Cullen Vampire DNA

May 17, 2008, 11:22 am

≫ Next: Distribution of Cullens in Scotland

Just for fun, let's imagine that we could test the DNA of the fictional Cullen family of vampires from the Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_(series)

I haven't read the books yet (maybe I'll wait for the movie coming out later this year), but it seems like there is a big family tree of vampires with the last name Cullen. Most of these were adopted: Edward Cullen, Emmett Cullen and Alice Cullen all had different last names originally. So we wouldn't expect them to match any of the members of the Cullen Family DNA Project.

But the patriarch of the family, and the original vampire, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, was born a Cullen in London, England in the 1600s. His father was an Anglican minister. These are some good clues to tracing his possible real-life Cullen relatives. As discussed in the post below, there were three main centers of the Cullen surname in England: in Somerset in the southwest, around Nottingham in the middle of the country, and Kent in the Southeast.

Of course, Kent is close to London, so it's most likely that Carlisle is related to our member C-23 whose ancestor Arthur Cullen was from Deal, Kent:
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/results.html

After living as a vampire in Europe for two centuries, Carlisle Cullen came to the American midwest (Chicago then Wisconsin). Interestingly, there was a real man named Joseph Cullen who came to Kentucky around 1850. He was born in Kent, England, and he was a Protestant minister. Could this be a connection to Carlisle's family?

So to summarize, please get in touch if you are a Cullen man willing to be tested for our DNA project. The Cullen family of vampires may be fictional, but we can see if you have a real genetic connection to our other families in Kent and throughout the world.

↧

Distribution of Cullens in Scotland

July 1, 2008, 11:20 am

≫ Next: Progress at DNA Project--updated Feb 2009

≪ Previous: Cullen Vampire DNA

A very large percentage of people named Cullen all over the world go back to Cullens from Ireland. But we know there are native English and Scottish families as well. The situation is confused because many Irish Cullens emigrated to England and Scotland over the last 200 years, and some Cullen descendants may not know where their family was originally from.

To investigate this, I searched the 1841 and 1881 Scotland censuses trying to identify established Cullen families. I defined these as households where the male head of the family was born in the same county and parish where he resided at the time of the census. I chose the 1881 census because the National Trust Names website provides a map of the surname for that year, click here

Here are some of my findings:

--because the industrial revolution was strong in Scotland, many people had moved away from their birthplaces even in 1841
--In 1841 there were some Irish Cullen families mainly in the Glasgow area, but by 1881 the number of Irish-background Cullens in Scotland was roughly equal to the number of Scottish-background Cullens
--There is only one name occurring in any quantity that is similar to Cullen and which could possibly be confused with Cullen--Collin and Collins. All other variants and spellings (Collen, Cullin, Cullins, McCullen, Collinge, Cullane and many others) were very rare in Scotland in 1881.

--there are only 3 general areas where I found long established Cullen families:
1. The first area is up the Clyde valley from Glasgow (Lanarkshire). By far the largest number was in the area called the Monklands, including the towns of Airdrie and Coatbridge. Although this area was industrialized, Cullens had a variety of occupations including farming, many trades, merchanting, indicating a long presence.
There also were a small number of farming Cullen families in south Lanarkshire, near the towns of Carstairs and Carluke
Glasgow itself had several established Cullen families, although not as many established families as the Monklands.
2. The second area has just a few Cullen families. This is Aberdeenshire in the northeast. There were a couple Cullen farmers in Strathdon which is is in the highlands west of Aberdeen, and also in Keig about halfway to Strathdon. Then there were 5 Cullen families living in the Buchan region a few miles inland from Peterhead, in the towns/parishes of Longside, New Deer, Old Deer.
3. In 1841 there were a very few established Cullen families in the Central Belt in what was then called Stirlingshire and Perthshire, roughly around Falkirk and Sterling (specifically Falkirk, Deanston, Drip Moss and Doune). By 1881 the native Cullen presence was much reduced and less connected to the land.

That's it! In 1881 in all of Scotland I could only identify 75ish families where the Cullen male head of household was still living in the same civil parish where he was born. For comparison, there were 79 heads of household (male and female) named Cullen who were born in Ireland.

Of course there were many more Scottish origin Cullen families in addition to these75. You can tell by their birthplace that they were born in Scotland, and they often had Scottish given names (Alexander, Adam, Archibald Gavin etc.) But they were not living in their home parish.

Maybe I have omitted some important families? Please reply with any additions or corrections.

Here's a summary of the 75 families in 1881 and their location:

Aberdeenshire (7)--5 in Buchan (Longside, New Deer, Old Deer), 2 in Strathdon

Dumbartonshire (2)--from Cardross--one physician, one farmer

Lanarkshire (53)--Monklands--Coatbridge and Airdrie(20+), Glasgow(16+), Bothwell(4+), Motherwell(Dalziel) 5+, Carluke (4), Carstairs(2), and possibly some long-term families from Hamilton, Partick, Rutherglen and Stonehouse

Perthshire (3)--Dunblaine, Kilmadock, Kincardine--1 farmer, 1 grocer, 1 laborer

Renfrewshire (4)--Greenock West, Paisley(2), Pollockshows: all tradesmen

Stirlingshire (4)--Labert, Bannockburn(2), Falkirk: 3 laborers or servants, 1 tradesman

↧

Progress at DNA Project--updated Feb 2009

November 19, 2008, 9:55 am

≫ Next: McCullen mystery

≪ Previous: Distribution of Cullens in Scotland

Feb 2009 update--we now have located the Irish homeland of DNA project member C-42: his ancestor Joseph Cullen was born in 1870 in Loughgall in northern County Armagh. This is right in the middle of the large "Lough Neagh" cluster of Cullen, another member is C-37, whose ancestors are from Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone

Both C-42 and C-37 belong to the "Northwest Irish" group called R-M222, which is associated with "Niall of the Nine Hostages". Perhaps these two members represent different families who took the Cullen name independently centuries ago, but there is some DNA evidence that indicates they are descended from a single Cullen ancestor. So for now, I am placing them both in our "Lough Neagh" lineage, but we need to test more Cullens from Armagh and Tyrone to confirm this.
----------------------------------------------------------------

After about 2.5 years organizing the Cullen DNA project, we are starting to make some satisfying connections. This month we saw a match between one of our original members who is an Irish-American Cullen with roots in County Waterford, and an Irish Cullinan from Co. Waterford. This confirms an old family story that the name was changed to Cullen upon arrival in New York.

Our other major Irish lineage so far identified is the Co. Wicklow line, which turns out to be related other Wicklow chieftans, like the Byrnes and Kavanaghs. Most Irish Cullen from other counties have heard of the Wicklow Cullens and wonder if they are connected to them--the answer so far is no!

Here is an updated map showing our 14 members with a known origin in a specific village or parish in Ireland.

↧

McCullen mystery

December 12, 2008, 9:47 am

≫ Next: McQuillan connection?

≪ Previous: Progress at DNA Project--updated Feb 2009

Apparently the name McCullen was once common throughout Ulster, but today is almost non-existent. Even at the time of Griffith's Valuation in 1860, there were McCullens in Clogher Civil Parish, home to my ancestors, but I found no trace of them in the civil records or census in later years.

Where did the McCullens go? Did they die out, emigrate, or change their name to Cullen or something else? Were there ever Scottish McCullens? The answer seems to be no (see my posts on the Cullen surname in Scotland).

Here is a map of the McCullen surname in Griffith's, and also one from telephone books in 2006. The only place that has stayed a stronghold is in/near Drogheda. If you compare this to the maps of the Cullen surname, it also doesn't seem as if the McCullens have changed their name to Cullen in most places: for example, in Griffith's there were many McCullen families in northeastern Cavan, southeastern Fermanagh, northwestern Monaghan, and today there are neither McCullen nor Cullen families there. Of course there has been a huge depopulation of rural Ireland in the past 150 years.

