Corcoran
Encyclopedia
Corcoran is an Irish surname. The original Gaelic version being Ó Corcráin meaning "descendant of Corcrán". The personal name
Personal name
A personal name is the proper name identifying an individual person, and today usually comprises a given name bestowed at birth or at a young age plus a surname. It is nearly universal for a human to have a name; except in rare cases, for example feral children growing up in isolation, or infants...

 Corcrán is a diminutive
Diminutive
In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...

 of the personal name Corcra. The personal name Corcra is derived from corcair meaning "purple" (corcair is a cognate
Cognate
In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...

 with the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 purpur).

History

Related variations of the name Corcoran historically include MacCorcoran, O'Corcoran, and Corcorran. The sept
Sept
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...

 called MacCorcoran was of some importance in the Ely O'Carroll country. The Corcorans hailed from Fermanagh and included a number of figures of historical importance such as the Bishop of Clogher
Bishop of Clogher
The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the other of the Roman Catholic Church.-History:Clogher is one...

 in 1370 and Edmund O'Corcoran, "the hero of Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

" (from the siege of 1691
Siege of Limerick (1691)
Limerick in western Ireland was besieged twice during the Williamite War in Ireland . The city, held by Jacobite forces was able to beat off a Williamite assault in 1690. However, after a second siege in August-October 1691, it surrendered on terms....

). The surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

 Corcoran is found in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and the United States.

The Corcorans produced a number of ecclesiastics from the tenth to the fifteenth century whose field of activity was around Lough Erne
Lough Erne
Lough Erne, sometimes Loch Erne , is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River Erne. The river begins by flowing north, and then curves west into the Atlantic. The southern lake is further up the river and so is named Upper...

, Cleenish, Devenish, Boa Island and White Island. One of these was Bishop of Clogher in 1373. The name is rare there now, most likely there was a westward and southward migration as it is found in counties Mayo and Sligo. Today the surname is used throughout Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.The name Corcoran in Ireland is derived from either of two distinct native Gaelic Septs. The first was the O'Corcrain Sept based in County Fermanagh in the north of the country. The second was the MacCorcrain Sept located in County Offaly. Corcoran was also used as a variant of Corkery, especially in County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...

. The Corcorans in Offaly, Tipperary and Galway are clustered around ancient monastic settlements such as Clonfert, Lorrha, Sierkieran, Rahan and Lemanaghan.

Today there are people with the surname Cochrane who descend from people originally surnamed Ó Corcráin.
This family derives its origin from Amruadh, who is No. 93 on the "Heber" pedigree; and were in Irish called O'Corcrain ("corcra:" Irish, red), which has been anglicised O'Corcoran, Corcoran, and Coghrane. .

According to archeological records an ancient stone with the Ogham
Ogham
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...

 inscription 'Corcrain', as Ogham dates from History of Pre-Christian Ireland, this may suggest that the Corcorans were active in this area from the 4th – 6th Century.
The O'Corcorans sank into obscurity at the period of the Norman invasion of Ireland
Norman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...

, and several branches of the sept removed into the counties of Cork, Kilkenny, and Waterford. In Kilkenny they obtained a settlement from the FitzWalters (or Butlers), who were in possession of their ancient patrimony. And a senior branch of these settlers was represented by the late Most Rev. Michael Corcoran, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, in the commencement of the 19th century; and by the Corcorans of Enniscorthy, in co. Wexford.

The first mention found to date of the Corcoran family in Irish historical records is reference to the O'Corcrain Sept, a division of the Clan, living in county Fermanagh near the shores of Lough Erne.
In 1014–1022 AD, Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill , also called Máel Sechnaill Mór, Máel Sechnaill II, anglicized Malachy II, was King of Mide and High King of Ireland...

 reigned as High King of Ireland
High King of Ireland
The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

 after Brian Boru
Brian Boru
Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...

's death.
For twenty years after the death in 1022 of Mael Secnaill II, many claimants sought the throne and during this period the Chief Government of Ireland was vested in the persons of two men: Cuán O Lóchán, the King's chief poet, and Corcran of Lismore, an Erenagh. Corcran the Cleric was Abbot of Inis Cealtra.
It is recorded that Chief Corcran was killed in battle in 1090 in County Fermanagh. His son, Felimidh, who married Maeve O'Brien daughter of the King of Thomond
Thomond
Thomond The region of Ireland associated with the name Thomond is County Clare, County Limerick and north County Tipperary; effectively most of north Munster. The name is used by a variety of establishments and organisations located in , or associated with the region...

 in 1130, succeeded him. In the Annals of the Four Masters, there is mention of thirty Chiefs of the Corcoran family from 1250 to 1480.
In 1140, Maelinmum O'Corcrain was Bishop of Armagh and in 1373, John O'Corcrain was Bishop of Clogher. Three of the learned and respected Erenachs, lay ecclesiastics, of County Fermanagh are recorded as Daire O'Corcrain, Padraig O'Corcrain and Conn O'Corcrain.

The O'Corcrain territory was invaded by the Normans in 1170 AD. It was not until 1590 that the Normans gained control over Fermanagh.

