Irish surnames are linked to the long Gaelic heritage of the Island nation. The original Gaelic form of the name McRegan is Ó Riagain. In County Waterford, the Gaelic form Ó Reagain is used.
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Early Origins of the McRegan family
The surname McRegan was first found in County Meath (Irish: An Mhí) anciently part of the kingdom of Brega, located in Eastern Ireland, in the province of Leinster, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.
One of the oldest records of the family was Morice Regan (fl. 1171), an Irish interpreter. He is stated in an old French poem, of which the only text begins 'Par soen demeine latimer.' He is thought to have acted as an interpreter and herald, or envoy in the service of Diarmaid MacMurchada, King of Leinster. 1
Early History of the McRegan family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McRegan research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) covering the year 1172 is included under the topic Early McRegan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
McRegan Spelling Variations
Official documents, crafted by early scribes and church officials, primarily contained names that were spelled according to their pronunciation. This lead to the problem of one name being recorded under several different variations, creating an illusion that a single person was many people. Among the many spelling variations of the surname McRegan that are preserved in the archival documents of the time are Reagan, Regan, O'Regan, O'Reagan and others.
Early Notables of the McRegan family
More information is included under the topic Early McRegan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Migration of the McRegan family
In the 18th and 19th centuries hundreds of thousands of Irish people immigrated to North American shores. The early settlers were enticed by the promise of their own land, but they were moderately well off in Ireland when they decided to emigrate. Therefore, they were merely carrying out a long and carefully thought out decision. The 1840s saw the emergence of a very different trend: thousands of extremely desperate people crammed into passenger boats hoping to find any type of opportunity. The Irish of this decade had seen their homeland severely stricken by crop failures which resulted in widespread disease and starvation. At whatever time the Irish immigrants came to North America, they were instrumental in the rapid development of the emerging nations of the United States and what would become known as Canada. An exhaustive search of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many persons bearing the name McRegan, or one of its variants: John Regan, who settled with his wife and three children in Prescott, Ontario, Canada, in 1825; James, John, Patrick, Thomas and William O'Regan, who all arrived at Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.
