(O)Byrne;
Variant Spellings; Birrane, Bourn, Bourne, Burn, Burnes, Burns, Byran, Byrane, Byrne, Byrnes, Byrns, Byron, McBrin, O'Byrne.
The O'Byrnes lived in County Kildare before they were driven to the Wicklow mountains by the Normans. From their mountain territories they waged a persistent and successful resistance to English rule.
In Irish the name is O Broin and is derived from Branach or raven. The sept claims descent from Branach, son of Maolmordha, King of Leinster.
Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne (1544-1597) was the most noteworthy of the O'Byrne revolutionaries. Charles Byrne, the Irish giant, who was eight foot four inches tall, died in his twenties. His skeleton is in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in London.
After the failure of the Jacobites many of the name went to France where some of them, because of their aristocratic lineage, were imprisoned and even guillotined during the French Revolution.
The most Rev. Dr. Andrew Byrne was the first Catholic bishop of Little Rock in America, while Alderman Alfred Byrne (1882-1956) was Lord Mayor of Dublin for ten years.
The Motto of the O'Byrnes is Certavi et Vici (I fought and I won). At the present time the O prefix is being resumed frequently with this name.
Coat of Arms
(O)Byrne
Where the Family Lived (Blue Area)
Addresses for More Information
Ireland
Centre for Irish Genealogical and Local Studies, Carraig, Cliff Road, Windgates, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. (Sean Murphy, MA, Director)
General Register Office, 8-11 Lombard Street East, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Telephone (01) 671 1000
Website http://www.doh.ie/manual/chap4/gere.htm
National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Telephone (01) 478 3711
National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Telephone (01) 603 0200
Website www.heanet.ie/natlib
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 66 Balmoral Street, Belfast BT9 6NYY, Northern Ireland
Telephone (01232) 251319.
Website http://proni.nics.gov.uk/index.htm
University College Dublin, Adult Education Office, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Website http://www.ucd.ie/delltti
Britain
Family Records Centre, London, England.
Website http://pro.gov.uk/about/frc/default.htm
Public Records Office, Kew, Surrey, England.
Website http://www.pro.gov.uk
General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Website http://www.open.gov.uk/index.html
National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales.
Website http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.htm
North America
Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, Family History Information, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Website http://lds.org/en/ 2 how do I begin/0- how do I begin.html
Family Tree Maker’s Genealogy Site
Website http://www.familytreemaker.com/index.html
The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA), P.O. Box 619 Sudbury, MA 01776, USA.
Website http://tiari.ie
Irish Genealogical Society International, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
Website http://www.rootsweb.com irish/index.html
New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston Massachusetts, USA.
Website http://nehgs.org/main-01.htm
Australasia
Genealogical Society of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Website http://www.alphalink.com/au/esv
National Archives of Australia, Canberra, Australia.
Website http://www.aa.gov.au/AA_WWW/AA_Home_Page.html
National Archives of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand
Website http://www.archives.dia.gov.nz
List of Links
Cyndi’s List of Genealogical Sites on the Internet: Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Website http://www.cyndilist.com/ireland.htm
UK and Ireland Genealogical Information Service.
Website http://www.genuki.org.uk
Copyright © 1998 by A. MacDarragh Burke, MD
All Rights Reserved.