Brady / / Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Brady / / Family History

Brady / / Family History

The Brady ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Most families of Brady take their name from the MacBradaigh Gaelic sept.

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 Bradys were a powerful sept, belonging to Breffny, holding the territory east of Cavan Town. The ancient document 'The Four Masters' record many illustrious Chiefs of the name. A number of families of Brady are also found in the district around the village of Tuamgraney, County Clare. Although the Bradys are today very numerous throughout Ireland the great majority are still to be found in County Cavan. Many of the name have distinguished themselves in Irish history, the most notable being Fiachra MacBrady, 1710, a well renowned poet. William Maziere Brady, 1825-1894, was author of 'Episcopal Succession in England, Ireland and Scotland'. A branch of the O'Gradaigh sept of County Clare, whose names was more often anglicized as O'Grady, changed their name to Brady in the sixteenth century.The Brady 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 Brady descendants.