Motto: Fortiter et fideliter (Boldly and Faithfully)
The Browne family established themselves in Galway and Mayo following the arrival of Philippus de Browne in 1170. A governor and military leader, he played a key role in the Siege of Limerick. Descendants settled in Galway, notably Walter Browne, whose house once stood on Abbeygate Street. Prominent estates included Mounthazel, Moyne, and Castlemacgarret (Co. Mayo). Some traditions trace another branch to Sir David Browne and his son Stephen who settled at Killpatricke, near Dublin, where a branch settled in Brownstown, near Loughrea, and then onto Athenry and Galway, further enriching their historical presence.
By the mid-seventeenth century the Browne family owned a number of very substantial houses in Galway city, the most notable (built in 1627 by Martin Browne and his wife Maria Lynch) which stood in Abbeygate St. It is noted on the 1651 Galway Pictorial Map as The mansion house of Martin Browne, citizen. The doorway and first floor window of this house have been re-erected on the square in Galway and are decorated with elaborate coats of arms of the Browne and Lynch families. (Marked as d on the map)
The mansion house of Sir Dominick Browne, knight was also depicted on the map. He was a cousin of Martin Browne, whose house was situated across the street in Lower Abbeygate Street. (Marked as Z on the map).
The family most directly descended from the seventeenth century Sir Dominick Browne includes Lord Oranmore and Browne whose seat was at Castlemagarret, near Claremorris, Co. Mayo
1651 Map: https://galwaycivictrust.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Cantec_Scan-of-1651-map.pdf
Sources Consulted
Books
Dargan, Pat, Galway – City of Heritage, Eastwood Books, Dublin, 2024
Dowd, Peadar, “A Family Heritage in Stone”, Galway Roots- Journal of the Galway Family History Society West, Summer 1993, (pp6-8)
Hardiman, James, Hardiman’s History of Galway, 1820 (reprint, Connacht Tribune 1985)
Larkin, Patrick “SOME TOWN CASTLES OF GALWAY.”Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 72 (2020): 157–72.
Martyn Adrian, The Tribes Of Galway; 1124- 1642, Galway; Adrian Martyn, 2016
O’Neill T.P., The Tribes and other Galway families, (1984), reprint, Galway Civic Trust, 2013
Prunty, Jacinta; Walsh, Paul, Galway- Irish Historic Town Atlas No 28, Royal Irish Academy, 2016
Walsh, Paul, Renaissance Galway- Delineating the Seventeenth Century City, Royal Irish Academy, 2019
Internet
Welcome to County Galway Guide, ‘’Tribes of Galway”, (2007), https://www.galway-ireland.ie/galway-tribes.htm
