Two brothers and a sister emigrated from County Kerry Ireland to the United States in the mid-1800's. They settled in Decatur County in 1858. The Dennis and Margaret HOULIHAN MULLIN family moved from Decatur County to Taylor County in 1876. Of the twelve children born to them, only six survived to adulthood. Dennis and Margaret are buried in St. Mary's cemetery at Maloy. All of the surviving children were members of Immaculate Conception Catholic church in Maloy and are buried in the cemetery there [St. Mary's].

They are:

Mary Margaret MULLIN HART, born December 29, 1857, Pickaway Co. OH, died October 9, 1944, Maloy, married Michael HART, nine children, all deceased: Margaret, Mary, Elizabeth, Dennis, John, Richard, Caroline, Edward and Helen.

Edward Dennis MULLIN, born April 11, 1860, Decatur Co. IA, died December 5, 1915, Maloy, married October 4, 1880, Denison IA Ellen "Nell" MALONEY (1863-1940), six children, all deceased: Edward, Mary, Bernard, William, Leo, James and John.

Ellen "Nell" MULLIN SHAY, born July 20, 1862, Decatur Co. IA, died December 2, 1941, married circa 1882 Michael Chancey SHAY (1862-?), two boys, both deceased: Eddie and Dennis R.

Dennis MULLIN Jr., born January 6, 1865, Decatur Co. IA, died January 29, 1948, married February 17, 1890 Mary Catherine SULLIVAN (b. 16 Sep 1869, Leon IA), five children, all deceased: Roger, James, Catherine, Maurice and Robert.

John Martin MULLIN, born September 1, 1868, Decatur Co. IA, died May 14, 1947, married circa 1885 Nora O'CONNOR (b. 05 Sep 1869 IL), seven children, of those five are living. The deceased are Brian and Eugene; the others are James, Thomas, Margaret, Mary and Helen.

William Patrick MULLIN, born March 3, 1878, died January 13, 1936 Maloy, married circa 1900 Ellen "Nell" LAMBERT, (born 1880) daughter of William and Mary HART LAMBERT. Ellen, Mary, and William remained in the Maloy area. Dennis made his home in Omaha, and John in South Dakota.

Bartholomew HOULIHAN was born in Kilshenaugh Parish of County Kerry, Ireland in 1789. Around the year 1825 he married Mary GALVIN who was born in Kilshenaugh Parish in 1803. It is believed that the HOULIHAN family immigrated to New Orleans in 1849. They were part of the Irish flood of immigrants escaping the Great Famine. The family was in Pickaway County, Ohio in 1849 then came to Decatur County, Iowa in 1858. Bart and Mary came with their daughter and son-in-law, Dennis and Margaret, to Taylor County in 1876. Bart often rode his horse to Decatur County to visit his friends and relatives residing in "Little Ireland" in Woodland Township. Dennis built a one-roomed house attached to his home where Bart and Mary lived the remainder of their lives. Bart died December 6, 1884, and Mary died December 12, 1893. They were interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy.

Margaret (HOULIHAN) MULLIN was born in Kilshenaugh Parish of County Kerry, Ireland in 1832, died January 13, 1920 at Maloy. On February 18, 1849, Pickaway County, Ohio, she married Dennis MULLIN. Dennis MULLIN was born in Knockenaugh, County Kerry of Ireland in 1830. Dennis petitioned for naturalization in Fairfield County, Ohio on October 6, 1856. The MULLINS and Margaret's parents Bart and Mary migrated with the Maruice DAUGHTON family to Decatur County, Iowa in 1858 where they were pioneer settlers of "Little Ireland." Here Dennis donated land to establish a cemetery and Catholic church site September 22, 1863. Dennis and Margaret's seven-year-old son Bartholomew died and was interred at this cemetery. His epitaph reads, "Lonely boy, how brief thy stay, Short and hasty was thy day, Ending soon thy sojourn here, Pain or grief no more to bear." Dennis died April 18, 1892. Margaret died January 13, 1920. They interred at St. Mary's Cemetery near Maloy. Margaret and Dennis' deceased children are twin Joseph born Sepember 15, 1851, Pickaway Co. OH, died July 1854, Pickaway Co. OH; twin Michael born September 15, 1851, Pickaway Co. OH, died November 1852, Pickaway Co. OH; Julia born September 1, 1853, Pickway Co. OH, died July 1854, Pickaway Co. OH; Bartholomew born August 24, 1855, Pickaway Co. OH, died October 9, 1862, Decatur Co. IA; Catherine "Kate" born Sepember 16, 1870, Decatur Co. IA, died February 5, 1896, Maloy; James born May 25, 1873, Decatur Co. IA, died May 4, 1881, Maloy.

See MULLIN and DAUGHTON Families for more information about the Dennis MULLIN family.

SOURCE: Maloy, Iowa Centennial History: 1887 - 1987 p. 134.

Courtesy of Mount Ayr Public Library

Transcription and Notes by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2011