News

Derek Byrne Becomes a Knight of the Order of St. Lazarus

In December of 2022 I was honoured to be promoted to the rank of Chevalier in the Military and Hospitilar Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem.

I was invited into the Order in 2015 and was promoted to the rank of Commander in 2017 when I became the Keeper of the Insignia.

I was delighted to have my efforts and commitment to the Order rewarded by being knighted at a ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin last December.

I am proud of the work that the Order does in Ireland and throughout the world raising much needed funds for charitable causes and helping those who cannot help themselves.

For information on the order go to www.stlazarus.ie

Notice of email hack

Dear members and friends,

I would like to inform you that our clanbyrne.com email addresses have been hacked and have been out of function since September 9th 2022.

If you have tried to contact us since then, your email will not have reached us.

Please feel free to contact me at derek@derekbyrne.ie if you would like to join Finte O’Broin or have any questions for us regarding your family tree.

We will endeavor to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Kind regards,

Derek Byrne

Finte O’Broin

Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2022

On behalf of everyone at Finte O’Broin, I would like to wish Byrne’s at home and world wide a very happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Certavi et Vici,

Derek, The O’Byrne of Downes, Guardian of the Name

Finte O’Broin celebrates 400 members on 10th anniversary

 

We are delighted to have received our 400th registered member just weeks after our 10th anniversary.

Finte O’Broin, the International Society of Byrne Clans was established in July 2011 and launched at St. Catherine’s church in Dublin 8 by the late Lt. Col. Charles Artaud Byrne, best claim hereditary Chief of the Byrne’s of Crioch Brannach.

Since its launch, Finte O’Broin has been involved with the establishment of the highly successful Napoleon Society of Ireland and has forged links with the Emmet and Develin Societies.

We have also raised tens of thousands of euros for charitable causes, most notably, MS Ireland with our annual canal walks. This year’s walk will take place on the 28th of August and further details will be posted on the website very soon.

For now, we would like to thank all of those people who have contacted us over our first ten years. All those people who have shared their family history. Everyone who has joined the Byrne DNA project and everyone who has supported us in making Finte O’Broin one of the most vibrant clan societies in Ireland today.

Here’s to the next ten years!

Certavi et Vici,

Derek Byrne, O’Byrne’s of Downes

President of Finte O’Broin

Finte O’Broin celebrates 10th anniversary with 398 members!

I am delighted to announce the 10th anniversary of Finte O’Broin, the international Society of Byrne clans which was launched on the August Bank Holiday in 2011 in the presence of the Late Lt. Col. Charles Artaud Byrne, descendant of Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne who is pictured above on a trip to Ballinacor on the day following the official launch of Finte O’Broin at St. Catherine’s Church, Thomas Street in Dublin 8.

Sadly, Charles passed away in March of 2020 but he was a great Patron and supporter of Finte O’Broin and he returned in 2013 to Ballinacor for our Gathering event and the unveiling of a plaque on the site where Feagh Mac Hugh O’Byrne was captured by the English in the 1585.

Today, Finte O’Broin is one of the most active clan societies in Ireland with regular clan events such as the annual charity walk along the Royal Canal organised by our Head Genealogist, Edward Byrne. To date, this event has raised over 40 thousand euro for charities such as MS Ireland.

Finte O’Broin is at the heart of historic research and development in Ireland through its work with its sister organisation the Napoleon Society of Ireland which hosted the International Napoleonic Congress in Dublin in 2016 and will host it again in Cork in 2022.

In the 10 years that we have been in operation we have registered 398 members from all over the world and as such we provide a focal point for those who want to connect with their family history. We have assisted many in their family research projects and we have representatives at various points around the globe as the Byrnes are indeed, an international family.

Finte O’Broin is also the only clan society which promotes the role of the young in promoting our clan history into the future and recognises the rights of women to hold senior positions within the clan.

Our future projects involve continuing our charity work and promoting the rich history of Clan O’Byrne.

In the meantime, on behalf of our Executive, I would like to thank all those who have joined Finte O’Broin and support us in our work.

Certavi et Vici,

Derek Byrne, O’Byrnes of Downes, Guardian of the Name

President, Finte O’Broin

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

A very happy St. Patrick’s day to all our clan members and home and overseas.

Derek Byrne

President

Finte O’Broin

 

New Year’s Message 2021

Dear members and friends,

As we move towards 2021 we look towards celebrating 9 years of the establishment of Finte O’Broin in July.

It has been an eventful nine years which has seen membership grow to over 400 families world wide and the establishment of our sister organisation the Napoleon Society of Ireland which hosted the international congress in Dublin in 2016 and which will host the international congress again in Cork in 2022 marking the 10th anniversary of both organisations.

