The Clan/Sept History

Hundreds of years ago, the Gaelic name used by the O Finnegan family in Ireland
was "O Fionnagain," derived from the word "fionn," denoting a fair-headed
person.

Irish names were rarely spelled consistently in the Middle Ages. Spelling
variations of the name O Finnegan dating from that time include Finnegan,
O'Finnegan, Finegan, O'Finegan, Finigan and many more.
First found in counties Galway and Roscommon, where they held a family seat from
very ancient times.
The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish Families leaving Ireland for the
distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their
homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute do to the policies of England. Those
Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the
eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant
Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in
the American War of Independence. Others that remained in America later joined
the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish
immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the
late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America, and those who
arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges,
and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United
Sates and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents
indicate that members of the O Finnegan family relocated to North American
shores quite early: Christopher, Hugh, James, and John, Mary, Michael, Owen,
Patrick, Peter, William Finnegan who all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840
and 1860.