Patrick H. Mullen - Antrim - birth/marriage record

William Farrell_1

Hello,

My gr-gr grandfather, Patrick Mullen, according to a 1906
biographical sketch written about him, was born in Belfast, in county
Antrim, March 17 1821 (other sources put the year as 1820). According to
the same source, his father, was a farmer who died when Patrick was
only seven years of age. Early in life Patrick Mullen began to work to
earn his own living and to assist his widowed mother, for he was the
only son in the family. He inherited a portion of the farm, which he
sold upon attaining his majority and soon afterward he completed his
arrangements for seeking a home and fortune in America. I believe prior
to leaving he married Eliza Morrow/Mara and they made they way
eventually to LaSalle County, Illinois where they remained for the rest
of their lives. Eliza may have been born around the year 1823.

I've tried to locate a birth record for Patrick and a marriage record for he
and Eliza without success. I believe they were married sometime around
the year 1840 and they came to the US in 1842. I would appreciate any
guidance/suggestions as to where to look for the records.

Many thanks for your time and help.

Bill

Bill Farrell

Áine Ní Donnghaile

My response on William's earlier thread, so we don't have to repeat the same Q&A.

 there won't be a birth record in the 1820s as Ireland only began to register births in 1864. You'll be looking for a church baptism record. Do you know what religion the family followed?

If they were Roman Catholic, those records are online on several websites, including a couple where it is completely free to view the images. If they were of another faith, that gets a little more complicated. Roman Catholics baptized infants as quickly as possible after birth because of high infant mortality. A baptism will have occurred, usually, within just a couple of days after birth. For other religions, baptism may have occurred later and may not have been documented.

William, you'll find Antrim Roman Catholic baptisms and marriages on 4 sites:

• FamilySearch is in the process of indexing, but there are no images.
• FindMyPast.com has the full series, indexed to be searchable by name, and images. No subscription required - just a free guest account.
• Ancestry.com has the same full series as FMP, but a paid subscription is required.
• The National Library of Ireland has the images, completely free to access, but there is no index so you cannot search by name.

William Farrell_1

Thanks! I have Ancestry and will check there. I'm not familiar with FindMyPast but it sounds like I should get familiar with it and check it out.

thanks again,

Bill

Hayter David

For northern Ireland church records go to the proni website. There is a very useful pdf file, free, that you can download and it will tell you the whereabouts and availability of all church records. It's called unsurprisingly Guide to Church Records. That's the easy bit. The hard bit is getting to proni to view the records. Also at the top of the group page is a link to county records. You could do worse than have a quick look to see what's available

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/guide-church-records

William Farrell_1

Thanks, David -- I'll check it out.

v/r

Bill