Gillen family, 1911 Census

This is the 1911 Irish Census return of the Gillen family in Tawnykinaffe, Pontoon, Castlebar, Co. Mayo. The head of household is Martin Gillen, 83 (b. c. 1828) and his wife, Honor Gillen, 75 (b. c. 1836). I think that Honor Gillen is Mary Nora Grimes, but no evidence on that one, yet. I'll have to look into whether Honor and Nora were related names, but it seems highly likely, don't you think? Both were born in Co. Mayo, and both are bilingual, speaking Irish and English. Martin is a retired farmer. Honor has given birth to 9 children, all still living. They've been married 54 years, meaning they were married around 1857.

Also on the returns are their son, Michael Gillen, 41, a farmer - he's probably tending the family farm from which Martin had retired; his wife, Elisa., 40, who's given birth to 8 children, all still living. They've been married 16 years. They were born, then, in 1870 and 1871, respectively, and were married around 1895. (Elisa is listed as Martin Gillen's granddaughter, but she's almost certainly actually his daughter-in-law.)

Listed as Martin's grandchildren, and so probably Michael and Elisa's children, are Mary Anne, 13 (b. 1898); Martin, 12 (b. 1899); Celia, 9 (b. 1902); Mark, 8 (b. 1903); Honor, 7 (b. 1904); Bridget, 6 (b. 1905); Ellen, 3 (b. 1908); Michael, 1 (b. 1910). Everyone from Honor up to Mary Anne are "scholars," while Bridget, Ellen, and Michael are too young to be at school.

The Mary Anne, Celia, Bridget, and Honor are certainly the Gillen girls - Mary, Celia, Bridgie, and Nora - who were being discussed on the Gillen family message board thread I've mentioned, some of whom lived with the Quinns in 1920, and Michael and Bridgie are among the "chief mourners" from Martin Gillen's death notice. That Ellen has never come up as being listed among the sisters of Mary, Celia, Bridgie, and Nora leads me to suspect she may not have lived to adulthood.

At least, that was my original reading of the return. After typing of this post, though, I looked once more at the image, and saw something I hadn't seen before. Take a close look at Line 10, Bridget's line. Is it me, or does her last name, difficult to read though it may be, seem to resemble "Grimes" more closely than "Gillen"? Grimes would have been her grandmother's maiden name, and I'm hard-pressed to figure out how it could also be her last name, if I'm reading the word correctly. Take a look and tell me what you think!