The ruins of a castle, once occupied by the Corcorans, are located west of Lough Erne near Crom Castle, family seat of the Earl of Erne. The Corcoran castle was erected in 1611 AD and destroyed in 1764 AD.

During the Plantation of Ulster
Plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation of Ulster—a province of Ireland—by people from Great Britain. Private plantation by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while official plantation controlled by King James I of England and VI of Scotland began in 1609...

 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in 1649...

 in 1649 AD, the Corcorans were finally scattered. Many settled on lands in Counties Mayo and Sligo and throughout the Counties of the South, principally Offaly, Tipperary and Galway where the MacCorcorans had settled previously.
It is of interest to note that the shield of the Family Coat of Arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 of the Corcorans is described in heraldic language as: "On a silver shield (argent) is a sword between two lions rampant", that of the O'Carrolls of Ely as: "Sable two lions rampant combatant or armed and langued gules supporting a sword point upwards proper pommel and hilt of the first", and that of the O'Meaghar family of O'Carrolls of Ely as: "Azure two lions rampant combatant or supporting a sword argent". The shields of the family Coats of Arms of Corcoran, O'Carroll and O'Meaghar are of such similarity as to indicate a single clan since all clansmen would readily recognize the shields.

The Corcorans were famous in Irish history as ecclesiastics, writers, scholars, bards and warriors and this historic fame is recorded in the motto on the Family Coat of Arms, "In Fide et in Bello Fortis" (Strong in Faith and in War). The Crest is a sea bird in flight.

Notable people with the surname Corcoran

  • Ann Corcoran
    Ann Corcoran
    Ann Kathleen Corcoran , an Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the House of Representatives from 12 August 2000 to the 2007 election, representing the Division of Isaacs, Victoria....

     (born 1951), Australian politician
  • Brian Corcoran
    Brian Corcoran
    Brian Corcoran is a former Irish sportsman. He played hurling and Gaelic football with Erin's Own and Cork in the 1990s and 2000s.-Early life:Brian Corcoran was born in Caherlag, Glounthaune, County Cork in 1973...

     (born 1973), former Irish sportsman
  • Captain Corcoran, Commander of H.M.S. Pinafore
    H.M.S. Pinafore
    H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical...

     in the Gilbert and Sullivan
    Gilbert and Sullivan
    Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...

     Comic opera
    Comic opera
    Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...

  • Danny Corcoran (disambiguation), several people
  • Des Corcoran
    Des Corcoran
    James Desmond "Des" Corcoran AO was an Australian politician. He was the 37th Premier of South Australia, serving between 15 February 1979 and 18 September 1979....

     (1929–2004), Australian politician
  • Éamonn Corcoran
    Éamonn Corcoran
    Éamonn Corcoran is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club J.K. Bracken's and was a member of the Tipperary senior inter-county team from 1999 until 2008.-Early life:...

     (born 1978), former Irish sportsman
  • Farrel Corcoran
    Farrel Corcoran
    Professor Farrel Corcoran is an author and academic at Dublin City University. He has served as Head of Communication and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the university...

    , author and academic
  • Fred Corcoran
    Fred Corcoran
    Fred Corcoran was an American sports promoter, agent, administrator and amateur golfer, who had a diverse career in the world of golf, baseball, boxing, ice hockey and other sports. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975, as one of the first honorees who had not had a career in...

     (1905–1977), World Golf Hall of Famer
  • James Corcoran
    James Corcoran
    James Corcoran was an Irish rebel who fought during the rebellion of 1798 and was the leader of the last rebel guerrilla band to be defeated in the years following the suppression of the rebellion.-Rebel activities:...

     (1770–1804), Irish rebel
  • Jim Corcoran
    Jim Corcoran
    Jim Corcoran is a Canadian singer-songwriter and broadcaster.-Biography:Jim Corcoran was born in Sherbrooke, but went to high school and his obtained his B.A. in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1960s...

     (born 1949), Canadian musician
  • Jimmy Corcoran
    Jimmy Corcoran
    James J. "Jimmy" Corcoran was an Irish-born American laborer and well-known personality among the Irish-American community of the historic "Corcoran's Roost" and the Kip's Bay districts, roughly the area near 40th Street and First Avenue in Manhattan, and was widely regarded as the champion of...

     (1819–1900), gangster
  • John Corcoran (author), of The Bridge to Literacy: No Child—or Adult—Left Behind
  • John Corcoran (logician)
    John Corcoran (logician)
    .John Corcoran is a logician, philosopher, mathematician, and historian of logic. He is best known for his philosophical work, helping us to understand such central concepts as the nature of inference, the relationship between logic and epistemology, and the place of proof theory and model theory...

     (born 1937), American philosopher and logician, University of Buffalo (SUNY)
  • Kevin Corcoran
    Kevin Corcoran
    Kevin Anthony "Moochie" Corcoran is an American director, producer, and former child actor. He appeared in numerous Disney projects between 1957 and 1963, frequently as an irrepressible character with the nickname Moochie...

     (born 1949), American director, producer and former child actor
  • Larry Corcoran
    Larry Corcoran
    Lawrence J. Corcoran was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.Corcoran debuted in 1880, winning 43 games and leading the Chicago team to the National League championship...

