F. J. Gillen
by planetparker
Readers of my Echoes of the Past Column in the Cavan Echo will see my article on F.J. Gillen, the founding father of Australian ethnography. I have been anxious to try and find out some more about his Cavan ancestry. My good friend Jonathan Smyth told me about a wonderful website called Failte Romhat, which allows visitors to search various sources such as Griffiths’ Valuations of
F. J. Gillen (1856-1912
the 1850s for names and addresses. I looked for anyone called Gillen in the parish of Drumgoon, of whom Griffiths does not have any record. However, I did find a reference to a Philip Gillan of Mullaghard, Drumgoon, Co. Cavan. I think he may have been Thomas Gillen’s father, and therefore F.J.’s grandfather, as Thomas had a brother Philip who also emigrated to South Australia and who may, as an elder brother, have born the name of his father.
