O'Hagan — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: O hAgain
Meaning: 'descendant of Ogan' (og, young)
Traditional stronghold: Tyrone
Pronunciation: oh-HAY-gan; Irish O hAgain: oh HAH-gawn
History of the O'Hagan name
O'Hagan derives from O hAgain, a diminutive built on og, meaning young. The family held a position of particular ceremonial importance in County Tyrone as the hereditary holders of the right to inaugurate the O'Neill chieftains, the kings of Tyrone, at the ancient inauguration site of Tullaghoge, giving the O'Hagans influence disproportionate to the size of their own landholding. This role placed them at the centre of Gaelic Ulster's political and ceremonial life for centuries, until the collapse of the Gaelic order following the Flight of the Earls in 1607. O'Hagan remains most strongly associated with Tyrone and the surrounding Ulster counties today.
Variants: Hagan · O'Hagen
Famous bearers of the name
- Thomas O'Hagan, 1st Baron O'Hagan — First Catholic Lord Chancellor of Ireland since the Reformation, appointed in 1868
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Neill · Quinn · Donnelly · McGrath · Devlin · Bradley · Campbell · Devine