Meagher, Thomas Francis (1823-1867)

Thomas Meagher’s association with Pfaff’s is uncertain; a questionable source mentions him in reference to a Bohemian Club which frequented “Pfaaf’s [sic],” but his supposed connection to Pfaff’s is based on little more than circumstantial evidence ("Our New York Letter" 64). Another indication of some sort of connection with Pfaff's comes from Thomas Gunn's diary in which he notes that Meagher denied that he was cousins with well-known Pfaffian Fitz-James O'Brien (Gunn, vol. 10, 139).

Meagher fled to New York City after being tried and convicted on charges of treason in Ireland. He was active in the Civil War, particularly in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. In fact, Thomas Gunn wrote in his diary about Meagher at Bull Run (Gunn, vol. 17, 205). He resigned his commission after losing most of his brigade in various battles and returned to New York as a hero. After the war he was given the office of Territorial Secretary of Montana, and he also spent one year as Governor of that state.

Meagher’s publications include: Speeches on the Legislative Independence of Ireland and The Last Days of the 69th in Virginia (1861).