I have reason to believe that my great grandfather, Bernard Meehan, was baptized in Cloonclare in 1845. His death certificate from Brooklyn, NY lists his parents as Cornelius Meehan and Catherine McGrath and I was able to find a record for Bernard/Cornelius/Catherine from the Catholic Church records of 21 September 1845, although it's recorded as Myhan rather than Meehan. I was also able to find a marriage certificate for Cornelius and Catherine from 1842 as well as a baptismal certificate for a daughter Catherine in 1843. I have not been able to find anything beyond that.
I recently made contact through DNA with a 4th cousin whose Meehan ancestors were from Cloonclare which leads me to believe that this record for Bernard is "my" Bernard. If any of these names sound familiar and/or you know any Meehans who still live in the Cloonclare area, I would love to hear from you.
Thank you.
Anne Meehan Merritt
Ojai Anne
Tuesday 19th Apr 2022, 01:21AMMessage Board Replies
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Anne:
There were 26 Meehan head of household records in the 1857 Griffiths Valuation for Cloonclare parish and 23 Meehan households in the parish in the 1901 census. Griffiths here https://www.failteromhat.com/griffiths/leitrim/cloonclare.php
In the Griffiths, there was no Cornelius Meehan listed. Did they family emigrate pre-1857? Also, the 1843 baptismal record for Catherine Meehan shows the mother as Eleanor McGrath https://registers.nli.ie/registers/vtls000634836#page/31/mode/1up
Roger McDonnell
Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘
Tuesday 19th Apr 2022, 02:21PM -
Thank you, Roger, for this very helpful reply. I honestly thought I had replied to you at the time which, randomly, was one year ago today! In the meantime, I have been in contact with six good DNA matches all from the same area. We are all looking for Cornelius or possibly Cormack Meehan as our common ancestor. I am now thinking that Cornelius/Cormack never emigrated as I only find Bernard and Catherine in the various census in Brooklyn, New York. I’m getting so much closer and yet I’m still so far away! I’m continuing to do research and hope to get more clarity before I visit Leitrim in this coming October.
Anne Meehan Merritt
Ojai Anne
Wednesday 19th Apr 2023, 09:55PM