O'Briant Surname History

Origins Available:
Ireland

The old Gaelic name used by the O'Briant family in Ireland was Ó Briain, which means descendant of Brian.

Early Origins of the O'Briant family

The surname O'Briant was first found in Thomond, a territory comprised of most of County Clare with adjacent parts of counties Limerick and Tipperary. Prior to the 10th century, the sept was a Dalcassian Clan known as the Ui Toirdealbhaigh and achieved prominence with the rise of their eponymous ancestor, Brian Boru (941-1014), to the High Kingship of Ireland. Brian Boru, by far the most outstanding figure of this family, is widely acknowledged as the greatest of all the ancient Kings of Ireland and is best remembered for driving the Norsemen out of Ireland at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.

Early History of the O'Briant family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Briant research. Another 187 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1369, 1400, 1551, 1577, 1600, 1614, 1640, 1642, 1651, 1663, 1674, 1678, 1690, 1692, 1699, 1714, 1717 and 1771 are included under the topic Early O'Briant History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Briant Spelling Variations

Many variations of the name O'Briant were found in archives from the Middle Ages. The spelling and language in which the people's names were recorded was often up to the individual scribe. Variations of the name O'Briant found include O'Brien, OBrine, O'Brion, O'Bryan, O'Bryen, McBrien, McBrine, Brian, Briand, Briant, Brine, Brines, Briens and many more.

Early Notables of the O'Briant family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Brian Sreamhach MacMathghamhna O'Brien, king of the Irish region of Thomond (1369-1400); Daniel O'Brien (1577-1663), member of the Supreme Council of Catholic Confederates; Daniel O'Brien (d. 1690), founder of the Irish Brigade known as Clare's Dragoons; Murrough McDermod O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin and 6th Baron Inchiquin (1614-1674); Henry O'Brien, Lord Ibrackan or Lord...
Another 63 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early O'Briant Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the O'Briant family

In the 18th and 19th centuries hundreds of thousands of Irish people immigrated to North American shores. The early settlers were enticed by the promise of their own land, but they were moderately well off in Ireland when they decided to emigrate. Therefore, they were merely carrying out a long and carefully thought out decision. The 1840s saw the emergence of a very different trend: thousands of extremely desperate people crammed into passenger boats hoping to find any type of opportunity. The Irish of this decade had seen their homeland severely stricken by crop failures which resulted in widespread disease and starvation. At whatever time the Irish immigrants came to North America, they were instrumental in the rapid development of the emerging nations of the United States and what would become known as Canada. An exhaustive search of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many persons bearing the name O'Briant, or one of its variants: Archibald O'Brian settled in Virginia in 1773.

Contemporary Notables of the name O'Briant (post 1700) +

Jason M O'Briant, American Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics at North Carolina Central University
Henry E. O'Briant III, American cinematographer, best known for his work on Forest Gump (1994)
Erin O'Briant, American English professor at the City College of San Francisco
Susan Manning O'Briant, American painter