Thomas Mullen was born in Cowdenbeath in 1939. He was educated at St Columba's High School Cowdenbeath, at St Patrick's College Drygrange. He was ordained in his home parish of Our Lady and St Bride at the age of 38, a late vocation, in 1977.

His first parish was St Mary's Bathgate where he was sent as assistant Priest from 1977 until 1985. It was then that he came to Kilsyth as assistant Priest in 1985 to work with Canon O’Connell who was Parish Priest of St Patrick's at that time.

On one of his holidays whilst he was stationed in Kilsyth he went to Holy Cross Parish in Harrison, New Jersey to say Mass for John Penman and Grace Docherty of Kilsyth who had been married in that Church in August 1927. This is the picture is of him in front of the beautiful Alter there that day.

Holy Cross Harrison and the neighbouring Parish of Kearney, New Jersey were the original destination of many immigrant families who left Kilsyth, Auchinstarry and Croy for a new life in the USA during the 1920's and 1930's. As a result there is a large ex-patriot Scottish population there with links to this part of Scotland which was emphasised in 1964 when a group from the Kearney New Jersey Celtic Supporters Club came to Kilsyth St Patrick's and donated the beautiful crucifix of 'Christ the Priest Triumphant over death' upon the opening of the new St Patrick’s Church. This crucuifx has been in the church ever since and now hangs on the back wall.

Fr Mullen left St Patrick's for St Kenneth's Lochore in 1987. Fr Mullen is now the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes in Dunfermline.