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FAMILY HISTORIES:
KNOWN DESCENDANTS: |
O’MEARA (Originally Meara and
Mara)
Thomas O’Meara (1791-1871) & Ellen Tierney (B. 1808)
My ancestor, Thomas O’Meara (c1797-1781), was the son of Thomas Meara and Mary Grady of Bellevue in the parish of Kilbarron, County Tipperary, the ancestral home of the O’Mearas. He came to Canada in 1823 with Matthew Costello, who was married to Anne O’Meara and together they settled with the Peter Robinson settlers in Goulbourn Township. Although they were not officially listed with the Robinson settlers, the fact that Thomas and the Costello family arrived at the same time to the same Goulbourn area, leads to speculation that they amongst the fair number of stowaways that were on the Robinson boats.
On 23 October 1825, Thomas married Ellen Tierney, the daughter of Denis Tierney, who had just arrived in Nepean from the same Tipperary neighbourhood. To get to their marriage Thomas and Ellen traveled through the thick virgin forest to Perth, to the only Catholic Church in the Ottawa area at the time. Their historic marriage at St. John’s provides the first record of reference of any Irish Catholic in the Ottawa area. Witnesses to the marriage were Matthew Costello and the bride’s father, Denis Tierney.
Thomas O’Meara worked on the construction of the Rideau Canal in 1827, and moved to Nepean where he and Matthew Costello lived together on the same lot. The records show that Thomas then bought land from the Canada Company in 1829 and remained on this Nepean farm all his life.
My ancestor Thomas O’Meara should not be confused with another Thomas O’Meara who arrived in Canada in 1826 and also lived in Nepean. This other Thomas was also married to a Tierney, Elizabeth, a probable relative of Ellen. In those early days my ancestor was known as “Thomas Mara”, while the other Thomas was known as “Thomas O’Meara”. My ancestor’s family name was Meara (sometimes spelled Mara or Marra) until the 1850’s when the family changed it to O’Meara. The 1851 Canada Census for the family of Thomas and Ellen reads as follows:
Thomas Marra, age 53, farmer, born in Ireland Ellen Marra, age 43, born in Ireland John age 24 born in Upper Canada Thomas 10 born in Upper Canada Mary Ann 22 born in Upper Canada Jane age 15 born in Upper Canada Bridget age 12 born in Upper Canada Catherine age 10 born in Upper Canada Denis age 5 born in Upper Canada Martin age 3 born in Upper Canada
Hannah, the oldest of the family, is not shown here as she had married my ancestor Patrick Muldoon Jr on November 20, 1850, just prior to the census. Also missing from the list is the baby, Roseanne, then age 2, who the census taker apparently missed.
Two of the O’Meara (or Marra) sisters, married two Muldoon brothers, Patrick Jr and Richard, sons of Patrick Muldoon Sr. These two Muldoon families settled in Torbolton Township near Fitzroy Harbour and are the ancestors of today’s Quyon and Dunrobin.Muldoons.
Thomas O’Meara was a greatly loved and dynamic man with a huge zest for life. The large crowd at his 1871 funeral witnessed the passing of the first pioneer of the Irish Catholic community of Ottawa-Nepean. His tombstone at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Nepean bears the inscription “Sacred to the Memory of Thomas O’Meara, of Nepean, died July 12, 1871 aged 74 years”.
Two of Thomas’s daughters Hannah and Jane, married Patrick Muldoon Jr. and Richard Muldoon, who were sons of Patrick Muldoon Sr. and Margaret Ballard. For details see the MULDOON story. |