The Brady or MacBradys Family

John Rooney

A Genealogical History of Irish Families

1895

Brady or MacBradys family crest

(Crest No. 311. Plate 26.)

THIS family is descended from Milesius, King of Spain, through Heremon, his eighth son, and first King of all Ireland. The founder of the family was Brian, or Brune, son of Eocha Moy Veagon, King of Ireland in the middle of the fourth century. The ancient name of the family was Carbhail, and signifies “Ship Captain.”

The MacBradys, according to MacGeoghegan, were a branch of the O’Carrolls, Chiefs of Calry, a territory in Leitrim, in the barony of Dromahaire, which appears to have comprised an adjoining portion of Sligo, near the present parish of Calry, in that county. This district embraced the parishes of Drumlease and Killargy, in Leitrim, with a portion of the parish of Calry, in Sligo. The MacBradys are often called O’Carrolls at the present day by persons speaking in Irish, who designate them Caroolaghs.

The chiefs of the MacBradys from an early period possessed lands in Cavan, where the family is extremely numerous to-day, especially in the barony of Loughtee. Baron Thomas Brady, a distinguished Field Marshal for a long time in the service of Austria, was a native of the County of Cavan. Another somewhat noted member of the name in his day was Dr. Nicholas Brady, author of Sermons, and a translation of Virgil’s Æneid, and collaborator with Nahum Tate in the English version of the Psalms.

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