THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER STATUE [WATERFORD] - AMERICAN CIVIAL WAR HERO

Thomas Francis Meagher was born in what is now The Granville Hotel on the Quay in Waterford City, Ireland.

Meagher was an Irish nationalist and leader of the Young Irelanders in the Rebellion of 1848. He was convicted of sedition and sentenced to death, but was instead transportation for life to Van Diemen's Land as it was know at the time. In 1852 he escaped and managed to make his way to North America, where he settled in New York City. He studied law, earned a living as journalist, and traveled to promote the case for Irish freedom. He married for a second time in New York. He had one surviving son, born in Ireland from his first wife after Meagher was in the US, and never knew him.


Meagher joined the U.S. Army at the beginning of the American Civil War and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He was most notable for recruiting and leading the Irish Brigade.

After the War, Meagher was appointed acting governor of the Montana Territory. In July 1867, Meagher drowned after falling from a steamboat at Fort Benton. He was only 43 when he died.


THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER MEMORABILIA CAN BE VIEWED IN THE BISHOP’S PALACE WATERFORD TREASURES AND THE GRANVILLE HOTEL

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