The surname Meighend originally appeared in Gaelic as "O Miadhachain," which is derived from the word miadhach, meaning honorable. CITATION[CLOSE]
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York, Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Early Origins of the Meighend family
The surname Meighend was first found in County Leitrim
(Irish: Liatroim) anciently the western half of the kingdom of Breifne, located in Northeastern Ireland
, in Leinster
province, Originally, "Ó Miadhacháin, this is the name of at least two distinct septs; it is now equally distributed throughout the four provinces." CITATION[CLOSE]
MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
Early History of the Meighend family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Meighend research.Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 117 and 1172 are included under the topic Early Meighend History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Meighend Spelling Variations
Irish names were rarely spelled consistently in the Middle Ages. Spelling variations
of the name Meighend dating from that time include Meighan, Meehan, Meegin, Meeghen, Meegan, Meakin, Meakins, Mekins, Mehan, Mehen, Mehigan, Mehegan, O'Meighan, O'Meehan and many more.
Early Notables of the Meighend family (pre 1700)
More information is included under the topic Early Meighend Notables in all our PDF Extended History products
and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Meighend family to the New World and Oceana
The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families
for the distant shores of North America and Australia
. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute do to the policies of England
. Those Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in the American War of Independence
. Others that remained in America later joined the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine
of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland
at this time for North America, and those who arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United Sates and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the Meighend family relocated to North American shores quite early: Thomas Mehegan, who settled in San Francisco in 1850; Daniel and Betsy Mehen settled in Boston in 1849; along with John, Laurence, Mathew and Hugh; John (3) Meighan arrived in Philadelphia in 1845.
Meighend Family Crest Products
- ^ Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York, Harper & Row, 1956. Print
- ^ MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)