Gavigan

Gavigan is an Irish surname that claims it origins with different local chieftains depending upon the research performed.

The motto upon the Gavigan family coat of arms may be translated to mean Always ready to serve my king and country.

First, the simple case. I am reliably informed by Frank Geoghegan of Durrow that one family of Geoghegans got into some difficulty with the authorities (date uncertain). They moved to Tyrrellspass and changed their name to Gavagan/Gavigan to avoid detection. Now this family was quite productive, the first generation producing seven sons and six daughters and at least one of the sons producing six sons and seven daughters. This proliferation ensured that the name quickly became established all over south central Westmeath and is common there today. This family is most certainly part of the greater MacGeoghegan sept. Some of these may also have been ancestors to Gav... and Gaff... families referred hereafter.

Part of the O'Neill Ulster clan, the southern Ui Neill of North Leinster, contributes to the Gaffiken, Gavigan, and Geoghegan dispersion. This helps only to explain somewhat more complex is the situation regarding the name, and other variants, in Ulster, essentially around Belfast. We are grateful to Trevor Fulton and Hugh Macartney for the following information.

This family has been traced back to its origins in Castletown-Geoghegan and Mullingar, in Co. Westmeath and they went north to Belfast after the Williamite wars which ended at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. At this time the name was spelled "Gavigan", but they later settled on "Gaffikin". The family were Church of Ireland and not Roman Catholic. They established a large prosperous farm on the outskirts of Belfast and likely raised cattle because the second generation were nearly all butchers in the nineteenth century. At that time they became owners of linen mills and the famous "Old Comber" distillery. One Thomas Gaffikin became a Justice of the Peace and a very prominent Belfast historian. He was known as "Builder" Gaffiking from building a great many houses in fashionable areas. There are still many descendants living in Belfast.

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