Kilbride Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Kilbride Family History

Kilbride Family History

The ancient origin of the name Kilbride 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 Kilbride include Gilbride and MacBride. These names are derived from the Gaelic Mac Giolla Brighde sept that was located in County Donegal. This Gaelic name translates as 'devotee of Saint Brigid'. They are first recorded as erenaghs of Raymunterdoney in County Donegal, a Parish which includes Tory Island. In the seventeenth century they settled at Gweedore in the same county. The most distinguished of the sept was John MacGilbride, a Bishop of Raphoe in 1440. A branch of these settled in County Down in 1659. Some bearers of the name are of immigrant origin from Scotland. As Kilbride the name, in modern times, is mostly found in Connaught Province.The Kilbride 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 Kilbride descendants.