Of course, we were very sad to lose our Patron Charles Artaud Byrne who died at the age of 96 last March. However, we move into our ninth year with a new and dynamic Executive team and welcome Dustan Byrne from Canada and my cousin David Byrne from Dublin. We will be announcing a new Patron in July and new recipients of the Clan Medal of Merit on St. Patrick’s Day.

All in all, it promises to be an exciting time ahead for Finte O’Broin as we move beyond the restrictions of Covid 19 and back to normality.

On behalf of all at Finte O’Broin, may I wish you all a happy and healthy New Year and all we hope that you remain safe and well in 2021.

Certavi et Vici,

Derek Byrne – O’Byrnes of Downes, Guardian of the Name

Nollaig Shona – Wishing all our Clan members in Ireland and around the world a very happy Christmas

On behalf of everyone at Finte O’Broin, I would like to wish all Clan members and their families a very happy Christmas and a healthy and happy 2021.

It has been a sad year for many with the loss of loved ones due to Covid 19 and we especially remember the loss of our former Patron Lt. Col. Charles Artaud Byrne who died at the age of 96 in March.

As we look towards 2021, let us hope that the Covid 19 vaccines help to bring the world back to a sense of normality, a world where we can be close to and hug our loved ones once again.

With all good wishes,

Derek Byrne

President Finte O’Broin

 

A message from Myles Byrne, son of Lt. Col. Charles Artaud Byrne

In 2013, as part of the Irish Gathering of the Clans, my Irish-American father, Dutch in-laws, and myself attended a ceremony at the Ballinacor Estate, near Rathdrum, in County Wicklow, Ireland.

The ceremony involved a re-enactment of the capture and beheading of Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne on Sunday, 8 May 1597, by forces under the command of Sir William Russell. A plaque commemorating the event was mounted at the site, and local musicians played historic songs, such as Follow me up to Carlow.

My father, who was 89 years old at the time, was honored as a descendent of Feagh MacHugh. This was of tremendous importance to him, and to me, since my Da raised me on the history of the O’Byrnes of Ireland, and indeed we had visited Glendalough, Glenmalure, Crony Byrne, and other sites, decades before.

My father died peacefully on March 20th this year. Although 96 years old, he had no dementia, retained his Irish wit and spirit, and avoided the coronavirus. He was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery, in recognition of decorated service to his country, on July 23rd.

Now that my father has passed, I have this to say to all Byrnes:

My parents named me after Myles Byrne (1780-1862), the Wexford Rebel, an Irish Rebel and member of the United Irishmen.

Myles fought for the freedom of the Irish, then for the freedom of Europe, as a Commandant (Major) in Napolean’s imperial army. I have visited his grave in the Montmarte cemetery in Paris, the only Celtic cross headstone there.

The quest of the Irish people for freedom and equality led some of our ancestors to fight for Napolean, then to emigrate to America and elsewhere. If we study the Irish, Dutch, American, and French revolutions all together, the boundaries between them start to dissolve (Thomas Paine was an honorary member of the United Irishmen), and we see see that they were all expressions of the same movement of the human spirit towards universal liberty and equality.

I now live in Finland with my wife, a Dutch cancer scientist. The Finns faced tyranny from not one but two empires, the Swedish and the Russian. They too split against and decimated themselves, in the 1918 civil war through which they finally won independence. Today, the Finnish language, not Swedish or Russian, is spoken across the land.

When we toured the Republic of Ireland in 2013, the Gaeltacht signs were a reminder that the work of securing liberty and self-determination was far from over.

But today, because of the Irish history with which my father raised me, I know in my bones that the current derangement of the world marks the full return of the struggle that united the Irish against tyranny. My father always said this struggle is in the hearts of all peoples, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese, as well as Irish, French, and Dutch.

Like our ancestors, he saw joining this struggle as his duty and his heart’s desire. He is buried in the American national cemetery, but that heart is buried with our forebears in Glendalough.

The struggle of the United Irishmen against tyranny is now lighting up the planet. As bad as things seem, it is all leading to the same destination: equality and liberty for all the peoples of the world. The harp of Equality is new strung, and shall now be heard around the world.

Annual Royal Canal Walk raises thousands for Irish Children’s Arthritis Newtork

Despite current challenges the annual Royal Canal Walk took place earlier today, Sunday the 16th of August to raise funds in aid of the Irish Children’s Arthritis Network. This annual event has raised over 40 thousand euro for a variety of charitable causes since its inception in 2012.

Organised by Edward Byrne and his cousin David Byrne of the O’Byrnes of Downes, the event highlights the role that clan societies can and should play in modern Ireland.

The walk is also the ideal platform for the Clan O’Byrne annual gathering and helps to maintain important connections between clan members.

Anyone wishing to find out more about the Irish Children’s Arthritis Network can go to www.icanireland.ie

Well done to all who took part and raised awareness and much needed funds for this important charity.

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