The
MacGeoghegan Family Society
VOLUME 1
NUMBER 1 NOVEMBER , 1989
Welcome to the first edition of the MacGeoghegan Family Society Newsletter! This copy will go out to all 500 or so of the Geoghegan families I have been able to locate, whether or not you are presently a member of the society. Hopefully, you will be encouraged by its contents to sign up as a Charter Member of the society at the Charter Member rate of $100 for full membership, or $35 for associate membership (for those just interested in learning more about their roots through the Newsletter and attending family reunions around the country, etc.). The fee includes all members of your family up to age 25. After the charter member period expires, full membership will cost $150 for full membership: $50 for associate membership. Anyone joining now as an associate member can change to full membership at any time in the future for the $100 Charter Member rate.
All members will receive a color photo of Donore Castle, the only surviving castle of the MacGeoghegans, and a pedigree showing the family roots traced back to Niall of the Nine Hostages, High King of Ireland from 377 to 404 AD. The Newsletter will be published quarterly and distributed the first week of November, February, May and August. Full members can call for individual instructions about traveling in Ireland. This should save hundred, of dollars per person as well as making your trip more interesting and productive. Full members will also have access to the genealogical information at a reduced rate. Also planned is a membership certificate with the family coat of arms if we get enough members to justify the cost of its production.
At best, we hope to attract about 100 associate members and 10 full members. At a combined gross income of $4,500 it should be obvious this will not be a profit-making venture. I'll subsidize any cost overruns unless we fall far short of our 100+ member goal. Should that happen, I'll see that every member gets at least their first full year benefits.
Please be aware that I make no claims to being a historian, genealogist or language expert. All I can do is present the information 1 have found and share it with you. Of course, the information must have some basis of fact or be otherwise accurate, but the main purpose of this newsletter is to share information. All comments, corrections and original material would be most welcome. Even more important, whether you become a member or not, would you please complete and return the questionnaire on the back page of this newsletter. You may send as much additional information as you have that could,be helpful to the society. If sending a membership check, please make it payable to John J. Gargan.
THE GEOGHEGAN ROOTS
I had originally planned to devote the first issue to an explanation of the family coat of arms, but, on further thought, it seems more appropriate to begin with the history of the family (also referred to as "clan" or "sept") from its origins of descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages. It would also be appropriate to explore the origins of the family surname, "Geoghegan", so here goes:
Niall (pronounced "Neeal") of the Nine Hostages was High King of Ireland from 377 to 404 AD (some historians place it as 379 to 406 AD). His father was Eocaidh Muigh-Medon, of the Celtic line of Erimhon (pronounced "Arivon"), one of the four sons of Miledh of Esbain who conquered Ireland from the Tuatha-De-Dananns. Niall's mother was Carthann Cas-dubh (Caran Cas-duv), daughter of the King of Britain.
Niall's first wife was Inne', mother of his son, Fiacaidh, from whom the Geoghegans descended. His second wife, Roighnech (Roenah), bore him seven sons. Actually, it appears that Niall had fourteen sons in all, but only the eight mentioned above left posterity.
Niall ruled from the ancient seat of Irish power, the Hill of Tara. During his reign he conquered all of Ireland and Scotland, and much of Britain and Wales. He took a royal hostage from each of the nine provinces he subjugated, thus his name. His was quite a story, which we must save for a future edition to avoid getting bogged down in details and missing the main point of this article, the origins of the Geoghegans. Anyway, he gave each of his eight sons territory to govern and raise their families. Fiacaidh (Fee-aca) was given an area in the geographical center of Ireland in the county of Meath (later split into Westmeath). It was about 12 miles long and 7 miles wide, and took in the area around Lake Ennell lying roughly between Mullingar to the North and Clara to the South, and between Moate on the West and Kilbeggan on the East.
