Where did Thomas Mullen (son of Laurence & Mary Mullery Mullen - born 1854) come from?

I am submitting this message to ask for help. I am trying todetermine specifically wheremy Irish ancesters came from....I know they came from Co. Galway in Ireland butI have not been successful is securing details beyond this and I could use help.

Last April (2013) I wrote to the Tuam Herald andthey were kind enough to publish my letter in their newspaper- I have included my letter to the Tuam Herald belowto provide all the background information I currently have on my Irish ancestors....please read "Note: 1" below.Unfortunately this letter did not generate any responses to me with new information.Now a year later I feel like I am so close and yet I have no postive results and know no more. I am now trying theXO site with the hope that someone may read this and be able to assist me. In advance, any and all assistance you may be able to provide is much appreciated.

Note: 1

To whom it may concern at the Tuam Herald;

I am sending you this email as I would like to place an article / want ad in the Tuam Herald. I would like the article / want ad to read as follows;

I am trying to identify the parish and townland in Ireland that my great-grandfather Thomas Mullen came from. I have bits of informations that hint that he may have come from Kilkerrin. I would much appreciate hearing from any / all that can provide me with additional information related to my quest. I will list my contact information below so you can get back to me. But first let me tell you what I know to date:

1. My great-grandfather Thomas Mullen was born on February 16, 1854. His obituary states that he came from "County Galway in Ireland".
2. My "Mullen" ancestors moved to Enfield, Connecticut USA. In the town of Enfield land records I learned that in 1860 my great-great-grandfather Laurence Mullen purchased a ten acre farm in Enfield, Connecticut, USA with John Gavin. Here I am assuming that Laurence and John immigrated to the USA together from Ireland and became partners in this farm. An old Mullen family story is that Laurence bought the farm in Enfield and then went back to Ireland to pick up the family. My great-grandfather Thomas Mullen's obituary says that he immigrated to the USA with his parents....this tells me that Laurence made it back to Ireland and was on the return to the USA. Unfortnuately that's where Laurence's trail ends....I'm not sure if he died on the return trip to the USA or what happened to him but he is never mentioned again. The Enfield land records indicate that John Gavin paid off the mortgage on the Enfield farm in 1865 but that's the end of any iformation I can find on John Gavin (to date). In summary, there seems to be a good connection between the Mullen and Gavin families which develops even more as you will see later in these notes.
3. My great-great-grandfather Laurence Mullen and great-great-grandmother Mary (Mullery) Mullen immigrated to the USA in 1862/1863 with my great-grandfather Thomas. And they also brought along Bryan Gavin (born 1849). I have a copy of Bryan's death certificate and it indicates that Bryan's parents were Nicholas and Mary (Mullen) Gavin. I am assuming that Mary Mullen Gavin and Laurence Mullen were related....maybe as brother and sister. So as I stated earlier I think there were numerous connections between the Mullen and Gavin families.
4. An old Mullen family story says that my great-great-grandmother Mary (Mullery) Mullen and great-grandfather Thomas Mullen were good friends with their Enfield neighbors the Wards. The 1880 USA census records indicate that my great-great-grandmother Mary (Mullery) Mullen even moved in with the Wards for a time when my great-grandfather Thomas Mullen first got married and took over the original Mullen homestead. I did some research and learned that Patrick Ward immigrated to the USA in 1868 and purchased the farm in Enfield, Connecticut next to the Mullen/Gavin property. And in reviewing the Enfield land records and USA census records I learned that Patrick married Mary Gavin (I think she immigrated to the USA in 1870). So here I have a connection between the Wards and the Gavins.
5. There is another old Mullen family story that says that Thomas returned to Ireland when he was 21 years old (1875) with Pat Ward. Here I am assuming that they went back to finish up some old business maybe involving property or to pick up and bring back additional family members to the USA....but I really don't know the purpose of their trip.
6. Back here in Enfield, Connecticut USA I located the Ward family tombstone in St Patrick's cemetery. And from the inscription on the stone I learned that Mary Gavin Ward "came from County Galway in Ireland in the town of Kilcurn." I tried to find a "Kilcurn" on a map of Ireland I got locally here from AAA without success. But I learned from the Enfield land records and the USA census that the Mullen/Gavin/Ward folks didn't read or write so I thought that maybe in the verbal translation "Kilcurn" could have been spelled a different way. Well I had that thought for a long time until I came across IrelandXO.com. I placed a message on their website and Mrs. Doyle and Roger McDonnell got back to me and thought that "Kilcurn" could be Kilkerrin and that was very exciting news! They gave my the Kilkerrin records from the 1856 Griffin Survey. And those records provided me with the following townland records:

