BRÍGHID

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

BRÍGHID, genitive -ghde, Brigid, Bride, Breeda (Bridget); an ancient Irish name, probably derived from brígh, strength; the name of the goddess of poetry in pagan Ireland; sanctified and made for ever illustrious by St. Brigid of Kildare, patroness of Ireland. It does not appear to have come into common use as a woman's name until the 17th or 18th century. In the spoken language, the genitive case, Bríghde, is sometimes used for the nominative. The frequent anglicised form Bridget is due to the resemblance of the Irish name to that of the celebrated Swedish widow, St. Bridget. Latin — Brigida.

Alphabetical Index to Names of Women (Irish-English)

English-Irish Index

Note: The old Irish letters used in the original text* have been converted to the Roman alphabet for this online version, and the lenited (or dotted) consonants changed to their aspirated equivalents, i.e. the dotted 'c' has been altered to 'ch', the dotted 'g' to 'gh', and the dotted 'm' to 'mh', etc. For example, in the name Caoimgin (Kevin), where the 'm' and 'g' are both dotted (ṁ, ġ) in the old Irish lettering, the name has been converted here to the modern Irish equivalent of Caoimhghin.

* Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames by Rev. Patrick Woulfe, 1923.

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