Brannigan Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Brannigan Family History

Brannigan Family History

The family history of the ancient name Brannigan was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Surnames developed a wide number of variants over the centuries. Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Brannigan include O'Brannigan and Brangan. These names are derived from the Gaelic O'Branagain sept who were a sept of the Cenel Eoghain.

A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. It is also the case that many Irish septs or clans that are related often belong to a larger groups, sometimes called tribes. For example the 'Tribes of Galway' consisted of fourteen distinct families. The 'Tribes of Kilkenny' were ten families, etc.

This name is translated from Gaelic as meaning 'raven'. They were located in Oriel, being found in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries chiefly in Counties Armagh, Monaghan and Louth. A branch of the sept migrated to Galway about the year 1400 where the name became O'Brangan. A Henry Branigan was recorded as being the Warden of Galway in the year 1497. Another Henry Branigan was an officer in Bellew's regiment in James II's Irish Army. The townland of Ballybranagan in the barony of Kiltartan was named after the County Galway branch. The Brannigan family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Brannigan descendants.