All members of the association have or will receive a pedigree starting from Niall, through Fiacaidh down to about the early 1700's. You will notice that about four generations removed from Fiacaidh there is a son named Eochagan. When, about 1100 AD it became necessary to adopt a surname to distinguish so many men with the same given name, it became the practice in Ireland to choose the name of an illustrious antecedent as a surname. Further, putting an 'O' or a 'Mac' before the surname meant "Descendent of" ('O') or "Son of" ('Mac'). Since Eochagan lived well before the 11th century when surnames came into fashion, it is a puzzle to understand why they took the 'Mac' prefix. This is one of the main reasons why some historians claim the Geoghegans are usurpers of the claim to descent from Niall. It doesn't hold water, though, because among other things, it just doesn't make sense that any usurper would do anything so patently. stupid, that would call attention to his pedigree.
The Mac Eochagan became corrupted to Mag Eochagain, to Mageoghan, then to Mac Geoghegan, and finally, under the Cromwell tyranny, all Irish were compelled by law to drop the "O" and "Mac's" from their names. When Geoghegans left Ireland many of them changed the spelling to more nearly conform to its phonetic pronunciation: Geoghan, Gahagan, Gargan, Gegan, Gehegan, among others. In Gaelic, the letter "h" is silent and usually silences the consonant immediately preceding it - thus, in Gaelic, Geoghegan is correctly pronounced "Gay-gun". Of course, for those not familiar with the Gaelic language, many pronunciations of the original spelling took form, from "Go-hagan" to "Ga-hay-gun". Some decendents of the "Wild Geese", sons of the Irish nobility who fled Ireland in Cromwell's time, kept the prefix "Mac" in their surnames. For our survey, would you please furnish us with the pronunciation that your branch of the family uses? We'll include the results in a subsequent newsletter.
In my own case, the name was not changed until shortly after the turn of the century. My Great-Grandfather, John Geoghegan, emigrated to America in 1881 when my grandfather, John Patrick Geoghegan was one year old. MY father was born and baptized as John J. Geoghegan, but shortly thereafter the family "Americanized" it to Gargan.
PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS
In addition to an article about the coat-of-arms of the Mac Geoghegan family which will appear in the next issue of our News letter, I will schedule stories about the Cromwellian slaughter of all the inhabitants of Donore Castle in 1648 while under a flag of truce; about the intrigue when one brother - the eventual builder of Donore Castle - murdered his brother to gain political advantage; About how John "Jack the Buck" Geoghegan impaled Count DuBarry through the hand with a carving fork for cheating at cards; trace the family line back from Niall of the Nine Hostages to Miledh of Esbain, King of Spain, whose wife was daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh Nectonibus, then back fifteen more generations to Niul (from whom the Nile River got its name). and who was married to the daughter of Pharoah Cingris (who drowned in the Red Sea after Moses parted the sea to allow the Isrealites to escape Egypt.
We'll also cover the joys of touring the present-day irish countryside; travel in style on a poor man's budget; famous Geo- ghegans past and present; announce family reunions scheduled; and generally keep you informed on Geoghegan happenings. But we can't do all this without your support. Please take a moment, now, to complete and return the information on the back of this newsletter. It is especially important that you do, as 1 have learned about a lady who has been doing considerable research on the Geoghegans and has been working for many years on a book about the history and genealogy of the Geoghegan clan. Her name is Patricia Cusack (a Geoghegan through her great-great grandmother), and she is a qualified genealogist. 1 will turn over all the information gained from this survey to her for use in completing her book.
BIG GEOGHEGAN REUNION IN KENTUCKY
Sunday, September 3rd, was a big day in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, when over a hundred of the descendents of Ambrose Denton Geoghegan, held a big reunion at the Brown-Pusey house there. Ambrose, who came to the US about 1771, was one of the earliest Geogbegans to come to these shores. He was extremely active in politics and in pioneering the settlement of Western Maryland and Kentucky. Geoghegans came from as far away as Florida and Kansas City to attend the bash. Steve Geoghegan, a direct descendent of Ambrose, has done considerable research on this line of the Geoghegan clan. Perhaps we can include some of his findings in a future issue of this newsletter.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DEAL FIZZLES
I had hoped that we could get the National Geographic magazine to sponsor a project that would get DNA samples from Egyptian mummies from the line of Cingris and Nectonibus and comparing it with DNA samples from present day Geoghegans (and other descendents of Niall) to prove (or disprove) the Pharoah connection according to Irish tradition. Their initial interest somehow evaporated, so, does anyone out there know how we could pursue this interesting possibility?
John J. (Jack) Gargan