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| Origins Available: |
| | Ireland |
The Irish name Obierne was originally written in a Gaelic form as Ó Birn or Ó Beirn, from the Norse forename Bjorn. 1
The surname Obierne was first found in Connacht (Irish: Connachta, (land of the) descendants of Conn), where they held a family seat from ancient times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Obierne research. Another 162 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1747, 1748, 1789, 1812, 1823, 1850, 1853 and 1887 are included under the topic Early Obierne History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Within the archives researched, many different spelling variations of the surname Obierne were found. These included One reason for the many variations is that scribes and church officials often spelled an individual's name as it sounded. This imprecise method often led to many versions. Bierne, O'Bierne, Biern, O'Biern, Beirne, O'Beirne, Beirn, O'Beirn, Birn, O'Birn, Birne and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Obierne Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families leaving Ireland for the distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute due to the policies of England. Those Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in the American War of Independence. Others that remained in America later joined the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America, and those who arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United States and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the Obierne family relocated to North American shores quite early: Bridget Birne, who sailed to Quebec in 1849; Michael Beirne to Philadelphia in 1867; Patrick Beirne to Philadelphia in 1869; Martin Beirn to Philadelphia in 1872.