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| Origins Available: |
| | Ireland |
Irish surnames are all based on the Gaelic language native to Ireland. The original Gaelic form of the name MacCosker is Mag Uidhir, which is derived from the word odhar, meaning dun-colored; in the genitive case, the word is uidhir.
The surname MacCosker was first found in County Fermanagh (Irish: Fear Manach) in the southwestern part of Northern Ireland, Province of Ulster.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our MacCosker research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early MacCosker History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Names from the Middle Ages demonstrate many spelling variations. This is because the recording scribe or church official often decided as to how a person's name was spelt and in what language. Research into the name MacCosker revealed many variations, including MacCosker, MacCusker, MacOsker, MacOscar and many more.
Notable amongst the family name at this time was
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 MacCosker family relocated to North American shores quite early: