The  Mullin  Family 

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The Mullins of Manhattan

Michael Mullin owned a shop in Claremorris when he married Mary Foy.  They lived in an apartment above the shop.  Their first child, Josephine was born in 1902.   Shortly afterwards, Michael was alerted by the parish priest that one of the rebel parties believed Michael was an informer, and the priest urged Michael to migrate to the USA.   He left suddenly, leaving Mary and Josephine, who took digs in Ballyhaunis.  Some years after, the priest told Mary that her place was with her husband, and she emigrated also to New York.  Josephine remained with the Foy relatives until she came to America with her aunt Margaret in 1914.  Josephine is the last of the Foys to have been processed through Ellis Island.

Michael first became a ticket taker (conductor?) on the elevated trains along with Paddy Murray, making $15 per week.  He later joined the post office.  Two more children were born to Michael and Mary,  Margaret (1910) and Mary Frances(1912).   Michael died in 1927, leaving Mary to raise the three girls.

Mary Foy was the oldest child of the Foys, born in lower Garryedmond.  She lived there until her marriage to Michael Mullin, when she moved to Claremorris.  Later she emigrated to the USA; and when Michael died, she managed to raise her three daughters, insisting that they become well educated in an era which did not always expect women to be educated beyond elementary or secondary school. 

As the oldest of the Foys, Mary took many of the younger children under her wing.  The 1920 census lists Peter Foy (arrived 1914, citizen 1918, age 21); Luke Foy (arrived 1919, age 19);  Elizabeth (arrived 1916, age 18); Hannah (arrived 1912, age 24); Cecelia (arrived 1911); and Peter Burke, a roomer (arrived 1905,  age in 1920 — 34 years, a manager of a grocery store).  This in addition to three daughters, Josephine, Margaret and Mae.  The Mullins lived in Woodlawn, a Irish section of the North Bronx (which remains heavily Irish to this day) at  271 East 238th Street, which is the dividing line between Woodlawn and Yonkers.

Michael Mullin died in 1927; the 1930 census places the remaining Mullins at 689 East 235th Street, across the Bronx River Parkway, close to Peter Foy's house on 237th Street, and the IRT Elevated station at 233rd Street.  The three daughters remain:  Josephine, Margaret and  (now) Mary.  Cousins living with them are listed as Thomas J Morley (manager grocery store), Patrick M Morley (clerk grocery), John Bierne (clerk grocery), and John Prendergast (bookkeeper office).

Josephine Mullin White (1902  -  2002) was born in Ireland.  She came to America when she was 12, passing through Ellis Island with her Aunt Margaret.  She remembers her fear at being kept on the Island if she was found to have tuberculosis or other communicable disease.  When she was released, she took a ferry to the southern tip of Manhattan Island.  Her father was unable to get off from work, so she was met by Paddy Murray, a  cousin whom she had never seen before.  Paddy introduced himself  to the authorities as Michael Mullin,  took the little girl by the hand,  and climbed the steps to the elevated train which would take them to Mary Mullin's apartments on the east side in the '80s.

Josephine was a spirited young lady, who at age 20 married James White, a college big-man-on-campus against the wishes of her family.  The marriage lasted only a few months.  The man later married seven others, while Josephine never remarried.   Josie had a normal school education (equivalent to two years of college) and began teaching in the New York City school system. She is listed as a school teacher in the 1930 ce3nsus.   She later completed her bachelors and masters degrees.  For many years she taught at Julia Richman High School in the East Side of Manhattan (later attended by Eileen Foy), and by 1950 was teaching at Long Island City High School.

 She also taught evening division courses and collaborated with Joseph Foy in a lecture series on "How the Russians see America".  Joseph photographed many cartoons from Russian publications, and Josie built her presentation around the cartoons.  She applied for a Fulbright Grant, and decided to go to Pakistan for two years to teach teachers how to teach reading.    As she was preparing to ship her materials from her apartment at 11 Washington Square,  she heard a knock at the door.  When she answered the door, there stood one Matthew Kabriski.  He explained that his late wife had attended Josie's evening course centering around interesting sites in New York City (such as the kitchens of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel) and that these lectures were a bright spot in her last months, as she was dying of cancer. He asked her how he could repay her, and the harried Josephine said she had to pack and ship materials to Pakistan.  It turned out Matt was a contractor, and he took over responsibility for the entire shipment.   

