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| Origins Available: |
| | Ireland |
The surname O'Meiham originally appeared in Gaelic as "O Miadhachain," which is derived from the word miadhach, meaning honorable. 1
The surname O'Meiham 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." 2
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Meiham research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1172 is included under the topic Early O'Meiham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Within the archives researched, many different spelling variations of the surname O'Meiham were found. These included One reason for the many variations is that scribes and church officials often spelled an individual's name as it sounded. This imprecise method often led to many versions. Meighan, Meehan, Meegin, Meeghen, Meegan, Meakin, Meakins, Mekins, Mehan, Mehen, Mehigan, Mehegan, O'Meighan, O'Meehan and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early O'Meiham Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families leaving Ireland for the distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute due 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 States and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the O'Meiham 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.