Gullen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland
Scotland

While many Irish names are familiar, their past incarnations are often shrouded in mystery, reflecting the ancient Gaelic heritage of their bearers. The original Gaelic form of the name Gullen is "Mac Cuilinn" or "Ó Cuilinn," which are from the word "cuileann," which means "holly." 1

They descend from Heber, who with his brother Heremon ruled Ireland. 2 Culen or Colin, son of Indulph, was King of Scotland or Alba (967-71?) "His father, Indulph, was the first king who occupied Edinburgh, up to that time within Anglian Northumbria. " 3

Early Origins of the Gullen family

The surname Gullen was first found in the southeast of Ireland, in the counties of Dublin, Wicklow, and Wexford. Although all but one of the many distinct septs have become extinct, this remaining sept currently provides Ireland with nearly 8000 members, enough to make Cullen the 84th most common name in Ireland.

Descended from Olioll Flann Beag, king of Munster, the Cullens made their original homeland at Glencullen, in Wicklow, and they have remained there to the present day, despite the threat of their more powerful neighbors, the O'Tooles and the O'Byrnes. They were an influential family, as indicated by the inclusion of Cullen of Cullenstown among the leading gentry of Wexford in the Clongowes manuscript of 1598.

Due to the prominence of this sept, a number of similarly-named minor septs also adopted the name Cullen, including O Cuileamhain of south Leinster, which is also rendered Culloon or Culhoun, and Mac Cuilin of Leitrim, which is also Anglicized MacCullen.

Early History of the Gullen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gullen research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1300, 1516, 1517, 1528, 1531, 1534, 1542, 1659, 1803 and 1878 are included under the topic Early Gullen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gullen Spelling Variations

During the Middle Ages, attempting to record a Gaelic name in English was a daunting task. Most names were spelt by scribes solely based on how it sounded, one's name could have been recorded many different ways during the life of its bearer. Numerous spelling variations were revealed in the search for the origin of the name Gullen family name.Variations found include Cullen, Cullan, Cullane, O'Cullen, Cullain, Cullin, Cullon, McCullen, MacCullen, O'Cullane, Culen, Culan, Culain, Cullaine, Culaine, MacCulen, MacCollin, MacColin, O'Colen, O'Collen, O'Cuilin, O'Cuillin, O'Culane, O'Culen, O'Culhoon, O'Culloon, MacCullen, Cullain, Culon, Cullon, Culling and many more.

Early Notables of the Gullen family

Notable among the family name at this time was Patrick O'Cullen, (d. 1534), Bishop of Clogher (1517-1542.) He "was an Augustinian hermit and prior of St. John without Newgate in Dublin. He was appointed to the see of Clogher by Leo X on 11 Feb. 1516. In 1528 the Pope granted him a dispensation from residence on account of the poverty of his see, which had been so wasted in the wars that it was not...
Another 76 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gullen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Gullen family

Irish immigrants began to leave the English-controlled Ireland in sizable numbers during the late 18th century. Many of these Irish immigrated to British North America or the United States in the hopes of gaining their own tract of farmland. This pattern of migration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine caused a great exodus of immigrants to North America. These immigrants differed from their predecessors in that they were desperately fleeing the disease and starvation that plagued their homeland, and many were entirely destitute when they arrived in North America. Although these penniless immigrants were not warmly welcomed when they arrived, they were critical to the rapid development of the United States and what would become known as Canada. Many went to populate the western frontiers and others provided the cheap labor the new manufacturing sector and the building of bridges, roads, railways, and canals required. A thorough examination of immigration and passenger lists has revealed some of the earliest people to arrive in North America with name Gullen or one of its variants: Henry Cullen who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1820; L. Cullen settled in Baltimore in 1820; Patrick Cullen settled in West New Jersey in 1772; the family also settled in New York and California in the 19th century. Popular Christian names of the settlers was Andrew, Bernerd, Charles, Daniel, Dennis, Edward, George, James, John, Michael, Owen, Patrick, Peter, Robert, Thomas, Walter, and William, and they settled mostly in Philadelphia between 1830 and 1870. William Cullen was a property owner in St. John's Newfoundland in 1794 and had been settled there for 17 years.

Contemporary Notables of the name Gullen (post 1700) +

Ryan Gullen, American actor, known for The Sheepdogs: I Don't Know, The Sheepdogs: I Don't Know, Version 2 and The Sheepdogs: The Way It Is (2012)
Tracy Gullen, American costume designer, known for her work on House Doctor: A to Z of Design (2005), House Doctor: Inside and Out (2004) and House Doctor: Up Close and Personal (2005)
Marc Gullen, American actor, known for his work on Ernest Scared Stupid and The Expert (1995)
George E. Gullen, American politician, Farmer-Labor Candidate for Justice of Michigan State Supreme Court, 1936; Candidate in Republican primary for U.S. Representative from Michigan 17th District, 1940 4
Earl K. Gullen, American politician, Candidate in primary for Circuit Judge in Michigan 3rd Circuit, 1941 4
James "Guzza" Gullen (b. 1989), English racing cyclist from Yorkshire who rides for JLT-Condor
Tore Gullen (b. 1949), Norwegian cross-country skier who competed at the 1980 Winter Olympics

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, Supplement to Irish Families. Baltimore: Genealogical Book Company, 1964. Print.
O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees 5th Edition in 2 Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1976. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0737-4)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 20) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html