John Meehan

Hello user157514,

See if you think the records below pertain to your direct Meehan line:

You hadn’t mentioned the maiden name of John Meehan’s wife Ann in your Ireland Reaching Out post, but did mention that John was born in Donegal in 1856.

With this knowledge, I did a blind search for the church marriage of John Meehan and Ann, maiden name unknown. By blind search, I mean that I didn’t look for the marriage in any particular Catholic parish for any particular date. What I did specify in the search is that, having been born in 1856, John would have been married in County Donegal sometime between 1874, when he was 18 years old, and 1884, when he was 28 years old.

I looked for the marriage transcription at the Find My Past (FMP) website, and uncovered only one church marriage for all of County Donegal for a John Meehan and Ann between the years 1874 and 1884.

The first names in the marriage are in the Latin, and show that Joannem Meehan and Annam McClafferty were married in the Inver Catholic Parish on 28 October 1877. The marriage record also shows that Joannem’s father was Joannis (John) Meehgan, and that Annam’s father was Patritic (Patrick) McClafferty.

You can access the transcription at the FMP website after establishing a free account. See: https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FMAR%2F1387118%2F1

Attached to the FMP transcription is a link that takes you to a copy of the original Inver Catholic Parish baptism record, held by the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin.

To access the marriage register entry go to: https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000631943#page/19/mode/1up

There are two facing pages of the marriage register. The marriage for John and Ann is the first marriage at the top of the right-hand page.

You can enlarge the register by means of round icons in the upper center/ right of the screen. The icons are white with green backgrounds. You can also access the full-screen function by clicking on the last icon on the right with the two arrows pointing northeast and southwest.

You’ll see that all the first name sin the register are in Latin.

See my translation below:

“Year 1877. Day 28. Month October. I, Franciscus B. Gallagher CC

Joined in marriage, Joannem Meehan, son of Joannis, and Annam McClafferty daughter of Patriti McLafferty –

Witnesses Present} Jacobo (James) O’Donnell

                                Anna O’Donnell”

----

Francis B. Gallagher was the priest who married John and Ann. The initials CC after his name stand for “Catholic Curate.”

Based on the church marriage record, I found the civil registration marriage record for John Meehan and Anne McLafferty, which provides the further information that the marriage took place in the Roman Catholic Chapel of Frosses. At the time of marriage John was a 25 year old “Bachelor,” and was employed as a “Labourer.” His residence was Drumconner.

At the time of marriage Anne was 20 year old “Spinster.” Her occupation was “Servant. Her residence at the time of marriage was Hall.

The civil marriage record also shows that the fathers of John and Anne were farmers.

You can access the civil marriage record for free after following the prompts at: https://tinyurl.com/2j3fzf7j

What I wanted to do next was see where the Roman Catholic Chapel of Frosses was located in relation to Drumconner, Hall, and Mountcharles. To accomplish this I went to Google Maps.

The Google Map shows that Frosses, is directly north of “Drumconor,” and northwest of Mountcharles and Hall Demesne: https://tinyurl.com/y4b73ebt

This Google Map shows the name of the Catholic Church in Frosses is the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, situated just off the R262 road: https://tinyurl.com/43es39a6

Here is a Google Street View of the church: https://tinyurl.com/ykfwmvzj

This Google Street View from a different direction on the R262, shows the adjoining cemetery near the church, and road sign pointing out that Mountcharles is 5 kilometers (3 miles)away: https://tinyurl.com/h47uhy7m

The Frosses Catholic Church in the Google Street View looks like portions of it are very old. I wanted to see just how old it was. To do this I went to the National Architectural Heritage/Buildings of Ireland website, and found that a portion of the church was constructed circa 1830 and extended circa 1890, and altered in 1990.

For a Description, Appraisal, and a slide presentation of the church, go to the Buildings of Ireland link at: https://tinyurl.com/whvrpu7k

The following Google Street View is just outside of Drumconor: https://tinyurl.com/2f38bk8u

This Google Street View is just outside of Hall Demesne: https://tinyurl.com/56rv5b5d

This is a Google Street View of Upper Main Street, Mountcharles: https://tinyurl.com/5xb8mexb

Back at the irishgenealogy.ie website I found the civil registration birth record for John Meehan. He was born in the townland of Glencoagh on 14 September 1878. His father is John Meehan, a Labourer residing in Glencoagh. His mother is Anne Meehan, formerly “McLaferty.”

Anne Meehan, the mother, reported the birth to the registrar, Samuel Smith, who recorded the birth in the Donegal Registration District on 30 September 1878. To access John’s birth record, go to: https://tinyurl.com/ye25ez36

A Google Map shows that Glencoagh is 1 mile north of Mountcharles: https://tinyurl.com/yc4f26sd

This Google Street View shows the gravel road that leads to Glencoagh. These narrow road in Ireland are called “boreens.” https://tinyurl.com/2p8ujt9x

At the FMP website I found the Inver Catholic Parish baptism record for Joannes Meehan, son of Joannis Meehan and Anna Meehan. He was baptized on 15 September 1878:

https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=IRE%2FPRS%2FBAP%2F4913494

The next link will take you to a copy of the original baptism record for Joannes Meehan. The original record shows that his mother Anna’s maiden name is McLafferty. The FMP transcriber probably couldn’t decipher Anne’s maiden name because the handwriting isn’t the best in the world. The baptism is the second entry on the left-hand page:

https://registers.nli.ie//registers/vtls000631942#page/108/mode/1up

The first name of John’s godfather looks like the “Neigallies.” I believe this name in English would be translated as Neil. His last name is McLafferty. The godmother is Brigida Meehan.

If you think the records in this reply refer to your ancestors, please let me know and I’ll send more records that you may be interested in.

With Best Wishes,

Dave Boylan