James MacGeoghegan (1702-1763) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and historian.
His father was a moderately wealthy farmer,[1] belonging to the same prominent Geoghegan family as figures such as Richard MacGeoghegan (defended Dunboy Castle against George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes), Connell MacGeoghegan (translated the Annals of Clonmacnoise),[2] and Francis O'Molloy (author of the Lucerna Fidelium).
[3] The young MacGeoghegan was sent to France for his education, studying philosophy and theology in Rheims, winning academic honours in the latter.
After being ordained a priest, MacGeoghan became the vicar of the parish of Possy, in the Diocese of Chartres, where he served for five years.
[1] He was also for some time chaplain to the Irish Brigade in the service of France,[2] and later was attached to the Church of Saint-Merri in Paris, where he died of a fever in 1764.