The original Gaelic form of the Irish name McCrosson was written as Mac an Chrosain, which is derived from the word cros, which means cross.
The surname McCrosson was first found in Leinster, where they held a family seat at Ballymacrossan on the border of Leix and Offaly. There they were an off-shoot of the notable Clan O'Moore which was the leading sept of the 'Seven Clans of Leix'. In Gaelic the surname is "Mac an Chrosain," but more frequently seen in the English form "Crosby" or "Crosbie" which was listed as early as the early 1600s. [1]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McCrosson research. Another 257 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1600, 1621, 1638, 1658, 1658, 1639, 1619, 1638, 1695, 1689 and 1762 are included under the topic Early McCrosson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Scribes and church officials, lacking today's standardized spelling rules, recorded names by how they were pronounced. This imprecise guide often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname McCrosson are preserved in documents of the family history. The various spellings of the name that were found include Crossan, Crossen, McCrossan, McCrossen, MacCrossan, MacCrossin, MacCrossen, Crossin, MacCrosson, McCrosson, Crosson, McCrosin, McCrosen and many more.
Notable amongst the family name at this time was Patrick McCrossan, Chief of his Clann; John Crosbie, alias Sean Mac an Chrosáin (died 1621), a bishop of the Church of Ireland; and his sons: Sir Walter Crosbie, 1st Baronet, died 4 Aug 1638; David Crosbie (died 1658), died 1658; Sir John Crosbie...
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early McCrosson Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
A massive wave of Irish immigrants hit North America during the 19th century. Although many early Irish immigrants made a carefully planned decision to leave left Ireland for the promise of free land, by the 1840s immigrants were fleeing a famine stricken land in desperation. The condition of Ireland during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s can be attributed to a rapidly expanding population and English imperial policies. Those Irish families that arrived in North America were essential to its rapid social, industrial, and economic development. Passenger and immigration lists have revealed a number of early Irish immigrants bearing the name McCrosson: