Gahn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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• Ireland

Early Origins of the Gahn family

Early History of the Gahn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gahn research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1641, 1730, 1747, 1761 and 1804 are included under the topic Early Gahn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gahn Spelling Variations

Irish names were rarely spelled consistently in the Middle Ages. Spelling variations of the name Gahn dating from that time include Gahan, Gaghan, Gagham, Getham, Gaham, Gahame and others.

Early Notables of the Gahn family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was William Gahan (1730-1804), Irish ecclesiastic and author, born in Dublin in June 1730. He was of a Leinster sept, the original name of which was O'Gaoithin, anglicised Gahan. He was educated at Dublin, became a member of the Augustinian order there, and in 1747 entered the Catholic university of Louvain, where he studied for eleven...
Another 64 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gahn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Gahn family

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Gahn or a variant listed above, including: John Gahan who landed in Pennsylvania in 1773; followed by James in 1842; another John in 1856; and Patrick in 1867; William Gahan settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1818..