Irish surname search
(Mac)Egan, Keegan, Hegan
In Irish Egan is MacAodhagain (from the christian name Aodh, anglice Hugh), and the surname is really MacEgan, though the prefix Mac is rarely used in modern times except by the family which claims to be head of the sept. The MacEgans were hereditary lawyers: beginning as a brehon family among the Ui Maine (Hy Many) septs, they eventually dispersed. They settled chiefly in Ormond, I.e. the wide territory comprising all or part of the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and Offaly, where they continued to follow their traditional calling and acted as brehons to the chiefs. The most important of these was MacEgan, chief brehon to O'Connor Faly.
An early example of the form Hegan is to be seen in the signature (Owen Hegaine) of Owen Mac Egan in a letter he wrote in 1602, which is quoted in Pacata Hibernia. For pedigree and notes on MacEgan see Tribes and Customs of Hy Many, Appendix E.
Owen Mac Egan (1570-1603), bishop-designate of Ross, was a prominent supporter of Tyrone in the Elizabethan wars and was killed in battle: other illustrious churchmen were Most Rev. Boetius Egan (1734-1798), Archbishop of Tuam, who, however, was opposed to the Rising of '98: Most Rev. Cornelius Egan (1780-1856), Bishop of Kerry, and Most Rev. Michael Egan (1761-1814), Bishop of Philadelphia. Two Pierce Egans (1772-1849 and 1814-1880), were popular novelists in their day. John Egan (1750-1810), patriot member of Parliament, was notorious also for his propensity to duelling. In our own day "the MacEgan", as he styled himself, was an artist noted for his striking portraits of contemporary Irish national leaders.
When the prefixes Mac and O fell into disuse during the period of Gaelic submergence, in some places the C was retained and became K, resulting in Keegan, and this, in turn, gave rise to the corrupt Gaelic form O Caogain now often used in Connacht as the Gaelic equivalent of Keegan. The Keegans are found to-day chiefly in two areas: in Leinster - in Counties Dublin and Wicklow - and in connacht - in Counties Roscommon and Leitrim, I.e. in places fairly remote from the homeland of the MacEgan sept where the form Egan is always used. The poet John Keegan (1809-1849) , is always used. The poet John Keegan (1809-1849) was born in Co. Leix.