Pat Mullen

Pat Mullen (17 April 1883 - 16 December 1972) was an Irish actor and writer, born in Inishmore, County Galway where before emigrating to Boston, Massachusetts in 1900.

[3] He had nine siblings: John, Mary Cecelia (Cissie), Martin, Peter, Joseph, Winnie, Bartly, Michael and Thomas.

[4] Mullen attended Kilronan national school on Inishmor until he was fifteen, and worked for his father on the family farm before labouring on the ice boats in Killarney Harbour for two years.

[3] As Patrick was the second eldest male (preceded by John, three years his senior) his options included: remaining in Inishmore with little chance of land ownership, moving to Dublin or another large city in search of employment, or emigrating.

Bridget was previously married and had four children: Mary Kate, Anna, Denis and Francis Michael with her husband Patrick Crowe also from Galway.

[9] The couple lived with their remaining children in Boston and then in Manhattan, until Pat's two brothers Thomas and Bartly fell ill in 1921, compelling him to return to the family home.

Having emigrated to Boston in 1905, Mullen began working in factories and warehouses, during the winter months and spent summers on rural contract-labour teams.

Mullen's trade-union activism lead him to be sacked from several jobs and blacklisted by employers in Boston, turning him to engage in illegal liquor trafficking.

[1] In November 1931, Robert J. Flaherty, an American documentary film maker, along with his family, visited the island and contracted Mullen to drive them around Aran.

He moved to Bull Bay, Anglesey in Wales in 1952 after making friendships with different visitors on Inishmore island, who had sent him correspondence and books.

[1][19][22] Mullen's ashes were spread on Inishmore in Killeany Cemetery, but people have claimed that his first cremation burial was on the island in Christian times.