Brennans

I am searching for parents or siblings for James Brennan who emigrated from St. John's Parish, County Roscommon, Ireland. He settled in Stratford, County Perth, Ontario, married and had several children. Then for some reason they again moved to Emmetsburg, Palo Alto County, Iowa where lots of Brennans still reside today.  Another large Brennan family also migrated to Palo Alto Co. and intermarried with the James Brennan family mentioned previously. In the course of my research I may have mixed up some info. Please send me correct info if you see a mistake. If you have anything Brennan related you would like to contribute, please let me know and be sure to check out Brennan GenConnect Surname Boards below. Thanks, Cathy Joynt Labath

BRENNAN: The name of four unrelated septs, located in Ossory, east Galway, Kerry and Westmeath.This is one of the most frequent surnames in Ireland. It derives from the two Irish originals O'Braonain and Mac Branain. The MacBranain were chiefs of a large territory in the east of the present Co. Roscommon, and the majority of the Brennans of north Connacht, counties Mayo, Sligo and Roscommon descend from them.

O'Braonain originated in at least four distinct areas: Kilkenny, east Galway, Westmeath and Kerry. Of these the most powerful were the O'Braonain of Kilkenny, chiefs of Idough in the north of the county.After they lost their land to the English, many of them became notorious as leaders of outlaw bands.

A separate family, the O'Brandin, are the ancestors of many of the Brennans of counties Fermanagh and Monaghan, where the name was also anglicised as Brannan and Branny.

Source: 'The Little Book of Irish Clans'.

This name is among the thirty most common in Ireland, but is much less numerous in Ulster than in the other three provinces. In Ulster, Brennan is most popular in Co. Fermanagh and in Co. Monaghan (where it was found to rank 23rd in 1970). Most of these will descend from the Cenel Eoghain sept of O'Branain. Around 1900, Brennan was noted as synonymous with Brannie in the Greyabbey district of the Ards Peninsula in Co. Down.

Source: 'The Book of Ulster Surnames'.

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Brennan Families

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Descendants of James Brennan IRE>CAN>IA                                               researcher Cathy Joynt Labath

Descendants of Thomas Brennan and Catherine Kavanaugh IRE>IA               researcher Cathy Joynt Labath

Descendants of John Brennan Dublin,IRE                                                       researcher Roy Earle

Descendants of William Brennan IRE>VT                                                       researcher Pat Darling

Descendants of Neil Brennan -Kellybegs, Donegal, IRE >CAN>NE               researcher Daniel Francis Brennan

The Edward Brennan & Bridget Burke Family 1833 -1943                             researcher Kevin Geraghty

John Brennan and Bridget Sheridan Family 1826 - 1964                                 researcher Kevin Geraghty    

Patrick Brennan Family 1806 - 1964                                                              researcher Kevin Geraghty

Thomas and Winnifred Brennan Family 1814 - 1970                                       researcher Kevin Geraghty

Brennan Links

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Search all rootsweb resources for occurences of BRENNAN

Brennans of Idough Site

Brennans of Connaught

Brennan Family Network

Brennan Hall  

Brennans of Joel and Jen Tanzer Family

Brennans of Stratford, Ontario, Michigan

Schuylkill County PA Brennan Researchers

Brennans of Kilkenny

Brennans of Galway, Tennessee, and Jarrow

Brennan Resources