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| Origins Available: |
| | Ireland |
Hundreds of years ago, the Gaelic name used by the MacKeon family in Ireland was Mac Eogain in Connacht, and Mac Eoin in east Ulster. Both of these names connote a "son of John," or "son of Owen." 1
The surname MacKeon was first found in County Sligo (Irish: Sligeach), in the province of Connacht in Northwestern Ireland, where the first people to use this surname are thought to have originated. Soon thereafter, the name was also found in neighboring Leitrim.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our MacKeon research. Another 84 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early MacKeon History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 MacKeon are preserved in these old documents. The various spellings of the name that were found include Keon, MacKeon, MacKeown, MacKewan, MacKoun, MacWing, Hone, MacOwen, Mageown and many more.
Notable amongst the family name at this time was
A massive amount of Ireland's native population left the island in the 19th century for North America and Australia in hopes of finding more opportunities and an escape from discrimination and oppression. A great portion of these migrants arrived on the eastern shores of the North American continent. Although they were generally poor and destitute, and, therefore, again discriminated against, these Irish people were heartily welcomed for the hard labor involved in the construction of railroads, canals, roadways, and buildings. Many others were put to work in the newly established factories or agricultural projects that were so essential to the development of what would become two of the wealthiest nations in the world. The Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s initiated the largest wave of Iris immigration. Early North American immigration and passenger lists have revealed a number of people bearing the name MacKeon or a variant listed above: