Looking to connect with Martin Meehan, new parish liason for Kiltullagh

Looking to connect with Martin Meehan who I see from the latest IXO newsletter is the new parish liaison for Kiltullagh parish in County Roscommon. I have a fair amount of information on my Mehigan/Meehan ancestry. Below is what I sent to the Castletownroche/Cork page on my line.

My Mehigan Line

Here is the Mehigan hsstory I have accumulated to date.Christopher, the last person to hold the title of “The O’Meighan”.  (born about 1637) married Margarita O’Reilly and they had five sons - James Anthony (1675), Charles (1676), Rourke (1680), Patrick Molaise (1683), and William Alexander (1685). They lived in the Ballaghmeighan area of County Leitrim. Christopher was an officer in the army of James II and was killed in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

After the Battle of the Boyne, Margarita and the three youngest sons left Ballaghmeehan and settled on a farm called Kilcoran in County Tipperary which was obtained for them by a family friend. James Anthony and Charles continued with Sarsfield’s army until its surrender at Limerick. They then joined the forces going to France to continue the fight with King Louis XIV.

James (Jacques) served with distinction in French armies. He married Elizabeth Russel and they had two children – Jacques and Guillaume (William) Alexandre

Guillaume was a writer and political activist who actually spent some time in the Bastille. Fortunately for me he didn’t lose his head.

In 1763 Guillaume married another writer, Charlotte Therese Boitel, and they had a son, Jean Joseph. After Guillaume’s death in 1766, Charlotte and the infant Jean Joseph (John Joseph) joined the rest of the family at Kilcoran. Kilcoran is only twenty miles from Castletownroche over the Galtee mountains.

Church records do not seem to exist before the early 1800’s  The first Mehigan I find in Castletownroche is Robert Mehigan, who I believe for a number of reasons is the son of Jean Joseph.Robert was married to Julia Keefe. One of their sons, Daniel, is my g-g-g-grandfather. He married Julia ( or Judith) Murphy. One of their sons, Garrett, married Johanna Duane. One of their sons, John Joseph, emigrated to Cambridge Massachusetts and married Elizabeth Bushe, also from Castletownroche. John and Elizabeth are my grandparents. When I visited Castletownroche three years ago I met a number of Mehigan and Bushe descendants, including John Mehigan of Ballygrillihan townland and his son Brendan. . Later I’ll summarize what I know about my Bushe line. I live in a suburb of Atlanta Georgia USA

Any connection? You can email me at remeehan@mindspring.com.

Bob Meehan.