This interesting name has two possible origins, one French and the other Irish. The French locational name (de) Broglie is anglicized as Brolly. A Coat of Arms was granted to this family c.1680 and it is recorded in Rietstapps Amourial General. The shield is gold with a blue cross moline, indicating suffering for a faith. Brolly is also an anglicized form of the Olde Gaelic name O'Brolaigh. The Gaelic prefix "O" indicates "male descendant of", plus the personal byname Brolaigh, from "brollach", the breast. The sept belonged to the province of Ulster where the first anglicized form of the name appears in 1751, Neil Brawley married a Mary Mosmon. On November 7th 1816, John Brolly, son of Jermiah and Margaret Brolly, was christened in Ballymoney parish, Co. Antrim. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mary Brolly married Duncan McDonald. which was dated December 15th 1763, at Donaghedy, Co. Tyrone. during the reign of King George 111, known as "Farmer George", 1760 - 1820. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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