Bradley - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Brolcháin
Meaning: descendant of Brolchán
Traditional stronghold: Derry, Tyrone
Usually a Gaelic name, not the English Bradley.
Pronunciation: BRAD-lee; Irish O Brolchain: oh BRUL-khan
History of the Bradley name
Bradley is generally an anglicisation of O Brolchain, an ecclesiastical family who served as erenaghs (lay stewards of church lands) at Banagher in County Derry, with the name later spreading into Tyrone and Donegal. The switch to Bradley, an unrelated English toponymic surname meaning 'broad meadow', happened because the sound was thought close enough, a common pattern in Ulster anglicisation. Because Bradley is also a genuine English surname, some bearers in Ireland descend from English or Scottish settlers rather than the Gaelic sept, particularly in Ulster plantation areas. The name is now strongly associated with Derry, Tyrone and the wider north-west.
Variants: Brolley · Brallaghan · O'Brolchain
Famous bearers of the name
- Fr Denis Bradley - Derry-born priest and peace process figure, co-founder of the Bloody Sunday Trust
- Gerry Bradley - Belfast republican and author of the memoir Insider: Gerry Bradley's Life in the IRA
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Connor · O'Neill · Quinn · Doherty · McLoughlin · Kane · Donnelly · McGrath