O'Meighind History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Early Origins of the O'Meighind family

Early History of the O'Meighind family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Meighind research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1172 is included under the topic Early O'Meighind History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Meighind Spelling Variations

Names from the Middle Ages demonstrate many spelling variations. This is because the recording scribe or church official often decided as to how a person's name was spelt and in what language. Research into the name O'Meighind revealed many variations, including Meighan, Meehan, Meegin, Meeghen, Meegan, Meakin, Meakins, Mekins, Mehan, Mehen, Mehigan, Mehegan, O'Meighan, O'Meehan and many more.

Early Notables of the O'Meighind family

More information is included under the topic Early O'Meighind Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the O'Meighind family

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name O'Meighind or a variant listed above, including: 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.