Help with a surname (Benningham?)

[Fogmoose]

I agree Benigham or Beningham. That does look like an ink blot over the second letter, not a dot over an i.

[M_ONeill]

Hi all! Apologies for the delayed response - thank you all for your input. 

It seems like the general consensus is that it is indeed most likely some form of Benningham. A very unusual name for that time and place, I haven't seen it in local records before.

However, I suppose it's entirely possible that it went extinct locally. Someone else pointed out the Sandfords and the Donnelly's. I descend from the latter, my 4x great grandfather being a Patrick Donnelly of Ballynenagh. The Sandfords seemed to be very close to them, sharing some land in the townland for many, many years. Yet the Sandford name seems to have become extinct by the time my living relatives were born in the area in the 40s and 50s. I suppose the same may have happened to Benningham at an earlier point.

[M_ONeill]

So I've been doing some more local searching and discovered that there is in fact a reasonably-common 'Bennigan' surname in the area.

This sounds/looks a lot more like a name of gaelic origin, but I've not come across it before. Anyone know anthing about it? Possibly a corruption of 'Bannigan' or 'Brannigan'?

[Fogmoose]

You may want to consult https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015011274175&view=1up&seq=500

Much of it will apply for Scots/Irish surnames as well I would think.

[M_ONeill]

Oh thank you for that, Fogmoose! This looks like a very useful resource. 

[shanreagh]

So I've been doing some more local searching and discovered that there is in fact a reasonably-common 'Bennigan' surname in the area.

This sounds/looks a lot more like a name of gaelic origin, but I've not come across it before. Anyone know anthing about it? Possibly a corruption of 'Bannigan' or 'Brannigan'?

As this is one of the name versions that I am searching for I would be intereste to know where it is you have found this name please?  ie where is the 'local' searching. 

Thanks

[M_ONeill]

As this is one of the name versions that I am searching for I would be intereste to know where it is you have found this name please?  ie where is the 'local' searching. 

Thanks

Hi Shanreagh, I've been using the Irish Catholic Parish record searches on FindMyPast. How good the coverage is depends on precisely which parish you're looking at, but often the parish records are pretty good (if sometimes tricky to read!). It requires a paid subscription, but I've found it well worth it.

[shanreagh]

As this is one of the name versions that I am searching for I would be intereste to know where it is you have found this name please?  ie where is the 'local' searching. 

Thanks

Hi Shanreagh, I've been using the Irish Catholic Parish record searches on FindMyPast. How good the coverage is depends on precisely which parish you're looking at, but often the parish records are pretty good (if sometimes tricky to read!). It requires a paid subscription, but I've found it well worth it.

Sorry I meant hat parts of Ireland (ie location)  have you been finding this name Bannigan, Benagin etc  etc.  I think I have seen you researching in the north...perhaps Londonderry? in times past. Is it there that ou found these Bennegin names?     

[M_ONeill]

Ah, sorry, I get you now. Yes, these particular Benningham names come from the parish records of Ardtrea and Desertlin, a parish on the north western shores of Lough Neagh, between Magherafelt and Ballinderry.

Although I will caution that it doesn't seem to be a particularly common name in the area. That's one of the reasons it first jumped out at me!