This interesting surname is of Irish origin, and is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac Ualghairg", composed of the elements "mac", son of, with the personal name "Ualgharg", apparently of Old Celtic elements meaning "proud" and "fierce". Golden and Goldrick are recorded as synonymous around Carrick-on-Shannon and Boyle. M(a)c Goldrick is numerous in Co. Fermanagh, where it is recorded in the Hearth Money Rolls of 1665 - 1666. The form McGoldrick was also widely used in Co. Mayo (where Golden has now largely superseded it), at least up to the end of the 18th Century, as records of householders and the like attest; it also occurs several times in the ecclesiastical records of Raphoe. The surname is first recorded in the mid 11th Century (see below), and can also be found as McGolrick, Magorlick, McWalrick and Golden. Recordings of the surname from Irish Church Registers include; Eleanor McGoldrick, who married Thomas Conroy on February 22nd 1803 in Dublin; Edward, son of James and Susan McGoldrick, who was christened on February 18th 1864 at Belleek, Co. Fermanagh; and John, son of Michael and Bridget McGoldrick, who was christened on June 4th 1865 at Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh. Rodger McGoldrick, a famine emigrant, sailed from Liverpool aboard the "Sheridan", bound for New York, on May 7th 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mac Ualghairg, Lord of Cairbre, which was dated 1054, in the "Annals of the Four Masters", during the reign of the High Kings of Ireland "with opposition", 1022 - 1166. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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