Brennan Brannan Help

[Tuck479]

Hello all, my name is Joey, I live in the US and I am researching my mom's name "Brannan".

So, first of all, is Brannan and Brennan the same name/family just spelled differently?

Secondly, I keep finding conflicting origins for Brennan, Brannan, O'Brennan,
O'Brannan and etc such as these:

BRAONAN: http://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/Brenan-1-Heremon.php

BRANNAN:
http://books.google.com/books?id=EEZmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3&dq=O%E2%80%99Ferrall%E2%80%\
99s+Linea+Antiqua+I&hl=en&ei=mm7vTZ6-LYrx0gGH5cz8DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=resul\
t&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=brannan&f=false

BRENNAN: http://www.brennanfam.com/

O'BRANNAIN:
http://books.google.com/books?id=EEZmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3&dq=O%E2%80%99Ferrall%E2%80%\
99s+Linea+Antiqua+I&hl=en&ei=mm7vTZ6-LYrx0gGH5cz8DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=resul\
t&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=brannan&f=false

BRENNAN BRANNAN, BRANNON
MacBranain -a Corca Ochlainn sept of Athlone, Roscommon, and at Ballybrennan,
Moycashel, Westmeath.
ÓBraonain -an Uí Duach Osraighe sept of Fassadinin, Idough barony, Kilkenny.
ÓBraonain -a Breghmaine Sil Ronan sept of Brawney, Athlone, Westmeath; and also
seated at Derrybrennan, Carbery, Kildare.
ÓBraonain -an Ui Fiangalach sept of Sil Anmchadha Ui Maine in Galway.
ÓBraonain -a Ciarraige Luachra sept of Obrennan parish, Tralee, Kerry.


http://www.dankat.com/brennen/chap1.htm


Please help as I am so confused! Which one is which?
Thank you.

[shanew147]

All the surnames you list above are variations of Brennan/Ó Braonáin, which more than likely had a number of distinct origins in Ireland. Several different unrelated septs with the surname are listed in McLysaght - one in Ossary, another in east Galway, one in Kerry, one in Westmeath and another in Co. Fermanagh.

During historic times there was no standardization in spelling and also low levels of literacy, and often records were recorded based on phonetic interpretation of a persons name - sometimes a name given in Irish and written in English..or Latin.


Shane

[Tuck479]

Ok, thank you very much. I have identified my earliest Brannan ancestor as being from Stradbally in then Queens County. Being from this location which of the 4 septs do you think he would be from?

[shanew147]

It's unlikely that you would be able to make a definitive link for your family back that far. Very few rural RC parishes have records before 1800.

Brennan was (and is) a common surname and widespread by that time so any previously separate Brennan lines could well have dispersed by then.

Ossory is the historic name for an area in Ireland, and roughly corresponds to the Diocese of that name. It covers parts of Counties Kilkenny, Laois and Offaly.


Shane

[Tuck479]

Ok, thank you very much. I have found another name, a James Brannan supposedly born in 1692 in Nass, County Kildare. If anyone has any information on him or Patrick Brannan born 1720-25 in Stradbally, County Laois that would be great! Thanks!

[Tuck479]

Ok, this is an update to what I have found out thus far:

Brannan and Brennan are the same name just different spelling, most of the Brannan's in Ireland are present day Brennan's. Br()nnan is anglicized from O'Brennan which in turn is from the Sept of O'Braonain. There were several different "O'Brennan" Sept's but the two that are still around today are the O'Brennan's who descend from Braonan the son of Cearbhall, who was the King of Ossory and the MacBrennan's of Roscommon. This text is pertaining to the O'Brennan's of Ossory. Braonan was titled the Prince of Idough by his father the King of Ossory Cearbhall.

The ancient O'Brennan's (Ua Braonain) were the clan chiefs of Idough (Ui Duach) an area in the area known as Ossory (Osraighe). Ossory was located in present day Counties of Kilkenny and Laois. Ui Duach (Idough) is the clan-name of the O'Brennans of Ossary.


Source: Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume 5 By Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland


http://books.google.com/books?id=qPPGAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA206&a...


http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/history/ossory.htm

Thanks all for your help!