Look on my works, ye Meehans, and despair!

I recently met the first owner of the name Meehan who wasn't directly related to me. His name is Eoin Meehan and bizarrely, he also practices Japanese martial arts. It seems to be a fairly uncommon name here in Ireland, although that is only one translation of the name from Gaelic into English. Others include Meighan, Mahan and Meegan.

Apparently the name stems from the Sligo Leitrim border and when the Meehan ancestors, who were originally called O'Miodhachain (or something like that) fled Ireland to get away from the Famine in the 1840s, they got to Ellis Island in the US where they were asked their names. They were illiterate and so the immigration officials guessed at how to spell their names and wrote them down phonetically. Hence, the number of different ways of spelling what is essentially the same name.

Anyway, Wikipedia, the writer's friend, threw up some interesting Meehans from around the world. For a start, James Meehan is kinda cool:

James Meehan (1774 - April 21, 1826) was an Irish-Australian explorer and surveyor.

Meehan was born in Ireland in 1774, and was one of a number of political prisoners who arrived in Australia in February 1800. Two months later he became an assistant to Charles Grimes, the surveyor-general, and went with him to explore the Hunter River in 1801. He was also with Grimes on the expedition to explore King Island and Port Phillip in 1802 and 1803. In October 1805 Governor King directed him to trace the course of the Nepean to the southward a little beyond Mount Taurus, and in October 1807 Meehan prepared his interesting plan of Sydney.

In 1822 he resigned his position and was granted a pension of £100 a year in 1823. He died on 21 April 1826. He was a most capable and industrious official, and though he does not rank among the leading explorers, he did some very valuable work while carrying out his duties during the first 20 years of the nineteenth century.

Hmm, so this guy was mildly historically interesting. The next major Meehan dramatically upped his credibility game. Step into the limelight, Mr Thomas Meehan, who also went by Thomas Meighan:

Thomas Meehan was one of the most popular leading men of the silent film era. Mature, reliable silent-film leading man Thomas Meehan attended St. Mary's College with the intention of studying medicine. His acting career began when he was hired for Henrietta Crossman's touring company when it played his home town of Pittsburgh. In 1900, he made his first Broadway appearance, breaking through to stardom eight years later in George Ade's The College Widow. He married his leading lady, Broadway favorite Blanche Ring, thereby eventually becoming the brother-in-law of actor Charles Winninger and actress Charlotte Greenwood. He made his first film, Dandy Donovan, the Gentleman Cracksman (1914) in London; this led to a long-term contract with the Hollywood company which later became Paramount.

With strong leading roles in such Cecil B. DeMille productions as Male and Female (1919) and Why Change Your Wife? (1919), Meehan became a popular Hollywood star, exuding such intangibles as dependability and quiet courage (so many people inside the industry liked Meehan personally that they conspired to keep secret his ongoing liquor problem). When sound came to motion pictures, the 50-year-old Meehan sensed that his popularity might wane, and he vowed to leave films before his public tired of him. Nonetheless, he was coaxed back before the cameras for good character roles in films like Skyline (1931) and Peck's Bad Boy (1932); he also essayed the leading role of the thief-turned-sleuth "The Lone Wolf" in 1932's Cheaters at Play. Thomas Meighan died of pneumonia at the age of 57. -- Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide.

Not bad, eh?, The next character up on stage, Tony Meehan, also has some street credibility of a sort, or at least he had:

Tony Meehan, (March 2, 1943 – November 28, 2005), was one of the founder members of the British group The Shadows, along with Jet Harris, Hank B. Marvin and Bruce Welch. He played drums on all the early Cliff Richard and The Shadows hits and also played on the early hits the Shadows had as an instrumental group.

Tony Meehan was born in Hampstead, England. He was only ten years old when he became interested in playing the drums. By the time he was 13, Meehan had his first job with a band playing in a dance hall at Willesden, London. He also played timpani with the London Youth Orchestra. Unlike the other members of the Shadows he was never short of work, playing cabaret at places like Churchill's and the Stork Club. He also played with Jet Harris in The Vipers.

Meehan left the Shadows in October 1961 and went to work as an arranger/producer and occasional session drummer for Joe Meek (John Leyton, Michael Cox: "Young Only Once", Andy Cavell) and from early 1962 on at Decca Records. He subsequently teamed up again with Jet Harris (who had also left the Shadows and moved to Decca) and as a duo they had great success with Harris playing guitar and Meehan on drums, notably on the track, 'Diamonds' which also included Jimmy Page on acoustic rhythm guitar. 'Diamonds' was a number one hit in the UK.

Meehan briefly played with The Shadows again some years later when Brian Bennett was hospitalised. At one point, John Rostill was in hospital at the same time, and The Shadows were playing live with Brian Locking on bass and Tony Meehan on drums. On November 29 2005 BBC News quoted Bruce Welch as saying that Meehan had died the previous day as a result of head injuries following a fall.

However, Jim Meehan is by far the winner in the coolness stakes. I may have to base a character on this guy - he rocks!

"Minneapolis" Jim Meehan (aka "Silent" Jim Meehan) (born March 19 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is an American professional poker player from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He also works as a lawyer, but is semi-retired.

Meehan began playing poker in the 1960s, and began playing poker tournaments regularly in 1997, where he had a 2nd place finish in the $3,000 limit hold'em event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). He finished 3rd in the $2,500 limit omaha event the same year.

He eventually won a WSOP bracelet in 2003 in the $2,000 no limit hold'em event, defeating a final table that included Juha Helppi, Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari, Mike Sexton and Kathy Liebert.

Meehan has made one World Poker Tour (WPT) final table, during the third season. He finished in 6th place at a final table including Eli Elezra, Lee Watkinson, Gabe Kaplan, John Juanda and Scotty Nguyen.

He also made the final table of the Ultimate Poker Challenge first season championship. He finished in 3rd place, despite being given a time penalty for foul language.

Meehan's character at the poker table is often categorized by drinking alcohol at the poker table, particularly Heineken beer or whiskey, and keeping an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He also makes a habit of engaging his opponents in banter between and during hands.

He has played online at PokerStars as Actiondonkey and at ParadisePoker as Actionmonkey.As of 2006, his total live tournament winnings exceed $1,300,000. He has four children.

Seriously, how cool is this guy?