Talk:Bryan (surname)
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Origins
[edit]Many of the American Bryan family derive from Norman origins, namely a family of de Briennes who lived at Chateau Brienne east of Paris.
One of them married the daughter of a Welsh noble and got the castle of Walwyn in Pembroke. Thence they went to the English Court, and Sir Francis Bryan was a favourite of Henry VIII whose son Edward VI eventually made him Lord Marshal of Ireland where he married Joan Fitzgerald, dowager Countess of Ormond. Their son was Sir Francis II, and their grandson William Smith Bryan was deported to North Carolina after picking the wrong side in the Confederation of Kilkenny.
The next generation either returned to Ireland or some remained here and the family is associated with the manor of Jenkinstown in Co. Kilkenny, where at least one descendent still lives.
Jean de Brienne was King of Jerusalem in 1215, his daughter Yolande was married to the Emperor Frederick the Second of Sicily.
There is lots more good family history available if anyone is interested!
Posted by Maurice Bryan of Dublin.
Family history is always more complicated than we think! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.70.161.168 (talk) 19:55, 13 July 2006