Broderick Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Broderick Family History

Broderick Family History

The Broderick ancient family history 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 Broderick include Boderick, Browder, Brothers and Broder. These names are of Viking Irish origin. The original form of these names was Bruadair and they are on record in Ireland since before the Viking invasions began. Several distinct septs existed in early mediaeval times of which two may be mentioned. One was located in County Cork in the Barony of Barrymore to which David O'Bruadair the poet belonged. It was a branch of these that settled in Iverk in County Kilkenny where they became established by the seventeenth century. The other belonged to County Galway, the most famous of whom was Fr. Anthony O'Bruadair OSF, the martyr. It is here that the two townlands called Ballybroder can be found. The best known of all the Broderick families in Ireland is that of which Lord Middleton is head. The Gaelic forms of the name, O'Bruadair and Mac Bruadair, acquired the forms Broderick and Brothers, among other variants.The Broderick 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 Broderick descendants.