Some notes about the maps:
--in the Griffith's map, I include several McCullum families as red dots (mostly Antrim, also Armagh, Down, Monaghan, Derry). This may be a completely different family, but may be a mispelling of McCullen
--McCullen had several variant spellings: McCullan, McCullin, McCullian, McCullion. Cullion and Cullian were common alternate spellings of Cullen in the North (including in my family). Maybe this reflects the pronunciation?
--the Mac vs. Mc spelling is not really an issue, I have found no MacCullens (except 1 in the USA), and Griffith's recorded all names as Mc, which is just an abbreviation of Mac
--for the 2006 map, I was able to search for every possible variant of the McCullen name in Northern Ireland, and I found only 4. Three were named McCullen, and one was named McCullins (this one in Newry, on the southern Down/Armagh border). For the Republic of Ireland, I only looked for McCullen.

Finally, there are several other names found mainly in Ulster and Co. Louth that could be confused with Cullen and McCullen: McQuillan, McCallan, Killen and others.

Are there any McCullens out there reading this?

↧

McQuillan connection?

February 8, 2009, 8:27 pm

≫ Next: Great site for Cavan Cullens:

≪ Previous: McCullen mystery

It looks like we have found a DNA connection between 3 McQuillans from Counties Monaghan and Fermanagh, a Cullen from an unknown location in Ireland, and a Collins in the US who believes he can trace back to a Callan family from Meath...and these seem to all be related to the McMahon family who were chiefs in the area...Many different surnames, but first some maps of the McQuillan surname in the mid 1800s and today (click on maps to enlarge, and be sure to compare these with the McCullen and Cullen maps below. If you need the names of the counties, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counties_of_ireland

The maps are very similar (unlike the McCullen surname which essentially disappeared in the last 150 years). There has been a large increase in McQuillans in and around Ballymena in Co. Antrim, and in general I would say that McQuillan is found more in towns and suburbs than Cullen for example, but then Antrim, northern Armagh and Louth are have always been densely populated places. Another change is a decline of the surname in Fermanagh, and a shifting of the main cluster of the surname in Monaghan from the Clones area to an area more to the northeast.

For the Griffith's data, there were many spellings but I think I caught all that contained "Quil", but didn't include on the map surnames like McQuillinan, McQuillcan. The BT phone book for Northern Ireland was easier to search than the Eircom for the Republic, and in the BT book I searched for all variants of Quillan and McQuillan but there were only two listings--one Quillan and one McQuillam. In the Eircom directory, I searched for McQuillan only. (note--I haven't mapped the phone listings for Dublin yet--hope to fix this soon)

↧

Great site for Cavan Cullens:

May 22, 2009, 3:49 pm

≫ Next: Cullens in Chile

≪ Previous: McQuillan connection?

Mark Cullen of Canada has created a great site with the history of his family who went from County Cavan, Ireland to Quebec: http://www.cullenancestry.ca

In Mark's words: "
John Cullen of Killinkere area and Elizabeth Carolan, daughter of Simon Carolan and Catherine Clarke of Doon, emigrated in 1826 to Bytown, Upper Canada and resettled to Templeton Township with their children Mary, Anthony, Michael, Bernard, Elizabeth, Catherine and John. They became important farmers and squared timber operators and leaders in church and community affairs and local politics."

This is of interest beyond Mark's own family--many Irish first emigrated to Canada before moving to the US (and of course some stayed in Canada). And eastern Cavan was home to a large cluster of Cullens, as my maps below show.

Mark has a comment submission form on his website.

↧

Cullens in Chile

May 22, 2009, 4:02 pm

≫ Next: Complete 1911 Census of Ireland now available online, for free

≪ Previous: Great site for Cavan Cullens:

Here's a posting from Dr. Juan R. Cullen, MD, about his Cullen family who emigrated from Dublin to Chile, South America around 1908. Other members of the family ended up in Liverpool, England, and Louisiana USA.

I don't want to post Juan's email address here without his permission, but you can leave comments here or email me (berniecullen@gmail.com) and I will forward them. Just be sure to leave an email address so we can contact you!

Juan R. Cullen wrote:

"I need any information about Robert Cullen (gr-grandfather), living second half of the 19th Century in Dublin (7 Greenville Terrace, South Circular Road). Robert was Assistant Curator Pathological Museum TCD (Trinity College Dublin). Married Catherine Delaney, and parents of Robert Cullen Delaney (my grandfather), who was born on February 17th., 1885. Robert Cullen Delaney emigrated to Argentina (first arriving to Sandy Point in Chile, and later settled in Rio Gallegos, Argentina) on board the ship Oriana, leaving Liverpool on December 16th., 1908. My grandfather had at least two brothers: Joe (Joseph), who emigrated to Louisiana, USA, around last years of the 19th. century, or most probably at begining 20th. century. I’ve no other details about his life. The other brother, Patrick, born about 1897, had to leave Ireland due to be pursued by the English army as it was an IRA member. He left Liverpool on 08 July 1920, at the age of 23 years, aboard the ship Orduna, and shelter with my grandfather in Rio Gallegos. Later he went to Louisiana to see the other brother, and finally return to the Republic of Ireland.

My grandfather also had at least one sister who joined a religious order and remained until about twenty years ago in a convent in Liverpool. She is almost certainly already dead.

My grandfather was married in Rio Gallegos with Lavinia Cox, daughter of an administrator of the coal mines in Chile, which had been recruited in Wales.

Robert Cullen Delaney, my grandfather, married and with three children (two men and a girl, all between five and ten years old at that time) had to leave Argentina for health problems, and headed to California to settle there, but the ship that they moved made a landfall in Chile, and they decided to stay in this country.

Any information regarding siblings of my grandfather and my great grandfather and other ancestors would be very grateful."

↧

Complete 1911 Census of Ireland now available online, for free

October 28, 2009, 12:45 pm

≫ Next: 1911 Irish census: Spelling variations

≪ Previous: Cullens in Chile

One of my contacts just informed me that the complete 1911 Census is now available and easily searchable at: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

Be sure to click through to see the original handwritten census returns.

The 1901 census will be made available within a year, hopefully. All earlier censuses for Ireland were destroyed, and later censuses have not yet been released for privacy reasons.

My own great-grandfather had already emigrated to Chicago by 1911, but his sister and other relatives in Tullycorker, Tyrone appear in the census.

In the coming weeks I hope to add some posts about Cullens in the 1911 census, about things like different spellings of Cullen, Protestant Cullens, and Irish speaking Cullens.

↧

1911 Irish census: Spelling variations

December 4, 2009, 10:40 am

≫ Next: The only American ever executed in Northern Ireland

≪ Previous: Complete 1911 Census of Ireland now available online, for free

Cullen is much more common than any of its variant spellings or similar surnames (except for Collins of course). Here are some of the different names/spellings found in the 1911 census of Ireland.

What is interesting about this? Some of the names that appear somewhat common in the U.S are rare or absent (Cullens and Cullins for example, also Cullum/Cullom is rare--maybe it's more of an English name?) Also names mentioned in the surname histories as being variants of Cullen are absent (Culloon, Culhoon).
-------------------------------
If a number is not given, there were less than 10 people with that name in the census, usually only 1 or 2.

CULLEN-7181 names

variant spellings and very rare surnames:
CULAN, CULLAN (66), CULLEEN, CULLEM, CULLENN, CULLAN, CULLENS (8 only), CULLEON, CULLION (96, mostly Donegal, some Tyrone), CULLLEN, CULLIM, CULLIN (82), CULLINS (10 only), CULLOM, CULLUM (15), CULLUMM, CULLON, CULHAM, CULHAN, CULLA (10), CULLAM, CULLANE (15), CULLANNE, CULLE, CULLEA, CULLEAN (10), CULLEANE, CULLEENY, CULLEHY, CULENEY, CULLER, CULLERY (10), CULLEW, CULLING, CULLINY, CULLIS, CULLNEY, CULLOHY, CULLOLY, CULLOO (17), CULLUANE, CULM, CULMEA, CULLINGNE, CULLMAN, CULLNEY, CULLOM, CULLON, CULLUM,

Then there are some names that are clearly different families, not just spelling variations:
CULHANE (611, mostly Limerick)
CULL (232, Down, Leitrim, Antrim and a few other counties)
CULLINEY (44, Mayo and Clare)
CULLINAN (863, Waterford to Roscommon)
CULLINANE (1240,Waterford to Roscommon)

Then there are the variant of McCullen:
McCULLEN (91), MacCULLEN (1), McCULL (17), McCULLION (12), McCULLAN (12), McCULLINS (11), McCULLIAN, McCULLIN, McCULLON, McCULLUM, McCULLAND, McCULLEM, MCULLIN

This list is only for names containing CUL, so names like COLLEN, COLLINS, KILLEN, QUILLEN, and McQUILLAN are not listed

↧

The only American ever executed in Northern Ireland

January 5, 2010, 6:50 am

≫ Next: English and Scottish Cullens in 1881

≪ Previous: 1911 Irish census: Spelling variations

Eddie Cullens was a Jew born in 1904 in the eastern Mediterranean, different sources say Crete, Cyprus, or Smyrna (Turkey). It is not known what his name at birth was, I think it's unlikely he was born a Cullens. At some point. he moved to the US and was naturalized as an American citizen in 1928 while living in the Bronx, New York. In 1931 he boarded a ship to England and his occupation was listed as "motion-picture projectionist", and he was traveling with a Mr. Zaro Agha, a native of Turkey. According a story from the BBC, Edward Cullens was involved with a circus exhibition of Mr. Agha, the "oldest man in the world" at age 156!

