Definition of "gossoon"

..and a whole army of gorsoons were hunting a poor dog with a kittle tied to his tail.

1866, Patrick Kennedy, “Jack and His Comrades”, in Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts

"Thank you for the compliment, your Reverence," he replied, construing the delicate innuendo in a favourable sense' "sure every one, high and low, knows Andy Spain, the roadmaker, after his forty years on the highway, since I was a gossoon helpin' my father, who was a roadmaker before me.Bedad, I am a well-known character, and no mistake."

1912, Joseph Guinan, The Curate of Kilcloon, page 90

‘He wants to be something he's not,’ he'd say. ‘He's fish, that gossoon, and he wants to be fowl.’

2002, Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea, Vintage, published 2003, page 63