Gaelic sept

Brennan

Ó Braonáin

Also: O'Brennan

“descendant of Braonán, 'little drop / sorrow'”

🏔 Kilkenny · Cill Chainnigh 🏔 Roscommon · Ros Comáin 🏔 Sligo · Sligeach

The sept's historic heartland, highlighted. People moved — a name can be found far from home.

The story

The Kilkenny sept held Idough in the north of the county; when dispossessed, so many turned rapparee that 'Brennan on the Moor' became one of Ireland's great outlaw ballads.

Their world Around 1450 — The Gaelic Resurgence. Plague, absentee landlords and Gaelic recovery shrink English Ireland to a fortified strip around Dublin.

See them on the atlas ↗

What the name is made of

Ó Braonáin
Ó — descendant of (originally grandson of)
Braonáin — the ancestor, trade or place the name is built on

Find this form in the Irish-to-English index → · What Ó and Mac actually mean

Is Brennan an Irish name?

Brennan is a Gaelic name: it was formed in Irish, from an Irish ancestor, before English was spoken here.

The five answers, and why it is rarely yes or no →

From Wikipedia — “Brennan (surname)”

Brennan is an Irish surname which is an anglicised form of two different Irish-language surnames: Ó Braonáin and Ó Branáin. Historically, one source of the surname was the prominent clan Ua Braonáin (O'Brennan) of Uí Duach (Idough) in Osraige who were a junior Dál Birn sept stemming from a younger son of Cerball mac Dúnlainge. Recent surname evaluations highlighted the geographic consistency of this lineage in the barony of Idough.

Read the full article ↗ · Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Neighbours — other names from the same counties

MacDermot · Roscommon, Sligo McDonagh · Sligo, Roscommon Mooney · Roscommon, Sligo O'Connor · Roscommon, Sligo Archer · Kilkenny Aylward · Kilkenny Brophy · Kilkenny Butler · Kilkenny Cantwell · Kilkenny Carty · Roscommon Cody · Kilkenny Coleman · Sligo Comerford · Kilkenny Conlan · Roscommon

Quick answers

Is Brennan an Irish name?

Brennan is a Gaelic name: it was formed in Irish, from an Irish ancestor, before English was spoken here. In Irish the name is Ó Braonáin.

What does the surname Brennan mean?

Brennan (Irish: Ó Braonáin) means “descendant of Braonán, 'little drop / sorrow'”. Origin: Gaelic sept.

Where in Ireland is the surname Brennan from?

The historic homeland of the Brennan name is Kilkenny, Roscommon, Sligo. People moved, so the name can be found far beyond it.

What is the Irish for Brennan?

Ó Braonáin. Related spellings: O'Brennan.

Looking for the Brennan family crest? Read this first — arms belong to people, not surnames, and the honest version is more interesting. Tracing Brennan ancestors? The step-by-step guide.

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