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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
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[[Image:Gavigan 02 Coat of Arms.jpg|thumb|right|Geoghegan family coat of arms]]

'''Geoghegan''' ({{langx|ga|Mag Eochagáin}}) is a surname of [[Irish language|Irish]] origin.

Often spelled without the prefix "Mac", the name has many variants, including Gehegan, Geoghan, Geohegan, Gahagan, Gagan, and Gagon which approximate the most common pronunciations of the name. It is usually pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|eɪ|ɡ|ən}} {{respell|GAY|gən}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ɛ|h|ə|ɡ|ən}} {{respell|GEH|hə|gən}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|oʊ|h|ɪ|ɡ|ən}} {{respell|GOH|hig|ən}}. In Irish it is Mag Eochagáin, from "[[Eochaid]]h," a popular medieval Irish and Scottish Gaelic name deriving from [[Old Irish]] ''ech'', meaning "horse." The initial "G" of Geoghegan comes from the prefix Mag, a variant of Mac and the anglicised form Mageoghegan or McGeoghegan was formerly much used.

==History==

=== Correlation to ancient figures ===

The sept of the MacGeoghegans is of the southern [[Uí Néill]], and said to be descended from [[Niall of the Nine Hostages]]. Niall was alive from the mid 4th century into the early 5th century. His father was [[Eochaid Mugmedón]], of the line of Erimhon, one of the sons of Esbain who it is said took Ireland from the [[Tuatha de Danann]].

Niall's mother was Carthann Cas Dubh, daughter of the king of Britain. Niall's first wife was Inné, mother of his son [[Fiachu mac Néill]], from who the Geoghegan family are said to be descended. He also had seven other sons with his second wife, [[Roighnech]]. Niall's ancestry is claimed by Irish myth to trace back to [[Miledh]] of [[Esbain]], [[King of Spain]], whose wife [[Scota]] was the daughter of the [[Egyptian Pharaoh]] [[Nectanebo II]]. From there the line is sometimes traced to Niul who was married to the daughter of Pharaoh Cingris.

=== Niall of the Nine Hostages ===
{{main|Niall of the Nine Hostages}}

'''Niall ''Noígíallach''''' ([[Old Irish]] for "having nine [[Hostage#Historical hostage practices|hostage]]s"),<ref>''noí'', nine; ''gíall'', a human pledge or hostage; the possessive suffix ''-ach'' (''[[Dictionary of the Irish Language]]'', Compact Edition, 1990, pp. 360, 479–480; [[Rudolf Thurneysen]], ''A Grammar of Old Irish'', 1946, p. 220). Also spelled ''Noí nGiallach'', ''Naígiallach'', ''Naoighiallach'' etc</ref> or in English, [[Niall of the Nine Hostages]], was a prehistoric Irish king, the ancestor of the [[Uí Néill]] dynasties that dominated the northern half of Ireland from the 6th to the 10th century. Irish annalistic and chronicle sources place his reign in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, although modern scholars, through critical study of the annals, date him about half a century later. He is presumed by some to have been a real person, or at the very least semi-historical but most of the information about him that has come down to us is regarded as legendary. There are various versions of how Niall gained his epithet ''Noígíallach''. The saga "The Death of Niall of the Nine Hostages" says that he received five hostages from the five provinces of Ireland ([[Ulster]], [[Connacht]], [[Leinster]], [[Munster]] and [[Meath (province)|Meath]]), and one each from [[Scots (ethnic group)|Scotland]], the [[Saxons]], the [[Britons (historic)|Britons]] and the [[Franks]].<ref name="death">Tom Peete Cross & Clark Harris Slover (eds.), [http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/niall.html "The Death of Niall of the Nine Hostages"], ''Ancient Irish Tales'', 1936, pp. 514–517</ref> Keating says that he received five from the five provinces of Ireland, and four from Scotland.<ref name="keating">[[Geoffrey Keating]], ''Foras Feasa ar Éirinn'' [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text058.html 1.48], [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text059.html 1.49], [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text060.html 1.50], [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text061.html 51], [http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100054/text062.html 52]</ref> O'Rahilly suggests that the nine hostages were from the kingdom of the [[Kingdom of Oriel|Airgialla]] (literally "hostage-givers"), a satellite state founded by the Ui Néill's conquests in Ulster, noting that the [[Early Irish law|early Irish legal text]] ''Lebor na gCeart'' ("[[Lebor na Cert|The Book of Rights]]") says that the only duty of the Airgialla to the King of Ireland was to give him nine hostages.<ref name=orahilly>T. F. O'Rahilly, ''Early Irish History and Mythology'', Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1946</ref>{{rp|222–232}}

His son [[Fiachu mac Néill]] is said to be the ancestor of the '''Cenél Fiachach''', a clan which included several well known sub-clans or septs such as Geoghegan and [[O'Higgins family|O'Higgins]], whose lands extended from [[Birr, County Offaly|Birr]] to Uisnech in southern Westmeath and part of north [[Offaly]] and their southern territory became known as Fir Cell (land of the churches), and later the Barony of Moycashel.<ref>Byrne, ''Irish Kings and High Kings'', p. 93.</ref> His son Túathal established a northern branch and his son Úathnemgenn a southern branch. Another son Crimthann was great-grandfather of a local saint [[Áed mac Bricc]] (died 589).<ref>Charles-Edwards, ''Early Christian Ireland'', Appendix VII.</ref>

