Gahent History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland
• Scotland

Early Origins of the Gahent family

Early History of the Gahent family

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

Gahent Spelling Variations

Pronunciation, rather than spelling, guided scribes and church officials when recording names during the Middle Ages. This practice often resulted in one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname Gahent are preserved in these old documents. The various spellings of the name that were found include Gahan, Gaghan, Gagham, Getham, Gaham, Gahame and others.

Early Notables of the Gahent 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 Gahent Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Gahent family

The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families leaving Ireland for the distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute due to the policies of England. Those Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in the American War of Independence. Others that remained in America later joined the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America, and those who arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United States and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the Gahent family relocated to North American shores quite early: 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..