I Have
Fought and Conquered
Byrne or O’Byrne,
together with its variants Be(i)rne and Byrnes, is one of the ten most frequent
surnames in Ireland today. In the original Irish the name is O’Broin, from the
personal name Bran, meaning ‘raven’. It is traced back to King Bran of
Leinster, who ruled in the eleventh century.
As a result of the Norman invasion, the O’Byrnes were driven from their
original homeland in Co Kildare into south Co Wicklow in the early thirteenth
century. There they grew in importance over the years, retaining control of the
territory until the early seventeenth century, despite repeated attempts by the
English authorities to dislodge them. Even today, the vast majority of the Irish
who bear the name originate in Wicklow or the surrounding counties.
