mcgroganlinks.html

A few years ago we (Jean & Steve) visited the monster gathering called The Scottish Games, which occurs here in Pleasanton, California each year. When the resident historians opened their giant books, they declared that the McGrogans were a Scottish vassal clan of the MacClains. (Vassal clans lived around the big fortifications of the powerful clan and fled into the castle for protection when times got tough.) This was a surprise to me, as I thought that we were somehow a variety of the much-more-numerous McGregors, but no! Apparently the two aren't related at all. The historians also said that the Scottish and Irish variants are basically the same, and that one group spread onto the other island many centuries ago.

In July 2004, Jean and I visited the Republic of Ireland. We examined the phone book of each city we visited, including the most populous city, Dublin, and found a total of eight McGrogans. We also found two variations of the name, McGroggan and McGroghan, in the Dublin phone book. (Interestingly, the Irish phone books list Mc and Mac names together, treating the 'a' as if it were completely optional. ) We then talked with several people, including a person involved in geneology, and discovered that the McGrogans came into Northern Ireland from Scotland around the time of Cromwell. This would explain why both my parental grandparents came from Belfast. (They came independently, meeting and marrying here in the United States.)

I'm afraid I don't know how to trace the McGrogans back to one ancestral beginning. My dad, unfortunately, really didn't know much about his family, as the Irish who came during the great immigration to the United States were generally poor folk who were more interested in surviving in the new country than in preserving their family trees. I wrote most of what I know about his background in his obituary information on our website. (If anyone can provide better genealogical information on the history of the name McGrogan, please send me an email and I will post the information here.)

Several years ago, we received email from two points in Ireland, one in Belfast and one in the The Republic. Robert McGrogan in the south (Republic) said that there were very few McGrogans there and, in fact, that his family had been the only McGrogans until recently. Bernard McGrogan, in the north, says that there are 100 or so in the Belfast area, which would indicate that the north is probably the origin of emigration to the US. Interestingly, the Philadelphia area in the US has about as many McGrogans as Ireland does! I have no explanation for that, but I'm sure that there is a simple one if only we knew it.

Ancestry.com has a page on the McGrogan name, if you would like to do personal research on your branch of the McGrogan family.
Here is a link to houseofnames.com, which provides McGrogan family crests and similar items, if you'd like a physical symbol for your wall or coffee table.

	The McGrogan Coat of Arms, illustrated at left, was drawn by an heraldic artist from information in ancient heraldic archives. (Documentation for the design can be found in Burke's General Armory.) Heraldic artists developed their own unique language. Here is their description of the arms: "Barry of six or and sa. on a chief az. a lion pass. of the first, an escutcheon of pretence gu. a falcon rising or, within an orle ar, the inner rim engr. the outer wavy." Above the shield and helmet, the Crest is described as : "A lion's head erased sa." This translates to: "Divided into six equal parts horizontally of gold and black; on a blue upper third a gold lion walking; a red shield of pretence charged with a gold falcon rising within a silver inner border, the inter rim engrailed, the outer rim wavy. A black lion's head, jagged." The family motto (or medieval battle cry) is "Honor et virtus" (Honor and virtue).
	Here is the crest originally shown on the mcgrogans.com military patch designs website. Notice that the lion and the stripes beneath it are similar to the Coat shown above and that it conforms to the heraldic description. They have a truly amazing coat of arms on their current site... check it out!
	For an alternate Coat of Arms and name history, click this link to Seamus Grogan's site. The history given there states that McGrogans are simply descendants on the father's side of Grogans, who are much more numerous. The name McGrogan is given as the anglicized form of the Irish Mac Gruagáin. More alternative forms such as Groggan, Groogan, Grogaine and Growgane are offered. My mother underlined the 'c', which I have seen in other Irish names as well. Apparently that is a stylistic contraction of the Mac.