Eddie went to Belfast with another Turkish circus worker, Achmet Musa, who was found shot dead one day. Eddie was convicted of the murder and hanged at Crumlin Road jail, all the while protesting his innocence. As was the custom, he was buried in an unmarked grave on the Crumlin grounds.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8394309.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crumlin_Road_Jail

Because of new construction at the site, the government is planning to allow the bodies of the executed men to be claimed by relatives, identified by DNA testing if necessary, and reburied in cemeteries. The Jewish community of Belfast is interested in burying Eddie in their cemetery, but so far no relative of Eddie has come forward.

I recently received an email from an interested party who is searching for any relatives or information. Eddie is believed to have had a brother who remained in New York. By searching Ancestry.com databases, I was able to find Eddie's 1928 Naturalization index card, where he was listed as single, living at 1709 E. 174th St., and his ship's arrival record in Southhampton, England in 1931. I have not been able to find him in any census.

If you have any ideas or information, please email me at berniecullen@gmail.com

↧

English and Scottish Cullens in 1881

October 28, 2007, 3:07 am

≫ Next: English Cullens in Tasmania

≪ Previous: The only American ever executed in Northern Ireland

As some of you might know, there were only a few places in England
where the name Cullen was found in the 1800s: the main areas were
central England (Nottinghamshire and surrounding area), southwest
England (Somerset), the cities of London and Liverpool (probably
mainly recent Irish immigrants) and a very high concentration in the
extreme southeast of England--Kent!
You can see the map for England, Scotland and Wales at the surname
profiler
here (click on the 'Search for a Surname' circle, then type the surname Cullen and select the year 1881):

Has anyone investigated the census in more detail for 1881 to see which Cullen families originated in Ireland versus Scotland or England? This would be especially interesting for the Cullens in Scotland. I'm about to start some research on the censuses available at http://ancestry.co.uk so let me know if you have already done some work on this so I don't repeat it.

Here's a note that Jim Cullen of the best Cullen genealogy website sent me (his website address is http://www.lrbcg.com/jtcullen

Collins.
(3rd S. xi. 84,161,323.)
Your correspondents ALTER and C.T. COLLINS TRELAWNY may find the following of service:-
Mr. M.A. Lower, in his Patronymica Britannica, derives the English names Culling, Collins, &c. - the Scottish Cullen and Cullan - the Irish Cullen - from Cuillean and O'Cuillean, the tribe-name of some Irish clan. He may be possibly right as far as the Irish "Cullen" or "Cullin" is concerned. He is totally wrong about the Scottish Cullen - a name properly spelt Cullayne or Cullane, and borne by a family who held lands of that ilk near the stream of the same name in Banffshire as early as the thirteenth century. Respecting the English "Collins,"&c. he has made an equally hasty and erroneous decision. A glance at any Armory or Heraldry will show that all the English families spelling their name indifferently Cullen, Collen, Culling, Cullinge, and Collins - whether of Kent, Essex, Staffordshire, or Devon - are of one stock, bearing the griffin segreant (differenced) on their shield, and probably all having their origin in a parent stem deriving its name from the village of C
ulinge, in the hundred of Riseburge, Suffolk, mentioned in Domesday (292b.) as owned by "Comes Alanus."
In Kent the form of Cullen is most common. Folkestone churchyard is full of tombstones bearing it; and it may be traced at Canterbury, and all along the east coast and Isle of Thanet.
A gentleman who settled at Woodlands, near Ashburton, Devon, is called Cullen in the county histories, and Culling in the Harl. MSS. where his arms are given. His line terminated in an heiress who, four or five generations back, married Fursdon of Fursdon. In Essex, Collen appears most usual, and still exists there in a good family. Collins is a corruption found everywhere. Any good heraldry will give every variation of the name and difference of the coat armour. There is but one exception to the rule that all this family of names derive from one original "Culinge"; and that, although no one now exists of the race who bore it, it may be as well to mention. Richard Cullen, of an ancient family of Breda in the Duchy of Brabant, descended from Arnould von Ceulen, living A.D. 1300, came to England on the persecution of the Protestants by the Duke of Alva. His son or grandson was created a baronet by Charles II. The family, however, became extinct, apparently even in the female
line, in 1730. (Burke, Extinct Baronetcies.)
X.C.

----------------------

[The village of Culinge in Suffolk is now known as Cowlinge.]
[The word Comes appears in documents during the reign of the Conqueror, and later. It appears at least thirty-five times in the Doomsday Book (Index Nominum Personarum, Libri vocati Exon' Domesday, p. 606), beginning with such names as: Comes Alanus, Comes Albericus, and so on. Comes in this case has sometimes been mistaken for a family name. Comes, therefore, in this instance means simply Earl (also a follower, or companion). The pronunciation is Co-mes, in two syllables.]

----------------------

↧

English Cullens in Tasmania

July 13, 2007, 9:16 pm

≫ Next: Cullens in clogher history: Cullen's Point, Cormore

≪ Previous: English and Scottish Cullens in 1881

There is a great story here that I'd like to learn more about:
http://www.heavenandhelltogether.com/index.php?q=node/31 (link updated May 2009).

In 1835 Luke Cullen was convicted of stealing by a court in Middlesex, England (near London), and sentenced to 7 years transportation to Van Diemen’s Land, which is now called the island of Tasmania, Australia.

He married Elizabeth Bunker and it looks like they had a large and successful family and many descendants. One of his direct male descendants submitted a DNA sample to the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation a year or more ago, and now has results available.

I would like to get in contact with anyone of this family or who knows the family.

↧

Cullens in clogher history: Cullen's Point, Cormore

June 3, 2006, 6:18 pm

≫ Next: Cullens in Clogher history: Priests: Piers O'Cullen

≪ Previous: English Cullens in Tasmania

Clogher is a very small town in county tyrone which I visited in 1989. I also visited my Heagney relatives in Tullycorker, which is a townland (like a rural crossroads) just a couple miles to the north of Clogher. My Cullen ancestors are from Tullycorker, and there were Cullens living there in 1989, but we didn't know how our families were connected. I know they're not (male line) descendants of my ancestor Thomas Cullen who lived cir 1835-1900, but some could possibly be descendants of a brother of his, which would make them fourth cousins.

My major genealogy interest right now is sorting out all the Cullens in Clogher parish through microfilmed records. Most of the Cullens were in Tullycorker, but some lived in adjacent Cormore townland, and others in Eskernabrogue and Tycanny. Hopefully DNA testing (I need volunteers from Northern Ireland!!) will be able to determine whether these Cullens are all related, and whether they are related to any of the Cullinans who also lived in the area.

Thomas Cullen's wife was Mary McCann from adjacent Eskragh or Eskra townland. I did a google search for Clogher and Cullen and I found a wikipedia entry for Eskra. How does such a small place get mentioned on wikipedia?

wikipedia on Eskra

the main author of this aricle, who I believe goes by Ardfern, writes:

Many sites of penal day massrocks are still remembered by the local people. One such hallowed spot is 'The Altar Field' near Cullen's Point in the townland of Cormore. Another is in the hallow at the rear of the new church in Lisnarable. The old St. Patrick's Church - sometimes referred to as the 'Lower Mountain Church' was really a barn bought from a local farmer named Traynor and upgraded to serve as a church in the first quarter of the 19th century

Cullen's Point! I wonder if my father knows about it?

