Larry O'Brien
From:	Pat Traynor [tray@jps.net]
Sent:	Monday, August 16, 1999 10:42 PM
To:	SHAMROCK-L@rootsweb.com
Cc:	Larry O'Brien
Subject:	RE: SHAMROCK-D Digest V99 #442
Quoting....."Larry O'Brien" <lpobrien@intranet.ca>
>Does anyone have any information on history of Breen surname.

A little bit...............

----------
BREEN
There are several distinct Gaelic origins of the surname, both Mac Braoin
and O Braoin, from braon, meaning 'moisture', or 'drop'. The Mac Braoin
were originally located near the town of Knocktopher in Co Kilkenny, but
migrated to Wexford after the Anglo-Norman invasions in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. Co Wexford is still the area of the country in which
the surname is most common, though a separate Wexford sept, the O Briain,
also had their surname anglicised as Breen. These were descended from Bran
Finn, son of Lachta, King of Munster, and uncle of Brian Boru. However, the
O'Breens, rulers of Brawney, a territory near Athlone in counties Offaly
and Westmeath, were the most powerful of the name in the Middle Ages; as
they lost power the name mutated, and many in the area are now to be found
as O'Briens. The surname is now also quite common in north Connacht, Co
Fermanagh and in Co Kerry.
---------
BREEN:
   This form of Mac Braoin (Breen) as well as MacBrine is usual in
   Co. Fermanagh where it is the name of a branch of the MacManus sept.
   It is frequently written MacBrien and has sometimes been changed
   to O'Brien there and in Co. Cavan.
---------
(O)BREEN - also MacBreen, Brawney

Breen - in Irish O Braoin - is derived from braon, meaning sadness or sorrow. 
 It is a very numerous surname throughout Ireland, although the O or Mac 
prefix, once an essential part of the name, has long since been dropped.  In 
the course of time, the name became corrupted to O Brien, and even to Brown 
or Bruen.
-----------
There were a number of Breen septs.  At one time they were an influential 
family in Knocktopher, County Kilkenny, until the Anglo-Norman invasion began 
in 1169.
The Breens of Westmeath were a more important sept.  They owned much land in 
Offaly, near Athlone.  Their chieftans were lords of Brawney and, until the 
fifteenth century, they were on a par with the great O Conor kings of 
Connacht and MacMorrogh, King of  Leinster.
----------
By far the most notorious Breen was Dan Breen (1894 - 1969), the son of a 
Tipperary farmer, who took a leading part in the War of Indpendence. At one 
time there was a reward 10,000 pounds on his head.  He was elected a member 
of Dail Eireann for Tipperary in 1923.  His autobiography recounting his 
famous guerrilla battles, "My fight for Irish Freedom" (1924), was a 
bestseller."                   
 
Patrick Traynor,   in California's gold-rush country.    tray@jps.net