Donegan — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Donnagáin
Meaning: 'descendant of Donnagán (little brown one)'
Traditional stronghold: Cork, Tipperary, Monaghan
Pronunciation: DON-eh-gun; Irish Ó Donnagáin: oh DUN-uh-gawn
History of the Donegan name
Ó Donnagáin, from a diminutive of donn, 'brown', was borne by several unrelated septs: one in the old territory of Fermoy in north Cork, one in the Ara district of Co. Tipperary near the Limerick border, and another in the Airgialla country of Monaghan and Armagh. The Cork sept was of some consequence in the pre-Norman period, its chiefs appearing in the annals among the lords of Fermoy. The name later became widespread across Munster and south Ulster, and emigration carried it strongly to Britain, where Glasgow-born Lonnie Donegan made it a household word in the 1950s as the king of skiffle, the do-it-yourself music that launched a thousand British bands.
Variants: Dunnigan · Donagan · Dongan
Famous bearers of the name
- Lonnie Donegan — Glasgow-born king of skiffle whose hits like Rock Island Line inspired the Beatles' generation to pick up guitars.
- Paddy Donegan — Fine Gael Minister for Defence whose 1976 outburst against President Ó Dálaigh forced a constitutional crisis.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · O'Brien · Ryan · O'Sullivan · McCarthy · Kennedy · Connolly · Daly