The name Saint Briac comes from the name of
Saint Briag, an Irishman. Briag arrived from Ireland with
Saint Tugdual in around 548. On 4 and 5 September 1758, a British fleet of 113 ships under the command of Admiral
Richard Howe, landed east of the Garde Guerin, in Saint Briac. With a force of more than 12,000 men, under the command of General
Thomas Bligh, who accompanied the Duke of York, the future king
George III, they established camp in neighboring St Lunaire, but not before pillaging and burning down more than half of Saint Briac. Le Chateau du Nessay (seen below) was built on an emplacement of a castle originating from the 12th century. During the
French Revolution, it was used as a prison, to hold political prisoners. St Briac was called Port Briac during the
French Revolution. Though France requires since 1976 that all beaches be public and that shoreside owners let people pass, wealthy owners of Saint-Briac-sur-Mer don't allow it and have been fighting the law in court ever since, including John Kerry's family. The
Forbes family estate, called
Les Essarts was bombed during
World War II. Les Essarts was rebuilt in 1954. ==Politics==