Gannon — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mag Fhionnáin
Meaning: 'fair-haired' (from fionn)
Traditional stronghold: Mayo
Pronunciation: GAN-un; Irish Mag Fhionnáin: mog IN-awn
History of the Gannon name
Gannon represents Mag Fhionnáin, 'son of Fionnán', a diminutive of fionn, 'fair'. The name belongs above all to County Mayo, where the family was long established in Erris in the far northwest, and it remains most numerous in Mayo and the neighbouring Connacht counties, with a presence in Dublin from the nineteenth century onward. Like many smaller Connacht names it was carried abroad in great numbers during and after the Famine, becoming a familiar surname in Irish communities in Britain and the United States. A proud sporting footnote: Bill 'Squires' Gannon of Kildare was in 1928 the first captain ever to lift the Sam Maguire Cup.
Variants: McGannon · Ganon
Famous bearers of the name
- Bill 'Squires' Gannon — Kildare footballer, the first captain to be presented with the Sam Maguire Cup in 1928.
- Cathy Gannon — Dublin-born jockey, the first woman to be champion apprentice in Ireland.
- John Mark Gannon — Long-serving Irish-American archbishop of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Walsh · Burke · Moran · Higgins · Conway · Costello · Jennings · Browne