Hogan / Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Hogan / Family History

Hogan / Family History

The Hogan ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Hogan include O'Hogan. Meaning 'young', this sept descends from the tenth century King of Ireland, Brian Boru. They were Dalcassian people whose territory was in Counties Clare and Limerick. They spread across to County Tipperary, where the Chieftain had his fortress at Nenagh, but as time went on they lost their lands under the Cromwellian regime, only to have some re-granted by King Charles II. In 1691 the famous Galloping Hogan was the hero of Sarsfields destruction of the Williamite siege train at Ballyneety. A most famous bearer of the name was John Hogan, 1800-1858, an Irish sculptor of international repute.The Hogan family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Hogan descendants.