↧

Cullens in Clogher history: Priests: Piers O'Cullen

June 4, 2006, 12:18 pm

≫ Next: Cullens in Clogher history: Priests: Archdeacon Muireadhach O'Cuillen

≪ Previous: Cullens in clogher history: Cullen's Point, Cormore

from Military History magazine:
Irish Triumph at Yellow Ford

"Russell was only too glad when the Irish agreed to a truce in southeast Ulster, which lasted until the summer of 1597. During that time, however, the English were alarmed to learn that a priest named Piers O'Cullen of Clogher had sailed to Spain, bearing a letter dated September 19 and signed by O'Neill and O'Donnell. The letter beseeched the Spanish king to send 2,000 to 3,000 men, along with arms and money, to Ireland "to restore the faith of the [Catholic] Church and so secure you a kingdom." By seeking aid from England's principal rival, the Irish coalition was raising the stakes of the war"

Was O'Cullen from Clogher, or just priest there? Was he related to Bishop Cullen?

↧

Cullens in Clogher history: Priests: Archdeacon Muireadhach O'Cuillen

June 5, 2006, 2:25 pm

≫ Next: Cullinane/Cullinane distribution map

≪ Previous: Cullens in Clogher history: Priests: Piers O'Cullen

from lewis' topographical dictionary of Ireland (1842):
Tyrone--Clogher
scroll down or search for Clogher or O'Cuillen:

Clogher is called by Ptolemy Rhigia or Regia; and according to some authors, St. Patrick founded and presided over a monastery here, which he resigned to St. Kertenn when he went to Armagh, to establish his famous abbey there; but according to others, it was built at the command of St. Patrick in the street before the royal palace of Ergal, by St. Macartin, whoe died in 506, and from its vicinity to this palace both the abbey and the town appear anciently to have been called Uriel or Ergal. In 841, the abbot Moran Mac Inrachty was slain by the Danes. In 1041 the church was rebuilt and dedicated to St. Macartin. In 1126 the Archdeacon Muireadhach O'Cuillen was killed by the people of Fermanagh. Moelisa O'Carrol, Bishop of Clogher, in 1183, on his translation of the archbishoprick of Armagh, presented to this abbey a priest's vestments and a mitre, and promised a pastoral staff; he also consecrated the abbey church. etc etc

Why did the people of Fermanagh kill the archdeacon?

↧

Cullinane/Cullinane distribution map

August 1, 2006, 3:38 pm

≫ Next: New Cullen Distribution Map

≪ Previous: Cullens in Clogher history: Priests: Archdeacon Muireadhach O'Cuillen

Distribution of Cullinans and Cullinanes based on Griffith's Evaluation (1848-1868). Cullinan is the blue dots, and Cullinane is the red.

Compare this map to the map showing the distribution of Cullen, and note how there is little overlap. (except in Tyrone where my Cullens are from, and which is the only place in Ulster where Cullinan was found).

↧

New Cullen Distribution Map

October 12, 2006, 12:29 pm

≫ Next: Trip to Ireland

≪ Previous: Cullinane/Cullinane distribution map

Map Updated June 2008 with new DNA Project Members

Download this map and you can see it in much better detail (doubleclick to see it fullscreen, or right-click and save the picture). This is based on Griffith's Valuation from the mid 1800s. I placed the dots on the map by hand, but they are mostly accurate. This map will be useful for the Cullen Family DNA Project: http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/ The red Xs are where some of our members' families are from, and the red ?s are our members who only know the county their Cullen ancestors are from. (If your eyes are good enough to see some bluish dots, those are families spelled Cullion or Cullian). Obviously, most of the Cullens lived in the southeast of Ireland, in Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, and that's where we need to get more members. The second map shows the current distribution of Cullens based on online phone books. The lower map is a reference map showing county names and largest towns. It's from http://www.irelandstory.com/ which has lots of interesting maps and history.

↧

Trip to Ireland

March 9, 2007, 1:57 pm

≫ Next: Bernard Cullen, Trappist monk, 1923-2013

≪ Previous: New Cullen Distribution Map

Thanks to this Cullen genealogy blog, I got in touch with Pearse Cullen of Northern Ireland (See his comment on Cullen's point altar field).

It's hard to believe that he is new to genealogy research because he's so interested and good at it. I found a cheap ticket to Dublin on Washington's Birthday weekend, and drove up to Tyrone to meet Pearse and his family. It had been almost 18 years since I last visited, but the area was beautiful as I remembered. This time Pearse and I had figured out how I was related to everybody--when I met his uncle Vince Cullen back in 1989, we suspected a connection but weren't sure exactly how.

Here's a picture of me and Pearse approaching the field of our ancestor, Thomas Cullen. (Pearse's relatives remember when Thomas' house still standing here, but today only the foundation remains). More pictures are available, just send me an email if you'd like the link.

(temporarily unable to upload pictures to blog--check back later)

↧

Bernard Cullen, Trappist monk, 1923-2013

January 3, 2014, 8:12 am

≫ Next: Cullens of Carrick, Ballinlough, Co. Roscommon, Ireland

≪ Previous: Trip to Ireland

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=113498658
Legacy.com guestbook
Monastery News Index (look for June 2013)

↧

Cullens of Carrick, Ballinlough, Co. Roscommon, Ireland

July 15, 2014, 1:38 pm

≫ Next: Update on The only American ever executed in Northern Ireland

≪ Previous: Bernard Cullen, Trappist monk, 1923-2013

Gerry Cullen of Australia sent me this story:

"My great great grandfather was James (or at least we are led to believe from one old land notice) who was said to be married to Sarah Cullen, of Carrick, Ballinlough, Co. Roscommon, Ireland. Sarah died circa 1861 and the land and house was inherited by my great grandfather Michael Cullen who was married to Mary Scarry, Michael was born circa 1829 and died 1881 aged 52. Therefore his mother Sarah would have been born in the early part (or possibly even before) the 1800's.

"There is no mention of James Cullen in any other documents but an Andrew Cullen appears between the years 1832 and 1840's and I am anxious to find out if this Andrew was in fact an elder brother of Michael or perhaps Sarah's husband (and not James). It is also possible that this Andrew may have died or emigrated during the Great Famine period in Ireland as his name is not mentioned in any documents after. The name Andrew was inherited by my grandfather Dominick Andrew Cullen so there may be a very close family connection.

"Please note that the name Cullen was also spelt Cullinane in this days (with or without the 'e') Records in Ireland are very scarce as most were destroyed by the Civil War in Ireland in the 1920's including the most precious years of the famine era. While I have had no success in finding the answers to the above in various genealogy websites, I though it worth while to include it here as someone living outside Ireland may be a descendant of the abovementioned Andrew Cullen or Cullinane if he did actually sail to America to escape starvation and death."

↧

Update on The only American ever executed in Northern Ireland

April 6, 2016, 2:46 pm

≫ Next: McCullen family still present in County Antrim

≪ Previous: Cullens of Carrick, Ballinlough, Co. Roscommon, Ireland

Back in 2010 I posted about an Eddie Cullens who was an American citizen, hanged for murder in Northern Ireland in 1932. I quickly was able to learn some additional information but never posted it here:

According to his US Naturalization petition (1927) his birth name was Isaac Joseph Cohen born 4 Feb 1903 in Smyrna. He emigrated to the US from Marseilles on the SS Roma on 20 Jan 1920, arriving in New York on 3 Feb 1920.

I found the ships record at ellisisland.org for free: His name was spelled Jsaac Cohen and he was going to his brother Joshua J Cohen who lived on Broadway, his sister Esther Cohen remained in Constantinople. The date and name of ship was the same as on his Naturalization Petition. The brother's name was (mis)spelled Joshna.

