The roots of the Breheny surname are linked to a set of 4,000 year old Irish law, known as the Brehon Law. There were no judges or lawyers, but the arbitrators whose responsibility it was to settle disagreements based on these laws were known as Brehons.
Early Origins of the Breheny family
The surname Breheny was first found in
Kilkenny (Irish: Cill Chainnigh), the former Kingdom of Osraige (Ossory), located in Southeastern
Ireland in the province of
Leinster, where they held a
family seat as judges and scholars. Irish history was greatly influenced by the
Norman invasion of 1172, and thereafter, the surnames of Irish Gaelic clanns and septs and many of the Norman families became almost indistinguishable. This ancient Irish family name was found later in
Sligo represented another early reference to the name.
Early History of the Breheny family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Breheny research.
Another 199 words (14 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Breheny History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Breheny Spelling Variations
Spelling variations of this family name include: Brehon, Brehane, Brehany, Brehaney, Breheny, Brehony, MacBreheny and many more.
Early Notables of the Breheny family (pre 1700)
More information is included under the topic Early Breheny Notables in all our
PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Breheny family to the New World and Oceana
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Breheny Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- James Breheny, who was naturalized in Westmoreland Co. Pennsylvania in 1859
- Bridget Breheny, who arrived in New York, NY in 1866
Contemporary Notables of the name Breheny (post 1700)
- Brian J. Breheny, Australian BAFTA Award nominated movie cinematographer, known for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), Crawl (2011) and The Phantom (1996)
- Vince Breheny, Irish actor, known for The Perfect Kiss (2015), Torsion (2016) and Walter's Weakening (2014)
- Michael Breheny (1948-2003), English Professor of Planning at Reading University
- John Gerald "Jack" Breheny (1910-2009), Australian politician from Toowoomba, Queensland, Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Darwin in 1951
- Richard Breheny, Lecturer in the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College, London