Goggin

The Goggin name is Celtic in origin and goes back to the parish of Cogan which is in the diocese of Llandaff, in Glamorganshire, Wales. Cogan is a place near Cardiff in Wales. This family, like most of the south Welsh colonists was probably of Flemish origin. It is said that the ancestors can be traced back to Cardigan where they were seated before the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The first of the family to arrive in Ireland was the famous Milo de Cogan who came to Ireland as Strongbow's right-hand man in the Anglo-Norman Invasion of 1172. He was granted huge estates in Cork by Henry II. He left no son to carry on the name so the name was practically extinct by the 17th century but luckily enough minor branches under the name Goggin. The family was among the leaders of the invasion of Cork, Ireland; so most must descend from Richard de Cogan who lived in the early thirteenth century. Richard also possess lands around Bray in Wicklow and obtained lands in Galway at the time of the Connacht invasion, which the family lost during the fourteenth century. Also, in that century the greater share of the Cogan estate in Cork was overrun but they retained lands south of Cork until the seventeenth century Goggin originally was used as a regional appellation. Regional surnames stem from place names including rivers, countries, and man made features such as buildings, crossroads and many other objects. A person could be given a name indicating a place which was readily recognised. In this case, the surname Goggin was used for a person from the township of Cogan in county Cork, Ireland. Records of the name Goggins indicate there were early bearers who became instrumental in influencing the development and direction of their country and held positions of power and authority during their lifetimes which enabled them to hold sway in the decision making process in events of national importance. Early records of the surname Goggin include Patrick Goggin from Goganrath in county Cork appears in the Hearth Money Rolls. Hearth Money Rolls were a tax of two shillings on every hearth or fire place in a dwelling. In the year 1663 a list was compiled of all households liable to pay this tax, together with the number of fireplaces in their dwellings and their obligations to the crown.