Origin of the Name Geoghegan
The ancient history of the name
Geoghegan was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Geoghegan
include McGeoghegan, Geogan, Gegan and Gehegan. These names are anglicized forms of the native Gaelic Mag Eochagain sept who were of the Southern Ui Neill, ancestors of the famous sixth century King 'Niall of the Nine Hostages'.
A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. Irish septs and clans that are related often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes.
This name is taken from the Gaelic word 'Eochaidh' which gives the Irish first name 'Oghy'. This sept was located at Moycashel in County Westmeath, with the Chiefs located near Kilbeggan. Fifteen McGeoghegans, Chiefs of Cinel Fiachrach or Kinalea, sometimes called Lords thereof, are mentioned in the 'Annals of the Four Masters' between 1291 and 1450. A branch of the McGeoghegan sept settled in Bunowen, County Galway , and the name is still found in that County as well as in their original territory.
The Geoghegan coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Geoghegan descendants.