Brodigan Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Brodigan Family History

Brodigan Family History

The ancient origin of the name Brodigan was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The name Broigan is of Irish origin and is an anglicized form of the Gaelic O'Bradagain sept that was located in County Roscommon in the north-western part of the midlands.

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.

The usual form of the name in Roscommon is Bradigan with Brodigan being found mostly in Counties Meath and Louth. The variant Bredican is found mostly in Counties Sligo and Mayo. These names are taken from the Gaelic word 'bradach' which translates from the Gaelic language as meaning 'spirited'. In modern times this name and its variants are msotly found in the midland Counties.The Brodigan 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 Brodigan descendants.