Darby Mulloy

Here Lyeth the body of Darby Mulloy who departed this life on April 10th 1761

And his wife Anne who died on June 17th 1795, aged 66 years

Erected by James Mulloy

The epitaph on this partly upturned headstone in the old cemetery at Manor Kilbride in the Co. of Wicklow, and its position at the head of the family burial plot on which there are three other headstones, recording the burial place of at least twelve members of the interconnected Mulloy, Molloy and Mullee families. Giving an existence to the ancestry in Kilbride, as far back as the early 1700's.

Who was this Darby Mulloy, who died in 1761, 34 years before his wife Anne, and if he was the one who started it all, where did he come from. Was he a journey man miller that married into a local family, or was he the one to inspire the idea of a Corn Mill in the first place ? Did he originate from the Molloy clan, in Irish O'Maol Mhuaidh and associated in the main with the County Offaly, centred around the areas of Tullamore and Birr and claiming to be decended from Niall of the Nine Hostages ? Or did he come from a distinctly different branch of the Molloy family that originated in the County of Roscommon, where the name derived from the Irish description of servants of Saint Aodh, known as O'Maiol Aoidy  Many derivations of this name developed over time such as Mullee, Miley, Mulloy etc.

Not a great deal of certainty can be given to the correctness of the name Mulloy on the above headstone, remembering that the people of the time were essentially illiterate and could not specify an exact spelling for their names. Whoever was charged with writing down the name made their own decision to write it as they saw fit. The many variations of the family name that we find on headstones and the limited other examples, such as church records, the tithes and valuation entries, demonstrate this very clearly.

Throughout the research the name has appeared in different forms of spelling, Mulloy, Molloy and Mullee, but a common denominator in three different generations has been the Christian name of Darby (Diarmuid in Irish).

The fact that this headstone was erected by James Mulloy, assumed to be in memory of his parents, adds another dimension to the story. A record of a James Molloy paying £2. 5s. 1p in tithes to the Protestant Church in 1823 confirmed that he held a substantial tenancy from the Kilbride Estate. This we know to have been in the area to the rear of the School and Church and stretching up to and over the area known as Golden Hill and out to and across the main road to Dublin, at Tinode. At one time it covered an area of 123 acres, later reduced to 116 acres to accommodate an extension to the landlords garden at Kilbride Lodge (Glenhest).

Later records show that the tenancy passed from James Molloy and no trace has been established of any direct family connections to him. The Dunne and Olligan (Halligan) family came into possession of a large portion of this land on which they operated a granite quarry. It eventually passed on to the Ennis family who still own it today.

Other than the headstone, no other records are available for Darby or his wife Anne. Despite his early demise there is sufficient proof that he was the father of three sons. As well as James we have Darby and Patrick, both of whom will be part of the story to unfold about the family and their connections with the Corn Mill in Manor Kilbride. All were recorded in various tenancies when tithes were collected in 1823.