So then the challenge came to find any descendants of his brother Joshua, here is some of what I learned:
According to Joshua Cohen' WWI draft registration card, he worked at the 229 E. Bway address but lived at 104 Essex? He was born June 15, 1890 in Smyrna.
I found Joshua and his family in the 1920 census, but couldn't find them in the 1930, or Joshua alone in 1910, or Eddie in 1920 or 1930. On his Naturalization petition, Joshua gave the name, date, and ship of his arrival:
ship Berlin, 18 Jan (possibly June) 1910 arrived in NY.
At elliisland.org, the ship Berlin is shown as arriving on 18 Jan 1910 (and not at all in June) but I checked the whole list a almost all the passengers were Italian.
I did find him in the ship record, in the index his name is transcribed as Tussesa Cohen, but there is an ink blot over his first name and it could be anything. He was travelling with several other people from Turkey but none named Cohen as far as I can tell. He is on line 28 and listed no contact in Turkey, and in New York, "friend Benjamin Cohen 31[?] St. Mark's Place New York"

I had a look at the 1910 census, and either found Benjamin alone, or didn't find any Cohens at the address, I forget which. But it looks like Eddie/Isaac didn't have any close family in NY other than Joshua.

Also on his Nat Pet. Joshua said he was born 15 May 1890 in Smyrna, Turkey
his wife is Louisa born in Bulgaria on 16 Jun (or Jan). He has one child Margaret Cohen born on July 24, 1912.

On his "Declaration of Intent" from 1910 (on the same .jpg file as the Nat Pet), Joshua gives his occupation as Interpreter.

On his draft card from 1917, Joshua's birthday is again given as 15 May 1890, and is a Clerk at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society at 229 East Broadway (the organization still exists but the building is being torn down: http://www.boweryboogie.com/2010/01/demolition-of-225-east-broadway-underway.html)

----The whole point of the above is to show that the attached 1920 census return is really Joshua, even though there are some misspellings, and they list him as being born in Russia. On the 1920 census, Louisa and Margaret are listed, and so is daughter Edith, age 1 year 6? months.

We contacted the HIAS where Joshua worked, they were helpful, but they couldn't find much more than. They found the death certificate for Joshua's wife, but no record of next of kin, etc.
************
So that's where we left it back in 2010. Perhaps there is something more to learn now that the 1940 census is available. It is such an interesting story.

↧

McCullen family still present in County Antrim

May 5, 2017, 12:28 pm

≫ Next: archived Cullen patriarch information from Worldfamilies DNA site

≪ Previous: Update on The only American ever executed in Northern Ireland

I received the message below a few days ago. Please email me at berniecullen@gmail.com and I will forward your message to Charlotte

"I am from County Antrim N Ireland and my maiden name is McCullen. My fathers family came from Loughmourne in Co Antrim. In fact Mr Gary McCullen, my dads still living brother, (my dad died in 2003) still lives in the village of Loughmourne. I know when I was living in N Ireland and growing up noticed there were only a few , maybe 2 other than our family in the telephone book.

I know that my dads cousin emigrated to Canada many years ago, I never met him. My family were farmers and I believe farmers generations back.

I now live in East Anglia in U Kingdom.

It is great to read about other McCullens around the world. I know that Mc rather than Mac in Ireland was protestant surname and names beginning with MacC etc were normally Catholic names. Interesting.

Any one who thinks they are related to me please contact me

Thanking you.

Charlotte"

↧

archived Cullen patriarch information from Worldfamilies DNA site

May 14, 2018, 7:58 am

≫ Next: archived messages from Worldfamilies Cullen DNA site

≪ Previous: McCullen family still present in County Antrim

Members with Cullen ancestors from England:

C-23 Arthur Cullen, b.cir1760 m. Mary Epps - - P Cullen [neensollars AT btinternet.com ]

Richard b cir1798-1800 Deal, Kent, England m. Harriet Shalders
George Cullen b 1843 Marylebone, London m. Eliza Dungar
Henry Cullen b 1876 Paddington, London m. Florence Elizabeth Warner
Robert Cullen b. 1909 London m. Cecilia -----

C-38 Michael Cullen, b. Ireland m Mrs Ellen Cahill, widow - - Mike Cullen [ cullen AT cox.net]

Peter (Pierce) Cullen, b abt 1869 Longbenton, Walker (Newcastle), England m. Jane Dunkan
David Cullen b abt 1900 Longbenton, Walker M. Emily Calvert

Our matching members from Nottinghamshire/Lincolnshire/Derbyshire England:

C-9 Thomas Cullen, b. c1690 Upton, Nottinghamshire, m Elizabeth Whitton - - JT Cullen [jtcullen AT lrbcg.com]

Gervase Cullen, b 1718 Upton, Notts, m Elizabeth Millward
Thomas Cullen, b 1751 Ancaster, Lincs, m Elizabeth Gratrix
William Cullen, b 1795 Great Hale, Lincs, m Elizabeth Houghton
Enos Cullen, b 1821 Great Hale, Lincs, m Betsy James
Charles E Cullen, b 1861 Castalia, Ohio, m Sarah Goodwin
James H Cullen, b 1887 Castalia, Ohio, m Grace Cable
C-20 William Cullen, m Elizabeth Wright in 1805, Heanor, Derbyshire - - Chris Cullen [chrisdcullen AT aol.com]

William Cullen, b abt 1808, m Eliza Richards in 1830, Radford, Nottingham
Willam Cullen b 1831 in Radford, Nottingham, m Sarah Anne Plowright
William James Cullen, b 1857 Nottingham, m Gertrude Roberts
Arthur Frederick Cullen, b 1886 Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire, m Alice Redgate
Donald Herbert Cullen, b 1918 Nottingham, m Elizabeth (Betty) Irene -----

Another family with English origins:

C-17 Mark Culling, b early 1700s, Norfolk, England... ???- Diane Webb [geniegirl1010 AT gmail.com]

John Culling, b abt 1880, Suffolk, England, m Annie Weeks
Harry Luke Culling, b Fremantle, Western Australia, m Daisy May Toombs
Norman Luke Culling, b Cottlesloe, Western Australia
Early American Families :

C-22 Johnathon Cullen,b: Abt 1837 in MD; d: Bet 4/1878-4/1880; M Didemiah Unknown - Jan Coffin [jancoffin AT verizon.net]

James N Cullen b. 1862 Worcester County, MD d: 1921 Chincoteague, VA M: Amanda Catherine Ellen Niblet
Thomas James Cullen b: 18 Nov 1883 Sussex Cty, DE or Wicomico Cty MD d: 16 Sep 1964; m: Bessie Jane Hopkins
C-34 Johan VAN CULIN, b. 1627 place unknown, Dutch?, d aft1708 PA? ?m. Anna JOHANSDOTTER- Bernie Cullen [berniecullen AT gmail.com]

George van CULIN, b 1675 Ridley Township, Chester County, PA d 1735/36, m abt 1705? Margaret MORTON
George CULIN, b 1709 Ridley Township, Chester County, PA d 1760, m abt 1733 Ann JUSTIS
Swan CULIN, b 1734 Ridley Township, Chester County, PA d 1776, m abt. 1761 Margaret HENDRICKSON
John CULIN, b 1761 Ridley T?ship, Chester Co, PA, m Ann LONGACRE
C-11 Charles Cullen, b. c. late 1700's Halifax Co. VA (family Scottish) m. Rebecca Penick- Don K. Cullen [scotchdc AT cablelynx.com]

Dabney Phillips Cullen b. 1833 Lauderdale Co TN m. Elizabeth D. Conaway b. 1832 TN
Joel Bennett Cullen b. 1872 CROCKET TX, m. Lutie Pearl Prothro
Joel Bennett Cullen, Jr. b. 1901 Hallsville TX, m. Linnie, b. 1903 AR
Donald K Cullen b. 1927, Hallsville, TX
C-12 Isaac Cullen, b 1808 Hancock Co., (West) Virginia, m. Eliza Marshall - Judith Tauber-Lovik [mandjtlovik AT gmail.com]

Israel Harvey Cullen b 1845 Hancock Co. (West) Virginia, m Mary Ann Grumley
Alvin Sylvester Cullen b 1880 Hancock Co, WV, d 1964 Columbiana Co, OH, m Martha Mina -----
Predicted R1b1-M222+, also known as "Niall of the Nine Hostages" group and/or R1b1b2e:

C-7 Michael Cullen, b Ireland, m Mary Bridget Brannigan - - Karen Cullen [kcullen343 AT gmail.com]

