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MacGowan, O'Gowan, Smith (MacGuane)
The Irish surname MacGowan (not to be confused with the Scottish macGoun) is more often than not hidden under the synonym Smith. In Irish it is Mac an Ghaghain, I.e. son of the smith, and its translation to Smith (commonest of all surnames in England) was very widespread, particularly in Co. Cavan where the MacGowan sept originated. It is included by the chroniclers as one of the principal septs of Breffny. On the borders of Breffny, in Co. Leitrim, and to the north west in Counties Donegal and Sligo, the true form in English, MacGowan, is still used in preference to Smith. There was, too, in east Ulster a distinct sept of O'Gowan, a name which was also anglicized Smith. A very prominent member of this family, long resident in Co. Cavan, has recently, with the full approval of the Irish Genealogical Office, resumed the name O'Gowan. They came originally from a place called Ballygowan in Co. Down. O'Gowan is very rarely met with in modern times. It is, however, to be found in the census of 1659 as one of the principal Irish name is the counties of Monaghan And Fermanagh.
Though Mageown is one of the recorded synonyms of MacGowan it should be observed that it is also a surname in its own right - MacEoin or mag Eoghain in Irish and cognate with MacKeown. It is also found in the abbreviated form Geon.
Two MacGowans of Irish ancestry have distinguished themselves abroad: in the U.S.A. Samuel MacGowan (1819-1897), a Presbyterian, jurist and Confederate soldier; and in New Zealand, James MacGowan (1841-1911), statesman; Faelan Mac an Ghabhan was one of the scribes of the Book of Ui Maine (1394). Among the many alternative forms of the name recorded in the statistical returns of the Registrar-General, the most usual, apart from smith, are Mageown and Magown.
Fuhrer confusion arises from the fact that the Gaelic surname MacDhubhain, a family of Raphoe, Co. Donegal, and also of Co. Clare, where the anglicized form is MacGuane, has become MacGowan in Co. Mayo; while Mac Gamhna (normally Gaffney - see above) is also rendered Mac Gowan in some places.