Norman Gough's Home Page

There are two Irish septs whose name has sometimes been anglicized as Gough: Ó Cuacháin, of the Hy Fiachrach group and located in Mayo, which became O'Cowhane, O'Quohane etc. and is now obsolete ; the other is Mag Eothach which is said to be one of the many branches of the great MacKeogh sept, becoming MacGeough, MacGeogh and MacGoff in counties Armagh, Monaghan and Louth, and seventeenth century records indicate that this was also the case then. For further details see Go Ireland Genealogy

The Keough (Keogh/Kehoe) family traces its ancestry as a family of Irish origin before the year 1100 and appears first in the ancient records in Tipperary.

The Kough family may have moved from the Palatinate to Ireland (Wexford?) but although it is often written as Keogh or Keough it may have no connection with the above. For more of this see the miscellaneous links page.

Viscount Gough Genealogy

The main (i.e.most famous) branch of the Gough family (linked to Sir Mathew Goch) moved from Wiltshire to Ireland. Over a period of about 100 years there were 6 in the church and several became Bishop of Limerick. However, the main occupation of the family switched to the army and in subsequent generations there were more than 30 who rose to high military rank. Only a few of these are covered here.

Hugh Gough (1779-1869) the 1st Viscount (1779-1869) was an Anglo-Irish soldier, born in Woodstown, County Limerick, of Irish gentry stock. Entering the army in 1793, he served in South Africa (1795), the West Indies (1797-1800), the Peninsular War, the Opium War (1841-42), the Sikh War in 1845 and others until his command in India ceased in 1849.

George Stephens Gough 2nd Viscount (1815-1895), son of Hugh Gough married Jane Arbuthnot (1816,-1892). in 1846. See the Arbuthnot Gough pedigree covering 2nd, 3rd (Hugh) and 4th (Hugh William) Viscount Goughs.

William Arbuthnot Gough of Knockeevan, Clonmel, Ireland, was a Major in the Dragoon Guards. He died 17.1.85 at Abou Klea, Egypt. Beatrice Mary Gough, widow administered the will.

Sir Charles John Stanley Gough VC (1832-1912) was a famous general, born in to George Gough and Charlotte Margaret Becher.He belonged to a family from Rathronen, Clonmel Co. Tipperary. His grandfather was Thomas Bunbury Gough, Dean of Derry; brother of the 1st Viscount Gough. Charles joined the army in 1848 and went to India at the age of 16. Field Marshal Viscount Gough, his great uncle, was Commander-in-Chief. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for "gallantry in an affair at Kurkowdah, near Rohtuck on August 15, 1857". (See VC details.) Sir Charles saved his brother, who was wounded and on the ground. It is said that Sir Charles and his brother Hugh became recognised as two of the most brilliant of the younger generation of cavalry leaders. Lieutenant Hugh Gough won a VC during the mutiny and Sir Charles son, Captain Brevet major J.E. Gough won a similar honour in Somaliland in 1903. He married Charlotte Bloomfield, daughter of John Bloomfield, sister of Lt-General Lord Bloomfield; brother of General Sir Hugh Gough VC and second cousin of Viscount Gough. He married Harriette Anastasia, daughter of late J.W. Power MP in 1869. There were two sons, Gen. H. de la Power Gough and Gen. J.E. Gough VC.

Sir Hugh Henry Gough VC (1833-1909) General, was the third son of George Gough of Raltronan House, County Tipperary and brother of Sir C. J. S Gough. He won the VC for gallantry at Alanbagh in 1857 and became a general in 1894. He married Annie Margaret Hill (Dame Gough) in Sept. 1863 and there were four sons. See VC details and a picture of Hugh Henry.

Hugh Sutlej Gough (1849-1920), the eldest son of John Bloomfield Gough and Margaret McCaskill married Beatrice Sophia Henning and they had a son, Wilfrid Hugh Julia Gough in 1888. Their home was at Llechweddygarth Hall, Montgomeryshire. He was a Governor of Jersey (1904-10).

Brigadier-General John Edmund "Johnnie" Gough VC, CB, CMG, ADC (1871-1915) was the son of Sir C. J. S Gough and nephew of Gen. Sir H. Gough VC. He was awarded the VC in 1903. "This is the only instance when all three members of the same family won the Victoria Cross." He served on the staff of Sir Douglas Haig 1914-15 and died of wounds at Estaires, France 22 Feb. 1915. His exploits are descibed in a bibliography by Beckett (1989) entitled Johnnie. See VC details and a picture of John Edmund. There is a plaque commerorating Jonnie Gough on the left side of the nave at Winchester Cathedral.

Sir Hubert de la Power Gough (1870-1963) was an Irish soldier and mutineer, born in Gurteen, County Waterford. He served in the Boer war. In 1914 he and 57 other officers threatened to resign rather than take arms to Ulster to impose Home Rule against Sir Edward Carson's Ulster volunteers. In WW1 he was major-general for the first battle at Ypres and lieutenant-general for Loos, but his command of the Fifth Army (during 916-1918) at the third Ypres campaign impaired his reputation. The subsequent story, the details of which have only become apparent recently, may be held up as a fine example of offical intrigue of the highest order (see Winter, 1991). He described these activities in his Fifth Army and Soldiering On and his story is told in the biography by Farrar-Hockley 1975 entitled Goughie. One site has a picture of Sir Hubert.

Guy Francis Gough (1991)- wrote Thirty Days to Dinkirk.

References

Farar-Hockley (1975) Goughie.

Beckett, I.F.W. (1989) Johnnie Gough, V.C.Tom Donovan Publishing, London.

Gough, Guy Francis (1990) Thirty Days to Dunkirk - The Royal Irish Fusiliers, May 1940, Bridge Books, Wrexham, Clwyd.

Gough, H. de la P. (1931) Fifth Army

Gough H. de la P. (1954) Soldiering On.

Winter, D. (1991) Haig's Command - A Reassessment, Viking.