Patrick J. Cullen, b 1866 Knocktopher, Kilkenny, Ireland, m Katherine T Lynch
Edward Cullen, b 1897 Brooklyn, NY, m Mary Morrissey
John P.T. Cullen, m Josephine -----
C-25 Richard Cullen, m Betsy ??? - - Helen Cullen [helenjay1 AT bigpond.com]

Luke Cullen, b 1817 London? England, m Elizabeth Bunker
Mark Cullen, b 1843 Tasmania, Australia, m Maggie Clark
William John Cullen, b 1867 Port Sorrell, Tasmania, m Annie Elizabeth Walkley
Ralph Arnold Cullen, b 1892 Mersey, Tasmania, m Margaret Zantuck
Bryan Leslie Cullen, b 1933, m Marlene -----
C-27 Richard Cullen, m Betsy Ann ??? - - Bernie Cullen [berniecullen AT gmail.com]

Luke Cullen, b abt 1819 England, m Elizabeth Bunker
Daniel Cullen, b 1855 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, m Caroline Franklin
John Cullen, b 1891 Hobart, Tasmania, m Emma Johnson
West/Southwest Ireland:

C-19 Patrick Cullen b. c1790, m. Mary Whelan, lived Tynagh, Co. Galway - Jann Callaghan Cullen [jann AT callaghan-cullen.com]

John Cullen b. 1827 Tynagh, Co. Galway, m.Catherine Kirwan
John Cullen - born 1856, Tynagh, Co. Galway; m. Ellen Brehony
Thomas Cullen; b. 1879, Tynagh, Co. Galway; m. Margaret
Laurence Cullen; b. 1921, Tynagh, Co. Galway
North/Northwest Ireland:

C-32 Patrick Cullen b. abt1831, Gortnagrelly, Sligo, Ireland m Margaret Nicholson- J J Cullen [jjc771 AT verizon.net]

Peter Cullen, b. 1874 Gortnagrelly, Co Sligo, Ireland. m. Katherine Commons
Patrick Cullen, b. 1903 Gortnagrelly, Sligo, died NY City, m. Elizebeth -----

C-2 John Cullen b. 17xx, m Elizabeth- Arnold Gary Cullen [gary.cullen AT comcast.net]

Joseph Cullen, b. 1808 Swanlinbar, Co Cavan, Ireland. m. Mary Anne Carr (Kerr)
Alexander Cullen, b. 1864 Swanlinbar, m. Ella May Bennet
Walter Cullen, b. 1890, m Othelia Nicks
Our Clogher, Tyrone genetic lineage:

C-5 Bernard Cullen, b before 1800, Co Tyrone, Ireland, m Catherine ??? - Bernie Cullen [berniecullen AT gmail.com]

Thomas Cullen b around 1820, Clogher Parish, Co Tyrone, Ireland, m Mary McCann
Bernard Cullen b 1869, Tullycorker, Clogher, Co Tyrone, Ireland, m Catherine O'Connor
John Bernard Cullen, b and d 1900s, Chicago, IL
James Edward Cullen, b 1900s Chicago, IL, d 1900s, Los Angeles, CA
C-18 Patrick Cullen, b before 1820, Co Tyrone, Ireland, m ???- Bernie Cullen [berniecullen AT gmail.com]

Patrick Cullen b before 1850, Clogher Parish, Co Tyrone, Ireland, m Margaret McSorley
Joseph Cullen b 1877, Eskra Parish, Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland m. Lena XXXXX
(living children)
Eastern/Southeastern Ireland:

Our Wicklow Lineage, distantly connected to families like the O'Byrnes and Kavanaghs::

C-21 John Cullen, b 1845, Brae, Co Wicklow, Ireland m Roseanna Marley - Chester Cullen [chestercullen AT sbcglobal.net]

Hugh Cullen b 1800s PA m Sarah Templeton
Other Eastern/Southeastern Ireland families:

C-3 John Cullen, b c1790 m Eleanor - Bernie Cullen [berniecullen AT gmail.com]

Richard Cullen, b. c1829 Kilbride, Co Carlow, Ireland. m Jane Clancy
James A. Cullen, b. c1866 Detroit, Michigan, USA , m. Annie ???
James Lawrence Cullen, b. c1901 Detroit, Michigan USA
Ireland, unknown county:

C-42 Joseph Cullen, b.abt1870 (Northern?) Ireland m. Mary Conroy --- Dan Cullen [onecullen AT yahoo.com]

Frederick Pierce Cullen b 1908 Quincy, Mass., USA m. Agnes Inglis
Edward Dale Cullen, b 1930 Quincy, Mass. m. Elizabeth ------
C-10 ______Cullen, b 18xx, Ireland - Paul D Cullen, Sr. [pcullen AT cox.net]

John F. Cullen, b Frankfurt ME,1857, d 17 April 1920 Boston, MA
James F. Cullen, b Boston, MA 9 Jan 1904, d Westport, CT 10 Sep 1993

Other families not yet in DNA project:

John Cullen, b 1811 Co. Westmeath, Ireland - - Katherine King [kcking AT cox.net]

Frank J. Cullen, b 1853 Jefferson Co., NY
Harold Dempster Cullen, b 1882 Sheboygan Co., Wisconsin, USA
Frank Haywood Cullen, b 1921 Jefferson Co., Alabama, USA
John Cullen, b 1800s Co. Wexford, Ireland - - Shari [scn_hemma AT hotmail.com]

Thomas Joseph Cullen, b 1889 Duncormick, Co. Wexford
Joseph Paul Cullen, b 1945 New York
Edward Cullen, b 1840 Kingstown (Dunleary), Dublin, Ireland, m Helen Walters - - Diane Eustance [de AT frontiernet.net]

Herbert Cullen, b 1871, Ireland or Birkenhead, Merseyside, England

Edward Cullen, b 1829 Co. Westmeath Ire, m Margaret Sherman New York - Tom Cullen [cullent001 AT hawaii.rr.com]

Edward Cullen Jr. b 1860s, vice mayor Toledo, OH. 1890's
John F. Cullen b 1861, Wayne MI d 1906, Wayne Postmaster
Thomas J. Cullen b 1872, b Wayne, MI

Gordon Cullen, b New Zealand, m Mertle Robson - Noelleen Subloo [nsubloo AT hotmail.com]

Bart Cullen,Nancy Cullen, Betty Cullen, Thelma Cullen, all b. New Zealand

↧

archived messages from Worldfamilies Cullen DNA site

May 14, 2018, 8:04 am

≫ Next: archived discussion (June 2009) from Worldfamilies DNA site

≪ Previous: archived Cullen patriarch information from Worldfamilies DNA site

Hello Pappy,

Thank you for updating your pedigree here, and I know that you have been able to find out even more information since January. Your DNA results are complete, and they show descent from the "Northwest Irish" lineage associated with "Niall of the Nine Hostages".

In addition, you may have a very old match with a Cullen with roots in Co. Tyrone, not too far from your origins in northern Co. Armagh.

Bernie

Login or register to post comments
On 15:29pm, August 25th, 2008 cullenadmin said:
Pedigree
Hello Noelleen, JJCtransit, Clare,

Noelleen and JJC, your pedigrees have been added to our profile page. And JJCtransit has already received his DNA results. Noelleen, I need to get back to you, will send an email soon!

Clare, I think you are the person who is organizing a Cullen DNA group at Ancestry.com. Is a Cullen relative of yours already taking a test? I think that's exciting, and hopefully you will find new DNA project members at Ancestry. Please get in touch directly at my email, berniecullen@gmail.com I would like to share information and ideas.

(Mr) Bernie Cullen
Seattle, USA

Login or register to post comments
On 18:29pm, August 23rd, 2008 clare said:
Pedigree
Richard Cullen born 1861 Lambstown, Killurin, Co. Wexford, Ireland
died 1943 Lambstown, Killurin, Co. Wexford
Mary Anne Cullen (nee Roche) born 20/12/1871 Tomhaggard Forth, Co. Wexford, Ireland died Jan 1942

Login or register to post comments
On 15:26pm, January 17th, 2009 pappy said:
Pedigree
UPDATE
Parents of Joseph Cullen:
Edward Cullen and Elizabeth Raffferty, Co. Armagh Ireland, (dates unknown)

Joseph Cullen b1870 Ireland d.1918 Quincy Mass
m. Mary Conroy b.1880 Galway d 1960?Quincy Mass
their son
Frederick Pierce Cullen b1908 d1964 Quincy Mass
m.Agnes Inglis b1901 West Hartleypool England d 1977Quincy Mass
their son
Edward Dale Cullen b1930 d 1957 Quincy Mass,
m.Elizabeth Nugent b 1935, Yarmouth Maine d 1994California
their son
Daniel b. 1956, Quincy Mass

Login or register to post comments
On 22:22pm, November 3rd, 2007 cullenadmin said:
Pedigree
Hi Katherine, dewylie, and Jan,

Thanks to all of you for submitting your pedigrees. Jan, I know your cousin has already returned his test kit to the Cullen DNA project and we should get his results soon. I will work on getting all three pedigrees onto our pedigree page, and I hope that Katherine and dewylie consider joining our DNA project too!

