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, Wallace, and Wallis. However, it does not necessarily mean that the ancestor concerned was from modern-day

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

; Robert Bell notes that Wallace was a surname indicating a

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...

native of

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

or any part of the Latin name Wallensis meant just that. It can also refer to the

Cambro-Norman Cambro-Normans ( la, Cambria; "Wales", cy, Normaniaid Cymreig; nrf, Nouormands Galles) were Normans who settled in southern Wales, and the Welsh Marches, after the Norman invasion of Wales, allied with their counterpart families who settled E ...

s (later Hiberno-Normans) that were of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

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 Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army ...

John de Courcy {{Infobox noble , image = Sir John de Courcy (1150-1219).jpg , caption = , alt = , more = no , succession = , reign = , predecessor = , successor = , ...

(1160–1219) planted significant numbers of Britons of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

during his lordship of

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

. Gaelic-Irish sources such as

Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh (), also known as Dubhaltach Óg mac Giolla Íosa Mór mac Dubhaltach Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh, Duald Mac Firbis, Dudly Ferbisie, and Dualdus Firbissius (fl. 1643 – January 1671) was an Irish scribe, translator, histori ...

concur, referring to such people as ''breatnaigh'', denoting a Briton (see Old Welsh) (''Medieval Ireland'', p. 514).

Bearers of the name

* Breandán Breathnach, music collector and uilleann piper * Cárthach Bán Breathnach, actor and DJ *

Cormac Breathnach Cormac Breathnach (1885 – 29 May 1956) was an Irish politician and primary school teacher. Early life He was born in Iveragh, County Kerry in 1885, and known in his younger years as Charlie Walsh. He was the son of Seán Breathnach, a farmer ...

, teacher and politician *

Edel Bhreathnach Edel Bhreathnach is an Irish historian and academic and former CEO of the Discovery Programme. Bhreathnach was a Tara Research Fellow for the Discovery Programme from 1992 to 2000. In 2005 she was appointed Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Mícheál � ...

, academic and historian * Deasún Breathnach, writer and journalist * Fiachra Breathnach,

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

(GAA) sportsperson * Gearóidín Bhreathnach, sean-nós singer * Lucilita Bhreatnach,

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

* Maire Breathnach, actress *

Máire Breatnach Máire Breatnach is an Irish fiddle, violin and viola player. She also sings in Irish on some of her albums. Since the early 1990s, she has recorded five solo albums, participated in many collaborations, and developed didactic material for chil ...

, musician and educator * Mícheál Breathnach (1881-1908), writer * Micheál Breathnach (1886-after 1954), educator and writer *

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 to ...

, Irish Labour Party politician *

Paddy Breathnach Paddy Breathnach (born 1964) is an Irish film director and producer. He directed '' Man About Dog'', ''Blow Dry'' and '' Shrooms''. He was also involved in the production of ''The Mighty Celt'' and '' Ape''. Filmography * '' Ailsa'' (1994) * '' ...

, film director and producer * Pádraic Breathnach, actor and producer *

Seán Bán Breathnach Seán Bán Breathnach (born 1949) is an Irish radio and television broadcaster and personality. He broadcasts primarily in the medium of the Irish language. Early life and career Born in the Connemara area of County Galway, Breathnach moved to ...

, radio and television personality * Séanna Breathnach,

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

and

member * Séamus Breathnach, Lab analyst

References

* ''The Book of Ulster Surnames'', Robert Bell, 1988. * ''Walsh:Breathnach'', Dáithí Ó hÓgáin,

Gill & Macmillan Gill is an independent publisher and distributor based in Dublin, Ireland. History In 1856, Michael Henry Gill, printer for Dublin University, purchased the publishing and bookselling business of James McGlashan, and the company was renamed McG ...

, Dublin, 2003 * ''Welsh Influence'' in ''Medieval Ireland:An Encyclopedia'' (2005), ed. Seán Duffy, p. 514.

External links

* http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&UserID= * http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/index.cfm?fuseaction=Go.&Surname=Walsh&UserID= {{DEFAULTSORT:Breathnach Surnames Irish families Irish-language surnames Surnames of Irish origin Surnames of British Isles origin

Bearers of the name

See also

References

External links