Show ContentsDunnegan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Irish surnames in use today are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name Dunnegan originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Donnagain. The first portion of the name is probably derived from "donn," which means "brown," while the second portion of the name is probably derived from and ancient Irish personal name. 1

Early Origins of the Dunnegan family

The surname Dunnegan was first found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat at Muskerry, later moving to Limerick, Kildare and Dublin.

Early History of the Dunnegan family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dunnegan research. Another 114 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1300, 1395, 1412, 1413, 1634 and 1715 are included under the topic Early Dunnegan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dunnegan Spelling Variations

In the Middle Ages many people were recorded under different spellings each time their name was written down. Research on the Dunnegan family name revealed numerous spelling variations, including Donegan, Donnegan, Doneghan, Donneghan, Donagan, Donnagan, Donnaghan, Dunnegan, O'Donegan, O'Dunnegan, O'Donnaghan, Dongan, Donegin, Donnegin, Donnagen, Donagen, Donnegen, Donegen, Donnigan, Donigan, Dunnican, Dunican, Dunnigan, McDunnigan, McDonegan, Dongane, Dongin, Dongen and many more.

Early Notables of the Dunnegan family

Notable among the family name at this time was John Donegan (died 1413), a medieval Manx prelate. After holding the position of Archdeacon of Down, he held three successive bishoprics, Mann and the Isles (Sodor), then...
Another 36 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dunnegan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


Australia Dunnegan migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Dunnegan Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Woodland Dunnegan, (b. 1806), aged 26 who was convicted in Somerset, England for life for house breaking, transported aboard the "Circassian" on 4th November 1832, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 2
  • Michael Dunnegan, aged 22, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1855 aboard the ship "Sea Park"


  1. Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
  2. Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 8th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/circassian


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