Bernie Cullen
volunteer co-administrator, Cullen Family DNA Project
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen

Login or register to post comments
On 18:38pm, November 3rd, 2007 katherinecking said:
Pedigree
1. John Cullen b. 1811 County Westmeath, IRE, d. 1872 Sheboygan Co., WI
[had brothers James (b. 1799 IRE, d. 1872 Sheboygan Co., WI), Edward (b.c. 1815 IRE, d. 1884 Milwaukee, WI) and sister Bridget (b.c. 1816, d. 1889 Sheboygan Co., WI) m1. Truman Baker, m2. Michael Carson]

2. Frank J. Cullen b. 1853, Jefferson Co., NY, d. 1935 Jefferson Co., AL

3. Harold Dempster Cullen b. 1882 Sheboygan Co., WI, d. 1962 Jefferson Co., AL

4. Frank Haywood Cullen b. 1921 Jefferson Co., AL, d. 2005 Naples, FL

5. Katherine Ann Cullen m. Richard L. King

Login or register to post comments
On 3:52am, October 27th, 2007 cullenadmin said:
Pedigree
Hi Tiffany and Chris,

I've already emailed you privately, but thanks for adding your family history information to our pedigree forum. Chris, I hope you had a good visit to Ireland this summer, and please get in touch if you think a male relative would be willing to take a DNA test for us. Hopefully someone will be able to provide some info about the girls who emigrated to the US.

Tiffany, I've just sent an email to you today, and let us know if we can help with your search.

Bernie Cullen
volunteer co-administrator, Cullen Family DNA Project
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen

Login or register to post comments
On 2:07am, November 1st, 2006 cullenadmin said:
Pedigree
Hi Shari and Jann,

Your pedigrees have been posted. I have corresponded with Jann before, good to see you here. Hope you both find a relative to join our DNA project.

Bernie Cullen
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/pats.html

Login or register to post comments
On 2:10am, September 17th, 2006 cullenadmin said:
Pedigree
Thanks Don, Noelleen, and Chester,

Your pedigrees have been posted. Thank you Don for joining our project and you should get your results soon. Hope that Noelleen and Chester consider signing up for a test.

Bernie Cullen, co-administrator, Cullen Family DNA Project
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/pats.html

Login or register to post comments
On 12:16pm, September 29th, 2006 cullenadmin said:
Pedigree
Hi Thomas,

Your pedigree has been posted. Hope you are part of the DNA project.

Bernie Cullen
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/pats.html

Login or register to post comments
On 22:41pm, April 26th, 2006 marilyn said:
Pedigree
Hi, Arnold. Your pedigree is posted. Hope you are part of the DNA project.
Marilyn
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/pats.html

Login or register to post comments
On 15:19pm, April 9th, 2006 marilyn said:
Pedigree
Hi, JT. Your pedigree is posted. Hope you are part of the DNA project.
Marilyn
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/pats.html

Login or register to post comments
On 19:09pm, February 22nd, 2006 marilyn said:
Pedigree
Hi, John. Your pedigree is posted. Hope you are part of the DNA project.
Marilyn
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/pats.html

Login or register to post comments
On 16:04pm, March 27th, 2006 marilyn said:
Pedigree
Hi, Paul. Your pedigree is posted. Hope you are part of the DNA project.
Marilyn
http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/cullen/pats.html

↧

archived discussion (June 2009) from Worldfamilies DNA site

May 14, 2018, 8:05 am

≪ Previous: archived messages from Worldfamilies Cullen DNA site

After three years of the Cullen DNA project, we have made some great discoveries. We have found that there are many independent Cullen families throughout Ireland, so DNA can be a powerful tool to help people who don't know what county their Cullen ancestors are from. Our most exciting finding has been identifying the main DNA signature of the best known Cullen family in Ireland and the world: the descendants of the O'Cullenfamily of County Wicklow, now numerous also in the Dublin area. They were early chiefs in Wicklow, and are genetically related to other ruling families of the area, like the Byrnes and Kavanaghs. It turns out that most other Cullen families in Ireland are not related to the WicklowCullens. See below for more on the Wicklow findings.

This is the first major revision of the Discussion page in more than a year (June 2009). Click here to skip down to a discussion of all of our members' family history and DNA results, in the same order that they appear in our Results table. In addition to the Wicklow discoveries, you can read about connections between Cullens in other parts of Ireland, and also England and Scotland, and Cullen descendants throughout the world.

Here are 3 common goals for DNA testing and genetic genealogy:

(1) Check genetics against a "paper trail" of birth, death, civil, church records etc. and confirm/refute a family tree going back to the 1600s or 1700s, and place new people into these established family lines.

(2) Determine the genetic pattern for different lineages (families) of Cullens in Ireland and beyond, and figure out which lineages are related to each other, on a time scale of hundreds of years.

(3) Trace the history and migration of your male line ancestors for hundreds or even thousands of years: when did your male ancestor likely come to Ireland (for example)? Was it with the Celts or earlier (before 100 AD), or with the Normans (post 1100) or later? Are you descended from a ruling/dominant/prolific family, or is your male line restricted to a small area?

Because most of us come from ordinary Irish people, and records in Ireland are scarce before 1864, we don't have a long paper trail or large family tree to fit people into. So goal (1) is not realistic for most of us. This may change--for example, if a new member matches member C-9, he will know he comes from an English family, with records for this Cullen family going back into the 1500s. We also hope to get DNA samples from landowning Irish Cullen families and early Cullen immigrants to the US, both which will have more extensive paper trails.

Goal (2) is really the major goal of this Cullen Family DNA Project. As expected, many independent Cullen lineages are showing up, which agrees with what we know about multiple Irish Gaelic surnames being anglicized to Cullen, and other origins in England, Scotland and Europe. See below for more on these connections.

Goal (3): There are genetic differences between Irish, Scottish and English people, but although on average the populations may differ, it is difficult to draw a firm boundary and state definitively what any one persons patrilineal ancestry is. A few of our members can say their DNA shows very strong ties to a specific region. For example, several members are predicted as R-M222, which is extremely common in the north of Ireland and in Scotland. So members C-25 and C-27, whose common ancestor Luke Cullen was born in London in 18XX, know that their line very likely goes back to somewhere to the north. But DNA alone cannot say how and when their line left Scotland or Ireland and came to southern Englandit could have been happened in ancient times, or in the 1700s as London was rapidly growing.

Accepting these limitations, it is fascinating to contemplate your ancestral line's place in history and in prehistoric movements of peoples. So far, all of our members belong to Y-chromosome haplogroups I and R1b, which the great majority of men in Great Britain and Ireland belong to (R1b alone is over 80% in Ireland, well over 50% in Britain). But your DNA results can tell even more if you look closer, just read below.

Comments on each member's results, in the order that they appear on our results page. (This is a lengthy list, and you can use the search function (control-F) to skip to the code number of the project member you are interested in (for example, C-5, these numbers appear on our patriarchs and results pages).

