Cornelius "Neil" MEEHAN was born about 1829 in County Donegal; he died April 12, 1909 in Lehigh Co, Pennsylvania. Neil married Bridget BRYCE June 4, 1855 in Donegal County. Bridget was born about 1836 in Donegal and she died in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania on March 18, 1911.
Neil's father was John MEEHAN and his mother's name was Ellen GILLESPIE. I have no information on Bridget's parents.

Both Neil and Bridget were born in County Donegal but I cannot find a home town for either of them. I am assuming (not always a good thing to do) that they were born in the same town.

Neil and Bridget must have gone to Scotland shortly after their marriage in 1855 because their first child, John, was born in 1857. Neil was an iron worker in Bothwell, Lanark, Scotland.

I learned that the owners of the iron works in Scotland recruited men in Ireland to work in their factories and that is most likely the reason for the young couple to move to Scotland within a year of being married.

Neil and Bridget had 4 more children: Ellen, born December 10, 1861 (my grandmother); Neil, born March 29, 1964. Baby Neil died just one month after birth; Patrick, born April 23, 1965; and Catherine, born July 3, 1868.

John and Patrick (although only a boy of 15) worked with their father in the iron works; but it appears that all of the children attended elementary school because they all knew how to read and write. Catherine, the youngest, was not put out to work as a child. The 1881 Census in Scotland shows that she was attending school at age 12.

Ellen was not living with her family in Bothwell; she lived in Holytown, Lanark, as a boarder with the McIntear family and she worked in a mill.

My research indicates that the family came to the US at different periods. John, the eldest, came first on October 2, 1884 into N.Y. on the ship S.S. Ethiopia.

I cannot find a record of Ellen's travel to the US.

I believe that Neil, Bridget, Patrick and Catherine arrived in N.Y. on May 24, 1886 aboard the S.S. Furnessia.

The US Census for 1900 shows that Neil and Bridget were living in Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, PA. Neil worked as a mail courier and they lived next door to their daughter, Ellen and her husband, George MULLEN.

On the 1910 Census, Bridget was living with George and Ellen, as Neil had died the year previous.

My primary goal is to find the home town of Neil and Bridget MEEHAN in County Donegal.