Byrn/Byrne
Coat of Arms ~ Family Crests
~ Family Surname Origin ~
The Byrne (Byrn)/O'Byrne Clan
Early History
Most Irish names are of Celtic origin and have
their roots in the 4th century B.C. The Celts
instituted a system of hereditary surnames by prefixing "Mac" (son
of) or "O' " (grandson or descendant of) to
their second name. Celtic political structures were organized in
protective clan units called "tuatha". The clan elected a king of
known Celtic pedigree called the "Taoiseach". His successor, elected
while the king lived, was called the "Tánaiste".
These titles are still preserved in Irish political life.
The "O'Byrne" name and its related "Byrne", together the
fifth most common surname in Ireland is derived from the name
of an ancient Celtic chieftain, "Bran Mac Maolmòrrdha".
He was a king of Leinster who was deposed in 1018,
and who died in 1052. His father, Maelmorda,
was King of Leinster (the Southeastern part of Ireland which includes Co.Wicklow) and died after the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Maelmorda had
led the Leinster Irish in alliance with the Norse of
Dublin against Brian Boru. This battle is usually
portrayed as the Irish united against the foreign invaders;
in fact it was a mere power struggle. After Maelmorda
was killed in 1014, his son Bran became King of Leinster,
but he only ruled for four years. In 1018 Bran was blinded by a rival named Sihtric. This disabling of Bran made him ineligible to be
King, since under the ancient Irish Brehon laws only
eligible family members who were physically unblemished could serve as leader
(King or Clann chief). Bran's
descendants referred to themselves as "O'Bran"
meaning grandson or descendent of Bran. "O'Bran"
became "O'Broin" (pronounced "O'Brin") in Gaelic. The current spelling and the
variants derive from corruptions over time and Anglicised
variations of the name since the eighteenth century. The O'Byrne
Family along with the O'Tooles originally came from
the North
Kildare
part of Ireland. The O'Byrne
ancestors once ruled from their fort at Naas over the
Liffey plain, the richest land of north
Kildare. A little over a century after the death of Bran, the O'Byrnes as well as their closely related allies the O'Tooles were forced to move from their homes by the Norman
invasion of Strongbow and the English in the late
Twelfth Century. This invasion was prompted by a struggle over the same
Kingship of Leinster which previously been held by Bran,
our ancestor. Strongbow's invasion route to capture Dublin was right through the
territory of the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles
who were easily defeated.
Post Anglo-Norman decline
With the progress of the Anglo-Norman conquests,
these clans were forced to migrate to poorer lands and to the mountains to the
east These mountains provided them the
sanctuary which enabled them to increase in size and strength. By
the early 1200s the O'Tooles and O'Byrnes
controlled most of what is today Wicklow.
The two clans frequently combined their raids against 'The Pale'.
For almost three hundred years the O'Byrnes
and their allies the O'Tooles were the most powerful
force south of Dublin. The O'Byrne's Country
known in Irish as "Crioch Branach"
By the beginning of the Fourteenth century, there were two distinct branches of
the O'Byrne clan. The 'Crioch' branch
ruled land to the east from Delgany to the outskirts
of Arklow. A semi autominous
branch held the mountainous country east of Imaal,
between Glendalough and Shillelagh and was known as 'Gabhal Raghnaill' (from which the
name Ranelagh comes). Its territory centred around the chief's
principal residence at Ballincor. In the
Sixteenth Century the O'Byrne Chief, Thady O'Byrne,
and the Clan leadership living on the plains near the sea submitted to English
rule. The subordinate Sept of Ranelagh living in the
mountains and led by Hugh McShane O'Byrne refused to
follow their Chief and would not submit to English rule. Thady
O'Byrne died in 1578 and was succeeded as Chief by Dunlaing
O'Byrne who also was unwilling to resist the English. In 1580 both the new
Chief Dunlaing and the mountain warrior Hugh McShane O'Byrne died. The relative strength of
the two branches altered in the middle of the sixteenth century with the
accession of Hugh McShane O'Byrne as chief of the Gabhal Raghnaill.
Under Hugh's leadership the Gabhal Raghnaill aggressively pursued a policy of resistance to
the Anglicisation of Ireland, and the O'Byrnes became a formidable force. They
regularly raided and harassed the inhabitants of "The Pale" around Dublin Hugh was
succeeded as leader of the of the Gabhal Raghnaill Sept in 1579 by his son Feagh
McHugh O'Byrne who became the greatest warrior ever to be called an O'Byrne.
Exploits of Feagh
Feagh was not eligible to be
Chief of the O'Byrnes and was not formally
inaugurated. The last inauguration of an O'Byrne Chief was in 1578.
Nonetheless he was the undisputed leader of all the O'Byrnes,
chief in effect, resisting English domination. He assisted the powerful
leaders in Ulster and aided Hugh Roe
O'Donnell in his escape from Dublin Castle in 1591. Feagh MacHugh O'Byrne was
initially successful in battles against the troops of Elizabeth the first, and he quickly
acquired a reputation as a redoubtable opponent of the Dublin regime. Feagh McHugh O'Byrne commanded his followers for almost two
decades beginning with the victorious Battle of Glenmalure
in 1580 and ending with his death. He was eventually captured in 1597 by troops
of Lord Deputy Russell who described him as 'unwieldy and spent with
years'. He was executed on Sunday
May 8th,1597 and his severed head was sent by messenger
to Queen Elizabeth in London, where it was not well
received During that time Feagh led
the O'Byrnes and their allies in numerous raids on Dublin, and many battles against
the English. He assisted the powerful leaders in Ulster and aided Hugh Roe
O'Donnell in his escape from Dublin Castle in 1591. Feagh Mac Hugh O'Byrne still remains the most famous of the
O'Byrne chiefs He is also one of the most under-rated characters of
Irish history His legacy of enduring exploits have become immortalised in song and verse (see 'Follow me up to Carlow' below). The final collapse of the
old Gaelic order occurred a few years after Feagh's
death with the Battle of Kinsale. The O'Byrnes as a clan were never
again to regain control of their traditional lands.
The new Stewart King, James I, who took the throne
after Elizabeth's death in 1603 was intent on enforcing strict English control. This
included forcing all of Ireland to abandon Gaelic
language, customs and law and replacing them with those from England. In order to
preserve their control over Ireland, England destroyed the Clann system. Chiefs no longer served the same function as
leaders, and all of the Irish Clans ceased to inaugurate their Chiefs by the
early Seventeenth Century. Clan owned lands were forfeited and given to
English and Scots.
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Lunsford Yates, 2000 - 2002
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Updated Tuesday, May 07, 2002, 8:47:54 PM CST
