred in 1831 so it is unlikely to have affected William's career choice - given that he attested at Omagh in Co Tyrone just as the 44th Regiment were recruiting also makes me wonder why HE decided to join up, just 3 years after his marriage. Perhaps it was William who needed to 'get out' after all, all the questions seem to revolve around William and not necessarily his father in law.

And so the search goes on :)

 

mhpcullen@gmail.com

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