Mugan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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 Mugan or a variant listed above, including:

Mugan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• John Mugan, aged 24, who arrived in Missouri in 1842 3
• Patrick Mugan, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1868 3

• T. A. Mugan, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Iowa, 1916 4
• Marion M. Mugan, American politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Missouri 12th District, 1914 4
• James C. Mugan, American Republican politician, Candidate in primary for Michigan State Senate 11th District, 1950 4