I think mis-information is the biggest problem with looking for descendents and ancestors of Thomas Francis Meagher. The thing we all have to remember is he was married twice, his first marriage was to Catherine Bennet(Bennett) whose 1st child died, she was pregnant again and sent back to Ireland with Thomas Sr. where she gave birth to a son named Thomas Francis Jr.,Catherine his mother died in child birth, at some point Thomas Jr. came to the U.S.A. and died in San Francisco, after being married to who I do not know. However, he did have a son named Micheal who, who lived in Nebraska, where he had at least two children one named William who moved to So.Dakota and married Grace Valliant. William had sister but I do not know her name. Itt is also rumored that Thomas Francis and his second wife Elizabeth Townsend Meagher had twin sons but as yet I not been able to find any really records of this. As I said before rumors abound concerning this man, and his family, the more I find out the more confused I get. It seems that every one wants to be related to him, which is impossible as Meagher was a fairly common name in Ireland. Ido know that his Grandfather was wealthy to some extent from trading and shipping between Ireland and Newfoundland. I suggest that if the history of the Meagher family is to traced with any true accuracy they should read the book "The Irish Chronicles" which can be found at your local library and try to work from the beginning of the line to the present. Because, going backwards is not working well for us who are looking for help on this subject which has caused disagreements in our family as well. Anyway, to the best of my knowledge at this point William and Grace Valliant Meagher are probably the main descendants, they had the following children, Leonard R., William Earl, both deceased, Micheal A.(aka:Alan),Phyllis,Robert,and one or two others whose names escape me right now. William Sr. homesteaded at Cherry Creek,So.Dakota and later moved to Phillip,So.Dakota, where he and Grace are buried. Grandpa Bill as my husband used to call him, used to tell my husband that his Great-Grandfather was the 2nd Territorial Govenor of the Montana Territories and that his Father was a garbage collector, and that he was a farmer, so any Meagher's could be what they wanted to be. By the way Fort Benton, Montana where Thomas Francis Meagher disappeared off the boat is a beautiful place and if you ever get a chance to visit there you should make the trip. Thanks for reading this and if you think that I have the facts wrong and have added rumor to rumor please feel free to e-mail me anytime. That includes you Alan even though you probably doubt my research as I sometimes do myself when I run up against a dead end. Which I do quite often. P.S. I'm sure our son Kevin appreciated the pictures you sent him and enjoyed his trip to see you.
hope this helps someone if it does write and let me know. Sincerely Donna

Donna...in trying to connect my great, great grandfather(dennis joseph meagher of louisville, ky but born near Nenagh Ire. in 1844)to the brig. gen i have accumulated a lot of info onthe general some of which may be of interest to you about his son tb or tf, jr...after he failed out of West Point (his step-mom..Elizabeth in NYC used his late father's connections to have him admitted) i lost track of his whereabouts til i was contacted by an author..Margaret Nydell of Wash,D.C. in the midst of wrting on the Brig. Gen...well"jr" went to the Phillipines as a civil engineer, died there on 11/28/1910 and is buried in Del Norte cemetery north of Manila..supposedly there is some plaque in his honor? found your details on the family interesting. helpful?

I, too, have become mired in the wild and various tales of Thomas Francis Meagher. I read his letters in the National Library of Ireland looking for clues to how "my" Meaghers relate. My great-grandmother, Susan Meagher and her Brother, Daniel Meagher followed T.F. to Montana. I think they were probably cousins, but I just don't know. Susan and Daniel were from New Brunswick. Your story makes sense. He refers to a son named "Bennie" in his letters who is obviously in the care of his father (Thomas Sr.). I don't know about the twins, though... T.F. does refer to a "Libby" in an 1860 letter. Have you ever heard of Daniel? He never married. His sister married Patrick MacGowan. Cheers, Rosemary MacGowan Corbin

My great Grand Uncle, Michael Cavanagh, wrote "Memoirs of General Thomas Francis Meagher." It was first published in 1892 by the Messenger Press in Worchester, MA. The first chapters tell in detail about his family in Ireland. The book tells of his marriage to Miss Bennett and her death in childbirth. His second marriage to Elizabeth Townsend took place in NY in the Spring of 1856.