Tracing a descent from the earliest Irish kings and of the same ancient bloodline as one of the island’s greatest heroes, the Bradys performed a significant role on the stage of Ireland’s history.
They furnished not only poets and distinguished churchmen but also carved a name for themselves far from the shores of their native land.
Read here the proud tale of the Bradys – and of their curious link to the equally proud O’Gradys.
NAME variations include: MacBradaigh (Gaelic), Bradie, Braidie, Bradigan, Braidy, Braydy, Braydie, Grady, Graidie, MacBrady, O’Grady.
Brady Clan Mini-Book Excerpt
One truly larger than life Brady was the American financier, businessman, and philanthropist James Buchanan Brady, better known as Diamond Jim Brady.
Born in New York City in 1856 he rose from being a junior office boy to an executive with the New York Central Railroad. From there he eventually moved into business on his own, amassing a personal fortune on the way.
It was because of his love of costly jewellery that he became known as ‘Diamond Jim’, while his gargantuan appetite also became legendary – eating enough food for at least ten people at one sitting.
The owner of one of his favourite restaurants once famously quipped that Diamond Jim was ‘the best 25 customers I ever had.’
A typical evening meal would be two or three dozen oysters, six crabs, some servings of green turtle soup, two whole ducks, six or seven lobsters, a sirloin steak, two servings of terrapin, a mound of vegetables, pastries and a
two pound box of sweets.
Doctors who examined his body after his death in 1917 found that his stomach was eight times larger than that of the average person.
In 1895 he became the first person in New York to own an automobile, but he did not spend all his vast wealth on himself.
John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, benefited from his generosity to such an extent that it created the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute in
his honour, while after his death the bulk of his estate was distributed to several worthy causes, including the New York Hospital.
The 1935 film Diamond Jim was largely based on the real-life Diamond Jim Brady.
