The History of

The McGoven Name

The MacGoverns are better known in history as Maguran. Both forms are phonetic approximations of the Irish Mag Shamhradhain, since MH is pronounced V in some places and W in others. The G of Govern thus comes from the last letter of the prefix Mag, which is used before vowels and aspirates instead of the usual Mac. The eponymous ancestor was Samhradhan, who lived circa 1100 at the time surnames came into being. This man was descended from Eochadh (fl. eight century) whence the territory of the MacGoverns or Magaurans was called Teallach Eochaidh - now Tullyhaw - in north-west Cavan. There is a village called Ballymagauran in that area. The leading families of the sept were allied by marriage to the Maguires, O'Rourkes and other powerful families of that part of Ireland and are frequently mentioned in the Annals during the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. Ballymagauran in Tullyhaw was burned by Maguire in 1481 for an allegedly dishonourable act by the Magauran of the day. "The Book of the Magaurans" is one of the famous old Gaelic manuscripts. Though the form Magauran is still used to some extent, MacGovern is much more numerous nowadays. It is chiefly found in its original habitat, north Cavan, and the adjacent counties of Leitrim and Fermanagh. Edmund Magauran, who was Archbishop of Armagh from 1588 to 1595, was one of the earlier Catholic martyrs in Ireland. Two Magaurans were Bishops of Ardagh - 1445-1460 and of the Gaelic poets belonging to the O'Naughtens' circle in the eighteenth century. In modern times few Mac Governs have attained fame. The best known is probably John McGovern (1850-1917), the American novelist. The MacGoverns of Argentina, an important family in that country, are of Irish origin.