McBride — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Giolla Bhríghde
Meaning: 'son of the devotee of St Brigid'
Traditional stronghold: Donegal, Down
Pronunciation: mick-BRIDE; Irish Mac Giolla Bhríghde: mock GILL-a VREE-jeh
History of the McBride name
McBride is Mac Giolla Bhríghde, 'son of the servant of St Brigid', reflecting devotion to Ireland's great female saint. The principal family belonged to northwest Donegal, where they were an ecclesiastical family in the diocese of Raphoe, providing clergy over many generations; a separate sept of the same name arose in County Down. Donegal, Derry and Antrim remain the name's Irish strongholds, and Scottish McBrides share the same Gaelic origin. The Mayo-born Major John MacBride, executed in 1916, and his son Seán, a Nobel laureate, made the name internationally synonymous with Irish nationalism and human rights.
Variants: MacBride · MacGilbride · Kilbride · Gilbride
Famous bearers of the name
- Seán MacBride — Nobel Peace Prize winner and a founder of Amnesty International.
- John MacBride — Mayo-born officer executed for his part in the 1916 Rising.
- Willie John McBride — Ballymena lock who captained the unbeaten 1974 British and Irish Lions.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Gallagher · Murray · Boyle · Doherty · Sweeney · O'Donnell · Duffy · McLoughlin