During this time, Matt met Margaret ("Peg") Mullin (1910 - 2001), Josephine's younger sister.     After Josephine was in Pakistan,  Peg and Matt dated, and they were married in April 1957.   Peg then moved into Matt's house at 147-38 Ash Avenue, Flushing, New York.

Like all the Mullin girls, Peg was extremely bright.  She graduated from Cathedral High School and Hunter College at the age of 19 with teacher certification.  The New York city school system had a rule that teachers had to be 21.  Peg found a loophole.   She attended Columbia University, obtaining a masters degree in mathematics in one year, and was accepted as a teacher because the age rule did not apply to masters degrees.   She taught many years at Walton High School in the Bronx, and later at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, overlooking the Narrows.  Meanwhile, she continued her education at New York University, earning a doctorate in education.  Her thesis was original:  instead of exploring why students drop out of school, she explored why student say in school!   She lectured at New York University, and joined the CUNY university system as director of admissions at Bronx Community College and later at the CUNY Graduate School on 42nd street.  The Thanksgiving parties hosted by the Kabriski's in Flushing were famous, and did much to glue the next generation of Foys together as a family.  

Mary Frances Mullin (1912  -  1992) was the youngest daughter. She attended Bryn Mawr on scholarship, and completed all but her thesis for her doctoral degree in English. She was known as the family bookworm; if the Mullins visited, Mary disappeared and could be found in a room reading a book she found. She married George Gillen (1907 - 2001) at St Jean Baptiste Church in Manhattan in 1937, and they had seven children: Thomas, Agnes, Margaret, Elizabeth, Edward, Michael, and Walter. The family located at 127 North Broadway in Irvington, New York. While in Irvington, Mary acted as the library adviser, reading virtually every book which went into the town library and deciding whether it was worth cataloging. George Gillen had earned a law degree, but found the practice of law distasteful. He then earned a advanced degree in history, and his entire teaching career was at Dewitt Clinton High School, an all-boys public school in the Bronx. He also served as the part time mayor of Irvington. Early in their marriage, the Gillens located property in Chatham, New York, and bought a ramshackle house with several acres, which they used as a vacation house. (Lots of others in the Foy clan used the house also.) When George retired from teaching, they moved permanently to Chatham, lived in a more substantial house, and eventually built a house and dam to form a  lake. 

Mary was injured in an auto accident, and her last few years were spent in chronic pain, until her death in 1992.  Always an iconoclast, she willed that her body be used for medical research. 

Obituary for George Gillen
The Journal News
Monday September 17, 2001
Westchester, New York

George Gillen died on September 1, 2001 at the home of his son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Donna, in Magnolia, MA where he had lived for the past two years.

George was born on June 13, 1907 in Kingston, NY to Walter Joseph and Sarah Downey Gillen.  He grew up in NYC and Long Island  NY, and graduated from St. John's University where he received a BA, an LLB, and an JD.  He also earned an MA in constitutional history from Fordham University.  he taught history at De Witt Clinton High School for many years; he then taught at Russell Sage College and its Junior College of Albany.

George Married Mary Frances Mullin in 1937.  They lived in Irvington for 26 years where he served as cub master, democratic committeeman and mayor.  While he was mayor, the library was expanded within the town hall, the Isabel K Benjamin Center was donated to the village, a home was found for the Irvington Boat Club, and the expansion of Matthiessen Park was started.  After moving to New Lebanon NY in 1963, he was justice of the peace, tax assessor and selectman for the town.  He delivered Meals on Wheels until he was 85 years old.  he worked with his wife Mary developing the New Lebanon Library, helping her with the library's moves and several additions.  He also served as Trustee and Treasurer of the New Lebanon Library Board as well as Trustee of the Mid-Hudson Library System.

George loved to sing and was a member of choirs in Irvington and new Lebanon.  He was a member of the Kiwanis Club and the Knights of Columbus.  Family was most important to George and he enjoyed traveling and visiting with his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.  His interest in history continued all his life.  Family members were reading john Adams and Endurance to him until just a few days before his death.

George is survived by his children Tom and Lee of San Diego CA, Agnes and Joe Sinko of Irvington NY, Liz Gawenus of Alberta Canada, Ed and Michele of Colleyville TX, Mike and Donna of Magnolia MA, and Walter of Worcester MA, a son-in-law Joseph Pintoro of Tucker GA, a sister Mary Gatter of North Haven CT, 19 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.  His wife Mary, his daughter Peggy Pintoro and his sister Catherine, all died earlier.

A memorial service will be held at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in New Lebanon on September 22.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the New Lebanon Library, Route 22, New Lebanon NY 12125.