John McNulty

The information on John's tree needs lots of work.

My father, Frank Griffin,knew little about this older

brother of his grandfather Michael McNulty.

---Jim Griffin, May 23, 2008

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James Griffin

June 5, 2008

Michael McNulty and his siblings started coming to West Chester Town

in Westchester County in the early 1850s. They were fleeing the devastation of the Great Irish Famine in County Roscommon, Ireland. Typically Irish coming to America fleeing the Great Famine were traumatized by what they had experienced and would talk little about it. This Famine Era is notoriously poorly documented in Irish-American family histories.

Our McNultys apparently came to West Chester (today's Westchester Square/ Parkchester in New York City's Borough of the Bronx) because relatives or friends had previously settled near St. Raymond's Church. The parish dates back to 1840.

Some of our McNultys worked for St. Raymond's Church or cemetery; perhaps all married there, had their children baptized there and were buried there. I hope to go through the St. Raymond Parish archives to learn what I can about this poorly understaood branch of our family. I have basic notes my father and his youngest sister put together some ten years ago.

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McNulty

Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Ultaigh ‘son of the Ulsterman’.

This is the name of a Donegal family originally from County Down.

---Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press,

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In the 1880 US Census, John McNulty was living in the town of Westchester, Westchester County, NY with his seven-year-old daughter Mary, evidently a widower.

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May 14, 2008

Waterloo, Ontario

I have been in contact with St. Raymond's Church several times recently because many of the people in the Schollhamer side of my tree are burried in St. Raymonds. My relative Connor Keiran is also burried there.

I just got back from New York city on Monday. I visited a relative on City Island who knew my dad very well. She didn't know much about the McNulty family but does remember words that John McNulty was a very domineering person. He had a whole family with Ann. She must have died shortly after their last child in 1878. He then married Margaret Keiran Hanson around 1880. Apparently Margaret's child, Eva and his children from his first family were not "welcome" to live with the new family. Hard to believe really!!

You have shed huge light on John Patrick McNulty. I have always suspected that there was disfunction in my grandmother's family. My grandmother herself was a very difficult person to get on with. Regardless, please scan what you have and I too will share what I have with you.

Thank you, thank you!!

Trish Brown

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McNulty Research Update

James Griffin, June 25, 2008

I just returned a call to Debbie, Office Manager of St. Raymond's Church in the Bronx.

She said Msgr. Graham had received the letter of recommendation (which he had requested

I get for him) from the American Museum of Natural History's Chief Archivist, Barbara Mathé.

Msgr., after getting this recommendation, had asked Debbie [no last name given]

to call me to say it was OK for me to go through their parish records in person to do research

on our elusive and numberous McNulty families who had become established in the St. Raymond's

area after 1850.

Debbie told me that yesterday:

Msgr. Graham asked her,

"Did you call Mr. Griffin?"

Debbie said,

"Not yet."

Msgr. said,

"Good, a decree just came from the Archdiocese saying that

we are not to allow anyone to go through our parish sacramental books."

So, our St. Raymond's McNulty Research is: No Go.

I think this is because of a recent decree from the Vatican to keep Mormons from

gathering information to baptize people into LDS posthumously.