McGaskey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland

Early Origins of the McGaskey family

The surname McGaskey was first found in Galloway (Gaelic: Gall-ghaidhealaibh), an area of southwestern Scotland, now part of the Council Area of Dumfries and Galloway, that formerly consisted of the counties of Wigtown (West Galloway) and Kirkcudbright (East Galloway), where they held a family seat from very ancient times.

Early History of the McGaskey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McGaskey research. Another 124 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1494, 1588, 1688 and 1890 are included under the topic Early McGaskey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

McGaskey Spelling Variations

Prior to the first dictionaries, scribes spelled words according to sound. This, and the fact that Scottish names were repeatedly translated from Gaelic to English and back, contributed to the enormous number of spelling variations in Scottish names. McGaskey has been spelled Caskie, Caskey, Macaskey, MacCaskie, McAskie, McCaskie and many more.

Early Notables of the McGaskey family

More information is included under the topic Early McGaskey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the McGaskey family to Ireland

Some of the McGaskey family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 59 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the McGaskey family

In such difficult times, the difficulties of raising the money to cross the Atlantic to North America did not seem so large compared to the problems of keeping a family together in Scotland. It was a journey well worth the cost, since it was rewarded with land and freedom the Scots could not find at home. The American War of Independence solidified that freedom, and many of those settlers went on to play important parts in the forging of a great nation. Among them: a family of Caskie, settled in Washington about the year 1640. James, John, Margaret, Mary, Michael, Rebecca, Robert, Sally, Samuel and William Caskey, all settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1813 and 1864.