GEOGHEGAN members around the world

GEOGHEGAN Family History

Recorded in several forms including Geoghegan, Geoghan, Gegan and Geogan, this ancient and distinguished surname is Irish. The modern spellings are developments of the pre 10th century Gaelic surname "MagEochagain", which translates as 'The son of of the horseman'. Traditionally, Irish family names were taken from the original chief of the clan, who in this case was an illustrious warrior. They are or were, usually prefixed by Mac, denoting "son of," and originally written as "Mag" before a vowel, or O', the grandson or male descendant of. The clan were of the southern Ui Neill, an ancient population group which claimed descent from the famous 6th century King Niall of the Nine Hostages...