Like 80% of Irish men, six of our members are members of DNA haplogroup R1b. But several of our members show interesting/uncommon patterns within this large group:

Member C-7 matches the "Niall of the Nine Hostages" signature, which is found in up to 21% of men in northwest Ireland. He is descended from a line of Irish kings, or at least one of the most dominant and prolific families in Ireland. Obviously this is a common pattern, with over 350 matches in the FamilyTreeDNA database, but so far C-7 is the only Cullen.
Member C-2 has fewer matches, but is very close to the genetic signature of the "Colla Uais", the founding rulers of the old Ulster Irish - Scot kingdom of Dalriada, which evolved into the Scottish royal house. Member C-2 comes from Co. Cavan in Ulster, Ireland, and is trying to determine if his Cullen ancestors came from Scotland to Ireland in the last few hundred years, or if they had been in Ireland for a long, long time.
Members C-1 and C-8, although probably not related in the last 2000 years, show some very distinctive marker values, which place them in a well-defined "Southern Irish/Continental" group. For a more detailed explanation, and an analysis of results for our other R1b members, click here to visit the DNA page of our member JT Cullen.

The other three members of the project are in Haplogroup I, which only about 10% of Irish and Scottish men belong to (the percentage is about 18% in England and around 40% in Scandinavia and northern Germany).

Member C-5 and C-18 have no other exact matches in the FT-DNA database, and belong to the unusual I1b2 haplogroup (I'm using the traditional names for the haplogroups), which occurs in 40% of men in Sardinia (an Italian island), and at low levels throughout western Europe. Despite this, their closest matches are from Ireland, so their ancestors probably have been in Ireland for thousands of years, like most of the R1b Cullens
Member C-3 has an even more unusual haplotype, with no matches or close matches--it looks like he belongs to Haplogroup I1c. Testing of more markers could reveal a possible Scottish or Germanic origin for this Irish Cullen family
Member C-9 also has a very rare pattern, with no close matches. He belongs to Haplogroup I1b2*, formerly called I1(x). This groups is thinly and widely distributed across continental Europe, and given this Cullen family's Nottinghamshire, England origins, points to an Anglo-Saxon, Danish or Viking origin for the family (instead coming from British/Celtic people who were already on the island of Great Britain).

For more information on how to translate all the numbers on our results page to Haplogroups, click here to visit the DNA page of our member JT Cullen. Or if you want to join our project, or have questions about these results, please email me---Bernie (member C-5)

English Origins

There are three places in England where English Cullen families existed before the arrival of Irish emigrants: a large number in Kent, which is a county southeast of London, a smaller number in Somerset in the southwest, and another cluster in the East Midlands: in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Cambridgeshire.

The Cullen name in Kent is said to be a locational namebut it is not clear if it was the name of a village or farm/estate, or whether it refers to Cologne, Germany or somewhere else on the Continent. Because many different men could have been given the name from Cullen, it is likely that there are multiple genetic lineages of Cullens from Kent, and so far the two member with roots in Kent are not Y-DNA matches. Member C-23 is descended from a Cullen family that traditionally worked as coachmen. Although there is a family tradition that their Cullen ancestor was from Ireland and came to England in the service of his employer, so far traditional genealogy has found only English Cullens living in Deal on the eastern coast of Kent. C-23 belongs to Haplogroup I1 which is more common in eastern England than western, and is often considered to indicate some form of Germanic ancestry, but I1 is also found in native Irish and Scots too. Member C-46 is descended from Rev. Joseph Cullen who was born in Greenstreet, Teynham near the Thames estuary in northern Kent. C-46 has only tested 12 markers, and is an exact match to the Western Atlantic Modal Haplotype, which found in up to 5% of men in western Europe, making it the most common 12 marker DNA pattern in the region.

Member C-38 comes from an Irish Cullen family which emigrated in the 1800s to Longbenton, Walker, near Newcastle in northeast England, and later generations to the U.S. So far records have not revealed his Irish homeland. C-38s results are placed in the English Origin section for easier comparison with C-23 from Kentalthough both are in Haplogroup I1, there isnt yet evidence of a genetic relationship in the past 1000 years, this could change if they do more testing.

As mentioned above, the East Midlands has an historic Cullen population, and the two members with roots in the area are genetic matches, both belonging to the rare Haplogroup I2b2 (formerly known as I(x) among other names), which is especially common in Germany. Member C-9 has traced his pedigree back to XXXX and C-20 back to XXXX and the lines do not meet, so this connection is an old one, and there has been time for two mutations to occur in the 25 markers that both have tested. This is great confirmation of their common East Midlands Cullen ancestry the two members did not know of each other until recently, and had no guarantee of matching.

There are several surnames that could possibly be alternative spellings of Cullen and which are included in this project for that reason. The name Culling is most common in East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk), where Cullen was historically very rare. Member C-17s Culling ancestors emigrated to Canada and Australia in the 1900s. C-17 belongs to the common Haplogroup R1b but a few uncommon marker values means he has no close matches with any surname. In particular, he doesnt match any of our Cullens, nor any of the other Cullings who have done DNA tests (results not shown because they did not request to join our project).

Early American

A major goal of this project is to sort out the origins of Cullen families who were in the US and Canada before the 1840s, when large-scale emigration from Ireland began. These early American families could have Irish, English, or Scottish roots, and the spelling of the name may not have always been Cullen. In the 1800s, there were several Cullen families in Delaware and nearby areas in Maryland, east of the Chesapeake Bay. Members C-22 and C-30 are descended from a James Cullen of XXXXX and their DNA results show them to be related. The relationship of James Cullen to Charles Cullen, the ancestor of C-33, has always been unclearthere were strong ties between the two families. It was disappointing to learn that C-33 is not genetically related on the Cullen side to James descendants, but now we have evidence that there was an adoption or name change in one of these lines, and there is a possibility that James ancestor was actually a man named Townsend.

Another early ancestor from Delaware is the Johannes van Culin, who was a member of the New Sweden colony on Delaware Bay. Despite the name, the colony had settlers from Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands among other countries, and traditional genealogy points to the Netherlands/Belgium as the most likely origin for Johannes. The DNA supports this, his descendant C-35 is very close to the common Western European WAMH, which is almost absent in Finland and much commoner in the Netherlands than Sweden. C-35, who comes from a branch of the family that moved to Pennsylvania and spelled the name Culin (the beginning pronounced like the letter Q), does not match any of our early American Cullens. C-35 is fairly close to some of our Irish Cullens, but there is no reason to suspect this means a genetic connectiona common DNA type like the WAMH will match many, many people closely.

C-31 and C-34 are named Cullum, did not know each other before testing, and are perfect DNA matches. Although they have only tested 12 markers, they share a value of 11 for DYS 392, which is a very rare value within Haplogroup R1b. They can be certain share a common ancestor who lived within the last 800 or so years, since the time surnames began to be used. C-31 and C-34 both can trace back to families from Maryland, USA, although they cannot find where their lines meet.

Our new member C-36 with known roots in Blessington, Wicklow, Ireland, matches C-21 with family from Bray, Wicklow and Irish-American C-4. These three men have an uncommon DNA pattern also found in some other men from southeastern Ireland. This pattern is called the "LeinsterModal" and its distinctive marker values are underlined in C-4, C-21, and C-36's listings in our results grid. The Leinster Modal is found especially in men from families that were once rulers of the area, like Byrne, Kavanagh and Cullen (and also in some families in Scotland). You can compare the Cullen results to these other families, click here (The link will take you to the DYS464x project, which is using advanced testing to show that these families are related).

Notice that all three of these Cullens share the very rare value of 18,23 for YCA IIa,b. They have other distinctive values which are not common in other Leinster Modal families (these are in bold in our results grid). Still the three Cullens differ from each other at several markers, which indicatesthat their common ancestor lived a long time ago.

Now we can say that we have identified the main lineage of O'Cullen of Wicklow. Most Cullens from other parts of Ireland are _not_ related to this family. More Cullens from Leinster and other parts of Ireland are urged to take a test so we can learn more about the spread of this important family.

Here's more on some of other matches:

Member C-18 who was born and raised in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, matches member C-5, an Irish-American from Chicago, USA. They match exactly on all 25 markers that both have tested. This match was by no means guaranteed: although the two suspected their families were connected, they have each traced their ancestry back to the 1820s and found they descend from two different Cullen men living in the same parish. So the connection between C-5 and C-18 is probably more than 200 years ago.

The other good news is that the most of the remaining 16 lineages identified so far are very distinct from each other, and most are very distinctive when compared to Irish, English and Europeans in general. All this means that when new people join the Cullen project, and we get more matches between our members, we will have an easier time determining which of the matches reflect a shared Cullen ancestry, and are not merely chance matches based on very common marker values.

↧

Latest Images