Thomas Meagher

Thomas Meagher may refer to:

See also

Thomas Meagher (merchant)

Thomas Meagher (b. c. 1764 Clonmel, County Tipperary – d. 26 January 1837 Waterford) merchant, tailor, officeholder came to Newfoundland c. 1780 as an apprentice to a clothier named Crotty which after his death married his widow Mary Crotty. Meagher took over the Crotty business, expanded it to include dry goods and imported of goods from Ireland. Acquiring ships to supplement his trade he began regular sailings to Waterford and also to transport out Irish immigrants.

Meagher had sent his eldest son Thomas to Ireland to establish a branch of his business in Waterford. The younger Thomas married Alicia Quan at her parents' residence that later became to be the Commin's Hotel. It was in this house that Thomas Francis Meagher was born to Thomas and Alicia on 23 August 1823.

Meagher’s business in St. John's had suffered a major setback when the premises were wiped out in the Great Fire of 1817. The firm was rebuilt but never recovered from the loss which in 1820 declared insolvency and was dissolved on 31 August 1820.

Thomas Meagher (MP)

Thomas Meagher (1796–1874), was an Irish businessman and politician from Waterford.

His father Thomas Meagher (1763–1837) had emigrated from Tipperary to St John's, Newfoundland, where he became a successful businessman. The younger Thomas was born in born in St Johns, and returned to Ireland in his 20s to represent his father's business interests, where he prospered.

He was Mayor of Waterford in 1843 and 1844, the first Catholic mayor of the city since the penal laws.

He was elected at the 1847 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Waterford City. He was re-elected in 1852, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1857 general election.

His son Thomas Francis Meagher (1823–1867) was one of the leaders of the Young Irelanders in the Rebellion of 1848. His death sentence for the rebellion was commuted to transportation to Australia, from where he escaped and went to United States. During American Civil War, and rose to the rank of brigadier general in the U.S. Army, and later became acting governor of the Montana Territory.