This article is about the surname in general. For the family of UK nobility, see
McGowan family.
McGowan/məˈɡaʊən/ is an Irish and Scottish surname. It is an Anglicization of the
IrishMac Gabhann and
ScottishMac Gobhann, both of which mean 'son of (the) smith'.[1] Belonging to the
Uí Echach Cobo, located in modern-day western
County Down,
Ulster, they were of the same stock as the
McGuinness clan.[2]
Meaning
As noted further in the source by
John O'Hart, though not an occupational surname, MacGowan evolves as an Anglicisation of the original
Gaelic language personal description or nickname gobha, meaning "blacksmith". For this reason, the surnames of some septs of the MacGowan are alternately anglicised to
Smythe or
Smith. The surname MacGowan, therefore, translates from Gaelic language to English language as "son of (the) smith".
Scottish origins
In Scotland, Mac an Ghobhain was anglicized to MacGowan. Mac Gobha, later McGow, was also made MacGowan. As the maker of arms and armour, the smith was an important hereditary position in each clan and there were MacGowans, or MacGouns, found throughout the Highlands. The two most important septs, however, were the MacGowans of Clan Donald (only to be found in Antrim and South Uist) and those of Clan MacPherson.[citation needed]
There was also an Irish-Scot
Clan MacGowan recorded in fourteenth-century Nithsdale in Dumfriesshire. The Irish origins of this clan suggest that the Scottish Clan MacGowan may descend from the same eponymous ancestor as those in Ireland who bear the name, with the Scottish branch of the clan having fled to Scotland during the Norman occupation of Ireland. Separately, in Stirlingshire there was an old family of MacGowans of uncertain origin.[citation needed]
In Ireland the name MacGowan refers to an eponymous ancestor, Aengus an Gobhain ("Angus the Smith") or Áengus Goibnenn mac Fergus Gallen mheic Tibraide Tirech, who was a High King of Ulster and the son of Fergus Galeng, son of
Tipraiti Tireach.
The MacGowans were formerly chiefs in Dalariada, a principality in eastern Ulidia. However, they were driven to Donegal, Cavan, and Sligo in the 12th century due to English invasions in eastern Ireland. The MacGowans who settled in Sligo had their home at Castlegowan in Sligo, and thereafter a great number of them moved to Rossinver Parish in Leitrim. The name McGowan is now very popular in County Sligo and County Leitrim. The name McGowan is particularly common in the parish of Manorhamilton in Leitrim.
This family gave birth to many eminent ecclesiastics and literary men, and among the latter class may be mentioned Tadg Mac-an-Gowan, chief historiographer to the O'Connors towards the close of the 14th century; Felan M'an- Gowan by whom, assisted by the O'Dugans of East Galway, was compiled the Book of the O'Kellys, commonly called the Book of Hy-Many; and the no less distinguished ecclesiastical writer, Angus Ceile De M'anGowan, author of Lives of the Irish Saints and other tracts, who lived in the third quarter of the 8th century, and of whom the following pedigree is preserved.
As for the MacGowans who remained in the northeast of Ireland (in Antrim specifically), this family would later be associated with the MacDonnell Chieftains, who were a branch of the Scottish Clan Donald.
McGowan's Pass, a topographical feature of Central Park in New York City, New York
McGowan Station, an island platformed METRORail light rail station in Houston, Texas, United States
McGowan's War, a bloodless war that took place in Yale, British Columbia in the fall of 1858 and, there, threatened the newly established British authority on the mainland
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surnameMcGowan. If an
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