The Irish surname BERGIN is an anglicization of the
Gaelic surname
O hAimheirgin; a name which is traceable to the Old Gaelic term
"aimhirgin"
meaning, literally, "wondrous birth". This family held the territory of
the
barony of Geashill, in County Offaly; however, they later spread
into the Laois-Offaly area and from the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries Laois was
their chief homeland. This fact was celebrated in verse by O'Dugan and
O'Heerin in their "Topographical Poems":
" The fair district of Geashill is possessed
By a chief on the borders of Leinster;
His rapid progress is a march of power.
The name of this chief is O hAimheirgin."
References to this name in written records in Ireland may be found as
early as
the fourteenth century when one O'Bergyn is mentioned in the
transcripts of a
courtcase in County Waterford in 1314.
Notable bearers of this name include the Cistercian abbot, Luke Bergin,
a
Catholic martyr, hanged during the Cromwellian regime in 1655 and
Professor
Osborn Bergin (1872-1950), of University College, Dublin, the
distinguished
Celtic scholar.
BLAZON OF ARMS
Argent a lion rampant gules between three roses of the second
seeded or and barbed vert, in chief gules, a cannon proper. Translation
The lion, as king of beasts, is associated with Majesty and
Kingship. It is also emblematic of Courage, Strength and
Generosity. The cannon symbolizes
Defense and Great Force in Battle.
CREST
A rose as in the arms. Translation
The rose signifies
Beauty and Grace.