The amazing story of Thomas F. Meagher

What happened to Waterford’s Thomas F. Meagher on the night of July 1, 1867 as his steam ship rested on the Missouri River? Was he murdered by enemies or did he simply fall into the depths below? It’s highly unlikely, 150 years on, that we’ll ever find out – it was a tragic, though intriguing, end to a life that married youthful idealism with political conviction and a never-ending desire for right to prevail.

Meagher’s body was never recovered despite exhaustive searches of the river which lasted months – conspiracy theories quickly spread. Some said he was murdered by a Confederate Soldier who he’d crossed during the American Civil War, others by a Native American or maybe even political rivals.

Could he have survived and made it to the banks of the raging river alive? Surely not.

In May, 1913 a man claimed to have carried out the murder of Meagher for the price of $8,000. According to an article in the New York Times Frank Diamond, who also went by the name ‘Pat Miller’, made a confession to police: It’s claimed he said: “I killed him on a steamboat at Cow Island, in the Missouri, and threw him in the river. I swam ashore.” He said the hit was paid for by Montana Vigilantes. Diamond later recanted his claim.

Author and Columnist Timothy Egan, in his book ‘The immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who became an American Hero’ suggests that Meagher was murdered by political opponents. In an interview with the Seattle Times last year Egan said: “At the time, the word his enemies put out was that a drunken Irishman fell off a boat. I think there is very strong evidence that he was murdered by the very founding vigilante members of Montana society, who conducted the deadliest campaign of vigilante killing in American history. There were no trials, they just pulled out people they didn’t like. Meagher (as Governor) pardoned a man, and then they grabbed him (the pardoned man) and hanged him the same day, with Meagher’s message in his pocket. I think there is pretty good evidence, without being 100 percent sure, that he (Meagher) was murdered.”

The intrigue continued when in an obituary for his second wife Mrs Elizabeth Townsend Meagher, published in the New York Times on July 8, 1906, it was written: ‘Gen. Meagher…fell overboard after being shot by hostile Indians.’

Whatever the reason for Meagher’s untimely death his passing was mourned on both sides of the Irish Sea. A larger than life character he’d made his mark on three continents. Meagher’s contribution to politics, rebellion and history in Ireland, Australia and especially America was immense at a time when travel was difficult and dangerous – especially if you were a wanted man.

After the 1848 rebellion, Meagher, who was born in the Granville Hotel on the

Meagher’s contribution to politics, rebellion and history… was immense

Quay in Waterford, was transported to Tasmania by the British authorities but he dramatically escaped in 1852 and made his way to America.

His was a life of extremes. Though born to a wealthy merchant class and a graduate of Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, he refused to follow the path of many sons of aristocracy in Ireland at the time. He became a Young Irelander and, following the failed Battle of Ballingarry in Tipperary, was convicted of sedition and sent to Van Diemen’s Land.

Before sentence was passed, and he was shipped to the other side of the world, he told the judge: “My Lord, this is our first offence, but not our last. If you will be easy with us this once, we promise on our word as gentleman to try better next time.”

His personal life was complex. When Meagher left Tasmania his first wife Katherine Bennett, whom he met and married there, was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and she remained in Australia. Sadly, the couple’s son died at just fourmonths old. Meagher never got to meet his first son.

Following Meagher’s escape, Katherine was taken to Ireland. Eventually she was able to spend some time in the United States with her husband but she returned to Ireland pregnant and in poor health.

Katherine gave birth to Meagher’s only living child: a boy, Thomas Francis Meagher, named after his father – but father and son would never meet.

Following Katherine’s death in 1854 Meagher remarried to Elizabeth Townsend, who came from a wealthy Protestant family in New York, in 1856.

While we, on this side of the Atlantic, recall his vision for a new Ireland as encompassed in our National Flag, he is best remembered in the United States for his role in recruiting and leading the Irish Brigade in the American Civil War – known as the 69th New York infantry or ‘The Fighting 69th’.

As an officer in the Union army, Meagher recruited Irish immigrants into the New York militia and rose to the rank of General in command of the Irish Brigade. His soldiers wore sprigs of clover in their hats while marching under a green flag embroidered with an Irish harp and the words ‘Erin go Bragh’.

It was to be a bloody union. In the fall of 1862 on a horrific day of the war, Meagher had his horse shot out from underneath him as he led his soldiers on a charge against Confederate forces at the battle of Antietam. The Irish death toll ran into the hundreds.

Three months later he was wounded during the carnage of repeated charges on Marye’s Heights in the battle of Fredricksburg. The Irish Brigade was decimated, but Meagher survived the war.

Today, at the state capital in Helena, Montana, the most prominent statue is of Meagher, horseback with saber held high. His memory lives on and in a statement issued earlier this month during Irish-American Heritage Month, President Donald Trump referred to ‘…Thomas Francis Meagher, the Irish revolutionary who became an American hero after leading the Irish Brigade during the Civil War..’

Whether in Montana or on the Quay in his native Waterford, the impact Meagher made is noted every time an Irish flag dances in the breeze. His life was both joyous and heart-breaking, his achievements and strength of character undoubted in their audaciousness and resolve. His message of unity in Ireland is, like his legend in the United States, simply immortal.