Irish Surname - Hogan
The word Hogan derives from the Gaelic 'An O hOgain' (Og meaning "young"), in Irish mythology, the land of eternal youth is called Tir Na nÓg.
The Hogans were a Dalcassian family descended from Ogan, who was a direct descendant of Brian Boru, the last great High King of Ireland who defeated the Vikings in 1014 A.D. They came from Clare and Limerick divided and spread across Tipperary. The Hogans lost their lands under the Cromwellians but had some land re-granted by Charles II.
The name is prevalent in Ireland, one of the 100 most common surnames. It has a strong presence in Counties Limerick, Clare, and Tipperary, near Nenagh, where one of the ancient clan chiefs had a castle called Ardcrony.
Famous People with Hogan as their Surname
Some of the well-known Irish Hogans include John Hogan, (1800-1858) a prominent Irish sculptor whose works are on view at many sites in Dublin and Cork as well as on the European continent. A famous Daniel O'Connell statue of his stands in Limerick.
Patrick Hogan (1891-1936) was the first minister for agriculture in the Irish Free State under the Cumann na nGaedhael government, 1922-32. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1921 in the Galway constituency as a Sinn Féin candidate. He was widely hailed for introducing reform legislation on land ownership and agricultural production. He introduced regulation which aimed to maintain high standards of Irish produce and put through the last of the Land Acts in 1923. He was killed in a car accident in July 1936. His daughter, Brigid Hogan-O'Higgins was also a Fine Gael TD for several Galway constituencies, from 1957 to 1977.
Bosco Hogan was born in 1949 in Ireland and is one of the most sought after and respected actors in Irish theatre and television. He played a minor role as convicted felon George Saden in John Boorman's film Zardoz (1973), but his first major film role was as Stephen Dedalus in Joseph Strick's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977), a film adaptation of James Joyce's novel of the same name. He played Jonathan Harker in the 1977 television version of Count Dracula with Louis Jourdan and played Edward Ferrars in the 1981 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. He was a senior policeman for several episodes of the television programme, The Chief (1995). He is well known as the character Dr. Michael Ryan on the television programme Ballykissangel. He played King Arthur in the 2004 film of the same name.
Daniel Hogan (1899-1980), was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A farmer, he was elected at his second attempt to Dáil Éireann, as a TD for the Laois-Offaly constituency at the 1938 general election. He lost his Dáil seat at the 1943 general election but was elected to the 4th Seanad on the Agricultural Panel. He was re-elected to the Seanad in 1944 but lost his Seanad seat in 1948. In 1957, he was again elected to the Seanad. He was re-elected in 1961 but lost his seat at the 1965 Seanad election.
And two members of the Irish band The Cranberries are from the Hogan clan, brothers Noel (1971) and Michael Hogan (1973).
Please Note
There is often limited information available on a specific coat of arms and motto for an Irish surname. Sometimes there are many variations, sometimes none, we have compiled a representative, but by no means exhaustive, selection. Please visit our Coat of Arms and Motto page for more information.
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