From Ó Cinnéide, ‘helmeted head’ — kinsmen of the O'Briens, from the same Dál gCais stock as Brian Boru.
Gaelic Origin · Root meaning ‘helmeted head’
Kennedy is built from ceann (‘head’) and éide (‘armour’ or ‘dress’), read as ‘helmeted head’. The Ó Cinnéide were close kin of the O'Briens, sharing the Dál gCais bloodline out of Clare and Tipperary, before generations of emigration carried the name across the Atlantic.
A warrior's name for a family whose descendants would one day be remembered less for battle than for a president's inaugural address.
Irish form: Ó Cinnéide