     (1859–1891), American pitcher in Major League Baseball
  • Michael Corcoran
    Michael Corcoran
    Michael Corcoran was an Irish American general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and a close confidant of President Abraham Lincoln. As its colonel, he led the 69th New York regiment to Washington, D.C. and was one of the first to serve in the defense of Washington by building Fort...

     (1827–1863), American general and close confidant of Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War
  • Niall Corcoran
    Niall Corcoran
    -County Hurling:He won the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship with Galway in 2000. He made his championship debut with Dublin against Westmeath in the quarter final of the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship. Niall won the National Hurling League with Dublin in 2011.Niall coaches with Kilmacud...

    , Irish sportsman
  • Thomas E. Corcoran
    Thomas E. Corcoran
    Thomas E. Corcoran was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the Siege of Vicksburg. He was awarded the medal for rescuing his crewmates during the sinking of his ship, the , in...

     (1838–1904), United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the Medal of Honor
  • Thomas Gardiner Corcoran
    Thomas Gardiner Corcoran
    Thomas Gardiner Corcoran was one of several Irish American advisors in President Franklin D. Roosevelt's brain trust during the New Deal, and later, a close friend and advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson....

    , a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's brain trust
  • Tim Corcoran
    Tim Corcoran
    Timothy Hugh Corcoran is a Major League Baseball pitcher. Corcoran's brother, Roy Corcoran, also plays professional baseball-New York Mets:...

     (born 1978), American baseball player
  • Tommy Corcoran (baseball) (1869–1960), American baseball player
  • William Corcoran Eustis
    William Corcoran Eustis
    William Corcoran Eustis was a captain in the United States Army and the personal assistant to John J. Pershing during World War I. He was chairman of the inauguration committee for the first inauguration of Woodrow Wilson in 1913.-Biography:He was born on July 20, 1862 in Paris to George Eustis,...

     (1862–1921), wealthy inhabitant of Washington, D.C. and grandson of William Wilson Corcoran
  • William Wilson Corcoran
    William Wilson Corcoran
    William Wilson Corcoran was an American banker, philanthropist, and art collector.-Early life:Corcoran was born in Georgetown in the District of Columbia, the son of a well-to-do father whom the electors of Georgetown twice chose as mayor. His father, Thomas Corcoran, came to Georgetown in 1788...

     (1798–1888), American banker, philanthropist and art collector

Geographical

  • Corcoran, California
    Corcoran, California
    Corcoran is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Corcoran is located south-southeast of Hanford, at an elevation of 207 feet . It is part of the Hanford–Corcoran, Metropolitan Statistical Area...

    , United States
  • Corcoran, Minnesota
    Corcoran, Minnesota
    Corcoran is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,379 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. County Roads 10, 30, and 116 are three of the main...

    , United States
  • Corcoran, Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Minnesota
    Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

    , a neighborhood in Minneapolis, United States
  • Corcoran Woods
    Corcoran Woods
    The Corcoran Environmental Study Area, or the Corcoran Tract, comprises roughly owned by the State of Maryland. Edward S. Corcoran once owned the northwest portion of Corcoran Woods....

    , 210 acre (0.8498406 km²) donated by Edward S. Corcoran to the State of Maryland, United States

Education

  • The Corcoran College of Art and Design
    Corcoran College of Art and Design
    The Corcoran College of Art and Design, , founded in 1890, is the only professional college of art and design in Washington, DC, located in the Downtown area. The school is a private institution in association with the Corcoran Gallery of Art.The Corcoran Gallery of Art is Washington's first and...

    , art school located in Washington, DC, United States
  • Corcoran Departments of History and Philosophy, University of Virginia
    University of Virginia
    The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

    , United States
  • Corcoran Hall, The George Washington University
    George Washington University
    The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...

    , historic site in Washington, DC, United States
  • The Corcoran Memorial Lectures, University of Oxford
    University of Oxford
    The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

    , United Kingdom
  • Corcoran High School
    Corcoran High School
    Corcoran High School is a public high school located in Syracuse, New York, having approximately 1800 students. In 2005, it became a member of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. It is one of the top 1000 ranked schools in the country as of 2009, but has been in the top 600...

    , Syracuse, NY, United States

Other

  • The Corcoran Gallery of Art
    Corcoran Gallery of Art
    The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...

     in Washington, DC, United States
  • Fort Corcoran
    Fort Corcoran
    Fort Corcoran was a wood-and-earthwork fortification constructed by the Union Army in northern Virginia as part of the defenses of Washington, D.C. during the American Civil War...

     in northern Virginia, American Civil War structure
  • California State Prison, Corcoran
    California State Prison, Corcoran
    California State Prison, Corcoran is a male-only state prison located in the city of Corcoran, in Kings County, California. Also known as Corcoran State Prison, CSP-C, CSP-COR, CSP-Corcoran, and Corcoran I, it should not be confused with the newer California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and...

    , located in California, United States

See also

  • Cochrane (surname), some people who were originally surnamed Ó Corcráin today bear the surname Cochrane.
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