On the other hand, it is claimed in the early 15th-century manuscript called [[Leabhar Breac]] that the Geoghegans are descended, not from Fiachu, son of Niall, but from a plebeian, Fiachu, son of Aedh. This claim so enraged the descendants of Fiachu, that they killed the author of the passage, even though he was under the protection of Suanach, the abbot of the monastery of Rahin.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.geoghegan.org/clan/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20001219191100/http://www.geoghegan.org/clan/| archive-date = 2000-12-19| title = Geoghegan Family Society Family History Page}}</ref>

A branch of the MacGeoghegan sept settled in Bunowen, County Galway, and the name is found in that county as well as in their original territory. In the West it has been often shortened to Geoghan and even Gegan. In 1807, John Geoghegan of Bunowen Castle, County [[Galway]] assumed by royal licence the surname of O'Neill in lieu of Geoghegan and so his descendants.

==Geoghegans==
There have been several notable Geoghegans including:{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

* Anthony Geoghegan (1810–1889), poet
* [[Chris Geoghegan]], British board member of [[BAE Systems]], and President of the [[Society of British Aircraft Constructors]],
* [[Conal MacGeoghegan]], Chief of the Sept, translator of the ''[[Annals of Clonmacnoise]]'' into English in 1627
* [[Eve Geoghegan]], British baroque violinist
* [[Helen Gahagan Douglas]] (1900–1980), American actress and Congresswoman from California whose electoral defeat by [[Richard M. Nixon]] propelled him into national politics
* [[Hugh Geoghegan (footballer)]], an Irish former footballer
* [[Hugh Geoghegan]] (1938–2024), Irish judge
* [[James MacGeoghegan]] (1702–1764), Irish priest and historian
* John Geoghegan (b. 1956), midfielder, Accrington Stanley FC
* John Geoghegan, Mayor of City of Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, 1994–2003
* John Michael Geoghegan (1881–1847), Fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]]
* [[J. B. Geoghegan|Joseph Bryan Geoghegan]] (1816–1889), English music hall song writer and performer.
* [[Joseph Geoghegan]], (1937–2020) Vice President, general counsel and board member to the [[Union Carbide Corporation]]
* [[Máire Geoghegan-Quinn]] (b. 1950), Irish politician and former [[European Commissioner]] for [[European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science|Research, Innovation and Science]],
* [[Michael Geoghegan]] (b. 1953), British former chief executive of [[HSBC]]
* [[Richard H. Geoghegan|Richard Henry Geoghegan]], British linguist known for his study of native [[Alaska]]n languages and for introducing [[Esperanto]] to the anglophone world
* Richard MacGeoghegan, commanded the defenders at the siege of [[Dunboy Castle]] at Berehaven, County Cork in 1601{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
* [[Roche MacGeoghegan]] (1580–1644), Irish Dominican prelate, "saintly and enterprising" [[Bishop of Kildare]]
* [[Sally Geoghegan]], English Grange Hill actress
* [[Sam Geoghegan]] UOBHC one time 6s player
* [[Simon Geoghegan]], Ireland rugby international player
* [[Tao Geoghegan Hart]], British professional cyclist with the [[Ineos Grenadiers]] cycling team
* [[Ted Geoghegan]] (b. 1979), American movie director known for his movie ''We Are Still Here''
* [[Thomas Geoghegan]] (b. 1949), American labour lawyer and politician
* [[Vincent Geoghegan]], British historian
* William Geoghegan & his brother [[Samuel Geoghehan|Samuel]] were, in the late 1800s, respectively head brewer and chief engineer of the [[Guinness]] brewery in Dublin.

==Moycashel lineages==
The book ''Irish Pedigrees: Or, The Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation'' by [[John O'Hart]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Hart|first1=John|title=Irish Pedigrees: Or, The Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation|year=1892|publisher=Dublin, J. Duffy and Co.; New York, Benziger Bros.|url=https://archive.org/details/irishpedigrees00unkngoog}}</ref> lists the direct lineage from [[Niall of the Nine Hostages]] to the ancestors of the modern day Geoghegans and Gahagans. This lineage also includes the MacGuigan's and McGuigan's of North America and Australia.

==See also==

* [[Castletown-Geoghegan]]
* [[Annals of the Four Masters]]
* [[O'Neill (surname)]]
* [[Gahagan]]
* [[Gallagher (surname)]]
* [[Eagan (disambiguation)]]
* [[Madden (disambiguation)]]
* [[List of kings of Strathclyde]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [http://www.geoghegan.org/clan/ Geoghegan web pages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829061223/http://www.geoghegan.org/clan/ |date=29 August 2014 }}

{{Uí Néill}}

{{surname|Geoghegan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geoghegan}}
[[Category:Irish families]]
[[Category:Ancient Irish dynasties]]