Mangan — The Poet's Name

Mangan anglicises Ó Mongáin, built on mongach, ‘hairy’ — most likely a physical byname. The family were first found in Connacht, with branches later spreading into Mayo, Cork and Limerick. The name is best known through James Clarence Mangan, the Dublin-born poet whose ‘Dark Rosaleen’ and translations from the Irish became touchstones of nineteenth-century Irish literature.

A hairy nickname, carried across four provinces, until one bearer turned it into one of the most recognisable names in Irish poetry.

Irish form: Ó Mongáin