John Meagher (8 December 1837 – 26 August 1920) was an Irish-born Australian politician. He was born in

Kilrush Kilrush () is a coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It is also the name of a civil parish and an ecclesiastical parish in Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It is located near the mouth of the River Shannon in the south-west of the county. ...

in County Clare to farmer Roger Meagher and Catherine Mahoney. He migrated to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

around 1859 and worked in a general store at Bathurst, eventually opening his own store in 1867. He also owned stores at Hill End, Trunkey and Carcoar. On 19 September 1864 he married Mary Ann Byrne, with whom he had eight children. In 1881 he went to the gold rush at Temora. He was involved in the campaign for

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

and also supported

Irish home rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...

. In 1900 he was appointed to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

; a Protectionist, he had known Labor sympathies. He remained in the council until his death in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1920.

References

1837 births 1920 deaths Colony of New South Wales politicians Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council {{Australia-politician-stub