Duggan

Dugan
Family name
Meaning	Derived from Dubhagáin meaning dark or black
Region of origin	Gaelic
Related names	Duggan, Dougan, Doughan, Doogan, Dogan, and Duggin

Dugan or Duggan (Irish: Uí Dhúgáin) is an Irish surname derived from Ó Dubhagáinn.

A family of the name Duggan had its territory near the modern town of Fermoy in north Cork, and were originally the ruling family of the Fir Maighe tribal group which gave its name to the town. They also claimed descent from Mug Ruith, the legendary magician of the Fir Bolg. They ceded pre-eminence to the O'Keeffe family in the eleventh century, but remained powerful in the area. Along with the other Fir Maighe families they lost their power when the Normans conquered the territory in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. By the 12th century, family names or surnames had become well established in Ireland in the lands of the Sogain where an illustrious Duggan family held prestige and power due to their descent from the druid Mog Rutih. Some historians believe that with the change over to Christianity, the druids carried on with their profession of "filí" or seers. These "filí" were socially very important and held in the same esteem as the king. They enjoyed many privileges and were exempt from military duties. They were the custodians of the oral tradition, which embraced genealogy and history. In Ireland, a man enjoyed his status, rights and privileges in virtue of his descent so that genealogical material was of high political consequence. Dynasties ruled kingdoms by virtue of descent from ancient royal lineages and their genealogy was proof of their legitimacy to rule. Strangely enough, there is no genealogical record available for the Duggans themselves, and Roderick O'Flaherty, the famous 17th century Galway scholar says in his "Ogygia" that no line of pedigree can be found in any of the authenticated Irish annals which is very strange as this family were professors of poetry and history.

The Duggans had their homelands in Fohenagh, east Galway. There are a number of townland names in the area which bear testimony to this i.e. Ballydoogan (Duggan's town), Carterdoogan (Duggan's quarter) and Dundoogan (Duggan's Fort). Some twentieth-century historians and genealogists mistakenly give Ballyduggan near Loughrea as the seat of the Duggans but this place has no connection whatsoever with the Duggan clan. This townland was originally known as Ballygardugan or O'Hrdaganstown, and with the passage of time the "gar" was dropped, leaving it Ballyduggan.

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