• "Curragh More"; Matthew and Patrick Mullen were shown to own property there. And they may have been related to my great-great-grandfather Laurence Mullen?
• "Carrowntober West"; Andrew and Nicholas Gavin were shown to own property there. Bryan Gavin's obituary stated that his father was Nicholas Gavin! Could this be the same Nicholas Gavin? And were the Nicholas and Abdrew Gavin listed in the survey related to the John and Mary Gavins I discussed earlier?
• "Shannagh Beg"; Thomas, Laurence, and William Ward were shown to own property there. Are these gentlemaen related to the Patrick Ward who moved to Enfield, Connecticut USA? .

Well that sums up my Kilkerrin research to date and with no where else to turn I am hoping that someone reading this can help me get some additional information and answers that identify where Laurence and Mary (Mullery) and Thomas Mullen lived in Ireland? And maybe can also answer the Gavin and Ward questions I have.

Thank you for reading this article / want ad. Any and all information you may be able to offer would be greatly appreciated. You may reach me as follows:

Art Mullen

80 Mullen Road

Enfield, CT 06082

USA

or at: 860-745-7019

or at: art.mullen.jr@gmail.com

Note:2

-in doing additional research here in the USA last September (2013) I came across some information on Pat Ward (you'll see his association to Thomas Mullen in my letter to the Tuam Herald above) and this information (as follows from my notes) may be assistance as Ithink they came from about the same place in Ireland....

....September 9, 2013; today I went to Windsor Locks,Connecticut. This town is across the Connecticut River from my town of Enfield. Back in the day Windsor Locks established the first Catholic church in northern Connecticut. It was (and is) St Mary's. When the Mullens, Gavins, and Wards came here they attended St Mary's church and many of them are buried in St Mary's cemetary. I went to the Windsor Locks town hall today to see what birth, marriage and death records they might have on the Mullens, Gavins and Wards. I found nothing on the Mullens or Gavins. But I did find a marriage certificate for Pat (Patrick) Ward. To catch you up on Pat he was born in Ireland in 1849 and (I believe) came to the USA in 1868. In the USA in 1868 he married Mary Gavin. My great-great grandmother Mary Mullery was married to Nicolas Gavin and they had a son Bryan Gavin who was born in 1849. Something must have happened to Nicolas Gavin as my great-great-grandmother then married my great-great-grandfather Laurence Mullen and they had a son Thomas Mullen who was born in 1854. In 1862 Mary Mullery (Gavin) Mullen immigrated to the USA with her sons Bryan Gavin and Thomas Mullen. In our 1880 census report it shows that Mary Mullery (Gavin) Mullen had moved in with and was living with Pat and Mary Gavin Ward. In summary these people must have been close. Mary Gavin Ward passed away December 15, 1897 and Pat Ward became a widow. In today's research I found a marriage certificate showing that on September 9, 1899, Pat Ward of Enfield married Margeret Murray. I need to further research this to make sure it's the same Pat Ward. But on the other hand I don't think Enfield had a lot of Pat Wards at that time so I think this is the Pat Ward I know. Anyway this is where it gets good....because in every form I have ever seen filled out from back then when it asked for place-of-origin all I have ever seen is "Ireland" or "Co. Galway Ireland" but on this marriage certificate it says that Pat Ward came from "Rush's Town Co. Galway Ireland"! I couldn't find "Rush's Town" on my map of Ireland and didn't get a hit when I googled it. So Iam wondering if there is a "Rush's Town"? And if so is it located close to Kilkerrin? I noticed that Pat Ward didn't sign the marriage certificate he just made an "X" that the clerk certified. I think that means that Pat Ward probably didn't know how to read or write. And when the clerk put down "Rush's Town" it may be based on what Pat Ward said and what the clerk heard and not necessarily on a correct and/or complete spelling of the place-of-origin.