In Honor of St. Patty's Day

Well, in honor of St. Patricks Day and growing up in a very Irish family (last name of Flynn), I decided to blog about Flynn and Bradley history. I know that Flynn is Irish, but Bradley can be either of English or Irish desent. So, I found the Irish coat of arms, and decided to write about that one, since I asked my husband and he said "I think we are originally from Ireland" :-)

For Flynn, the blue in the shield stands for strength and loyalty. The 3 gold circles stands for generosity,worthy of trust and treasure, and the wolf stands for perseverance in siege or effort. The surname O'Flynn is derived from the Gaelic personal name Flann. Ó Floinn is the form of the surname in Irish. It ranks forty-first in the list of most numerous surnames in Ireland with an estimated total of thirteen thousand persons. These are found chiefly in two main areas - Cork and Waterford in the south, and on the borders of Connacht and Ulster in the adjacent counties of Roscommon, Leitrim and Cavan. in 1762 Banard Flinn settled into America, and Andrew Flynn in NY in 1803.

For Bradley, the red stand for military strength or a warrior, and the white stands for sincerity and peace. The squiggle lines stands for land/earth with the line across imitating a military belt representing honor. The birds stand for one who has been disposessed of land or a sign for fourth son. The crosses stand for unshakeable faith. This Gaelic surname means “descendant of Brolachán”. A Bradley sept were originally settled in the barony of Clogher in Co. Tyrone. They then moved north to Derry and Donegal and also to Cork. Ó Brollacháin is said to be one of the few Irish surnames that has been maltreated by the introduction of the English language into Ireland. It was mostly given the English name of Bradley whereas it should instead be given the name O’Brallaghan. The O’Brallaghans in Tyrone and Cork are said to be the real O’Brallaghans. There is also a proportion of Bradleys in Ireland who are descendants of English settlers. The first settler was Partick O'Brallaghan who settled in NY in 1785 and Allen Bradley in Ohio in 1875.

I hope you enjoyed a little Flynn and Bradley history. I hope the Bradleys that I am now a part of came from Oreland and not England, otherwise everything is null and void! HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!!