I was asked at one event about other surnames that might be similar to Saggers or Saggers, the focus of my one-name study. And how I’d decide whether to add another to this study.
One surname I certainly see in search results is Saggart which on viewing often does turn out to be obviously Saggars – or Taggart. Taggart/Taggert I soon learned could be an accepted variant of Saggart which comes from Old Irish – sacart, priest, from the Latin sacerdōs.
There is a DNA project at Family Tree DNA for “MacTaggart or Taggart, for all spellings. (And 9 other possible projects listed.) I do not yet see a one-name study for Saggert/Taggart or any variations. It seems to me it would be a smallish study and quite interesting.
But this surname I am certain has quite a different derivation than the Saggers surnames so I won’t be adding it to my study. But if I found a Saggart/Taggart in my own tree, I might be quite eager to study these families!
Recently I noticed this entry in the Irish Newspaper Collection results (Findmypast.com) mentioning a Saggart Village in Kildare, Ireland. I thought I’d investigate just a little.
The Freeman’s Journal, Dublin, Ireland,
Thursday, 17 December 1868, page 3.
Sporting Intelligence, Hunting Appointments. December.
Kildare Hounds—17th Bray: 19th, Hollywood; 21st, Kilcock; 23rd, Spratstown Bridge; 26th, Dunmurry; 28th, Donadea Castle; 29th Saggart Village; 31st Dunlavin. At 11. “
I found that Saggart Village was once known as Tassagart/Tassagart. Its name comes from a 7th century monastery Teach Sacra (House of Sacra founded by St Mosacra) that once was there. For more about Saggart, see the South Dublin County History website: http://www.southdublinhistory.ie/content.aspx?area=Saggart&type=history
And then there are the Ballysaggartmore1 follies, the Towers near Waterford.
Ballysaggartmore Towers Gatehouse
cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Hywel Williams – geograph.org.uk/p/2868574
Learn more about Ballysaggartmore on the Discover Ireland website: https://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/ballysaggartmore-towers/49230
And if you are a Saggart/Taggart2 and decide to start a One-Name Study, do let me know.
REFERENCES
- The Very Rev P. Canon Power translates their name as “Baile na Sagart “Priests’ Town.” (The Place-Names of Decies, Second Edition, Cork University Press Oxford, B.H. Blackwell, Ltd. 1952, his revised Edition published after his 1951 death. No page numbers. His original version, 1907.) Available free on the Waterford Libraries/ Leabharlanna Phort Láirge website (http://waterfordlibraries.ie/local-studies/ ): http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/106325/106325.pdf
- For McTaggart, et al. in brief, see The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, by Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, Peter McClure (Oxford University Press, 2016), page 1808 for McTagart, McTaggart, and McTaggert; page 2617 for Taggard, Taggart, and Taggert. Available for searches at Google Books: https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Oxford_Dictionary_of_Family_Names_in.html?id=0AyDDQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y