Major Denis Bingham's son William birth information

[hallmark]

You can see he wouldn't have been too popular... With 1000's dying/starving he robbed their food!!

Amongst the most active of these were Major Bingham and his son William; and there were now in Court the letters of William, .admitting that potatoes sent over for the relief of the poor were used as seed- potatoes in planting lands belonging to Major Bingham.


With Cholera/Typhus rampant when he died going anywhere near a graveyard would be the last thing anyone would do.

You can see O'Connell targeted him! Hence the Lyons case.

[hallmark]

So now you'll have somewhere to stay...

The house was part of the Bingham estate and my husband, whose mother was a Bingham, is the last person from that family to live here permanently. He is hugely knowledgeable about local history and is happy to talk (when he is not working).

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/5109249

[Bob Queensland]

Hi Hallmark ... Thanks for all the info ... now time to start planning the trip .. a bit nervous about being a bingham especially on this line and the history ... I have just put some emails out to Mayo Council and historic groups should they identify any graves that are legible etc ... We have eighteen months to arrange all so plenty of time ... Have to make contact with the family at the Airbnb .. sounds informative
Kind regards ...

[amac1210]

Hi,

I have some information on the Binghams which may or may not be new to you. My Great-Great Uncle Anthony Kelly was a servant working at the house of Arthur Shane Bingham in 1901. He is listed on that census alongside a woman named Barbara Dean and a woman named Bridget Sally.

Residents of a house 5 in Doolough (Rathill, Mayo):
Bingham   Arthur Shane   71   Male   Head of Family   Church of Ireland
Bingham   Ellen   38   Female   Daughter   Church of Ireland
Bingham   Denis   34   Male   Son   Church of Ireland
Bingham   Annie   25   Female   Daughter   Church of Ireland
Dean   Barbara   88   Female   Servant   Roman Catholic
Kelly   Anthony   18   Male   Servant   Roman Catholic
Sally   Bridget   18   Female   Servant   Roman Catholic

What I can tell you is that my Great-Great Aunt, Anthony's sister, had a child named Denis Bingham. On his birth record, the name is Denis Kelly since he was illegitimate. He was born 28th July 1904, at Mingmore with his mother listed as Maria (her name is Mary on other records) and his Aunt Margaret Kelly also present. It is on the 1911 census we see his surname as Bingham. He lived with his Grandparents on the Kelly side of the family at that point. Given the connection with Anthony Kelly, I suspect Mary/Maria must have come into contact with the elder Denis Bingham and had a son by him. Or indeed another one of the Binghams? This would have been scandalous at the time no doubt. I have no idea what his later life involved.

I can also say that from what I know Arthur Shane Bingham had a reputation of conflict with the R.C. tenants, having one of them shot in the 1870s-1880s apparently. He himself suffered an assassination attempt in 1881. This makes me question how friendly Anthony Kelly and the family would have been with the Binghams? I know the Kellys were on the side of the IRA later on in the 1910s-1920s. It's all an interesting history. Anyway, I'm interested if you know yourself about this illegitimate child Denis?

Cheers,
Tony

[Bob Queensland]

Hi Tony .. All new ground for my studies ... interesting information. Knew about the assassination attempt. Wonder what happened to this Dennis .. Thanks for the info .. Bob

[Bob Queensland]

Hi again Tony ... I also note Denis Bingham married Ursela Eager in 1908 and had no children to this marriage .....he cared for his nieces (Shaw) and nephew (Shaw) after (Annie Matilda) his sister's death in 1919 until he died in 1938 ... just a bit of extra info .. cheers Bob

[Bob Queensland]

Hi again Tony ... true to form my line originated from Arthur's father William the illegitimate son of Major Denis Bingham of Bingham Castle (It was destroyed by the IRA around 1920).... Cheers from down under Bob

[amac1210]

Hi Bob,

Some things to consider there then! It would seem very likely my Denis Bingham is your Denis' son, but through illegitimate pregnancy. It was suggested to me by the family and some other RootsChat members that it is likely this child was conceived through rape. If so that is very sad for both our families. I can tell you for a fact that Anthony Kelly's children were raped themselves, by "Black and Tans", in the '10s and '20s. However, we'll never know in this case and I wouldn't want to judge people on speculative scandal. I would hope this was an innocent love affair between Denis and Mary Kelly. The positive we know is that it seems there is a connection! I can't find anything on my  younger Denis after that, and it is possible the name was changed to Kelly - but you'd have relations in my own extended family if he left descendants.

There is a family story about a house being burnt down during the Troubles. It is thought that my Great-Great Uncle Anthony Kelly may have participated in that. It sounds like the burning of the Bingham's Castle would have attracted a lot of support in the Catholic community, and especially from Anthony Kelly who had served the family for many years at Doolough. Like I said he was no supporter of the Binghams, quite the opposite!

Hope this is of interest.

My Best,

Tony

[amac1210]

Further to my last message Bob,

Do you have any photographs of Arthur Shane Bingham and his son Denis Bingham? These would be very interesting to see and I can try and find some older photographs of young Denis and other relations.

p.s. your family does seem very interesting. I read up on their origins, they came from the old Shayn Baronets - hence Arthur's middle name. That family can be traced link-by-link to an aristocrat sent to Ireland by Queen Elizabeth I who was the Monarch that really began the whole "Troubles". The conflict between Catholic Ireland and Protestant Britain was much older than the 20th century. But coming back to this noble, who you descend from directly, his own folks can be traced back again link-by-link to the ancient Royalty of England and Scotland and indeed Ireland! Hope that's interesting.