Breathnach or Bhreathnach (meaning ''Welshman'') is an Irish surname, indicating an ancestor who was Welsh. It is the Irish-language version of surnames such as Brannagh, Brunnock, Brannick,
Walsh Walsh may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname
Places
* Fort Walsh, one of the first posts of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
* Walsh, Ontario, Norfolk ...
,
Wallace
Wallace may refer to:
People
* Clan Wallace in Scotland
* Wallace (given name)
* Wallace (surname)
* Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back
* Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...
, and Wallis.
However, it does not necessarily mean that the ancestor concerned was from modern-day Wales; Robert Bell notes that Wallace was a surname indicating a Briton native of Strathclyde or any part of the Latin name Wallensis meant just that. It can also refer to the Cambro-Normans (later
Hiberno-Norman
From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans from ...
s) that were of Norman origin, but came to Ireland via Wales. The name appears in twelfth-century records of Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, parts of the old Strathclyde kingdom ... Wallace has also been used as a synonym of Walsh." (Bell, p. 244). The best known bearer of the name from the area was Uilleam Breatnach ( William Wallace).
John de Courcy (1160–1219) planted significant numbers of Britons of Cumbria during his lordship of Ulster. Gaelic-Irish sources such as Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh concur, referring to such people as ''breatnaigh'', denoting a Briton (see
Old Welsh
Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...
) (''Medieval Ireland'', p. 514).
Bearers of the name
*
Breandán Breathnach
Breandán Breathnach (1 April 1912 – 6 November 1985) was an Irish music collector and uilleann piper. In addition to collecting Irish music, he is known for his ''Ceol Rince na hÉireann'' (Dance Music of Ireland) series.
Life
Breathnach gr ...
, music collector and uilleann piper
*
Cárthach Bán Breathnach
Cárthach Bán Breathnach is an Irish actor and broadcaster. As an actor, he is known for his roles in the TG4 series ''Aifric'' and the Irish language soap opera ''Ros na Rún''.
Bán Breathnach comes from Indreabhán in the Connemara Gaelta ...
Fiachra Breathnach
Fiachra Breathnach (born 21 November 1986) is an Irish Gaelic footballer from Galway. Breathnach played his club football with Naomh Anna, Leitir Móir before transferring to St Vincents, and is a former county footballer for the Galway seni ...
Maire Breathnach
Marie Bheag Breathnach is an Irish people, Irish actress.
Breathnach played the part of Mo Gilmartin on the Irish language drama, ''Ros na Rún'', from 2002 to 2021.
She is a native of Cnoc Leitirmullen, in Galway, and won the County football ...
Mícheál Breathnach
Mícheál Breathnach (1881 – 27 October 1908) was an Irish writer.
Breathnach was born at Cois Fharraige, County Galway, and worked for some time as a Secretary of the London Branch of the Gaelic League. He later worked as headmaster of the ...
Niamh Bhreathnach
Niamh Síle Bhreathnach (; born 1 June 1945) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education from 1993 to 1994 and 1994 to 1997. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dún Laoghaire constituency from 1992 ...