Duignan

Duignan One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Duignan

Variants: Degnan, Deignan, Dignam, Dignan, Duigenan

Category: 2 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is well under way, but currently in some countries only.

Guild hosted website: duignan.one-name.net

DNA website: www.familytreedna.com/groups/duignan/about

Contact: Mrs Fiona Tipple

About the study

DUIGNAN is my maiden name. This one-name study has grown out of my attempts to trace my own ancestry.
Because Duignan is a relatively uncommon name even in Ireland, I began to record all references to the name that I found, and so a one-name study was born.

Variant names

Degnan, Deignan, Dignam, Dignan, and Duigenan

There are many other spellings (e.g. Diegnan, Dygnan) that are deviants rather than variants. Some of these rarely occur in Ireland (e.g. Dagnan), but are relatively common in areas to which bearers of the original surname emigrated in the the nineteenth century. In 19th century English records it has occasionally been transformed into Dickman and Dignall.

Name origin

Duignan and its variants are all anglicized forms of the native Irish surname Ua (modern Irish Ó) Duibhgeannáin. This name is usually rendered Ó Duígeannáin (occasionally Ó Duígneáin) in modern Irish spelling. The assertion on the website Surnamedb.com that Duignan derives from the Gaelic name Ó Duibhginn whilst Duignam derives from Ó Duibhgeannáin is incorrect.
Ó Duibhgeannáin is a papponymic, that is to say a patronymic form derived from the personal name of a grandfather rather than a father. None of the anglicized forms of the name retains the prefix 'O' in modern times. It is not yet clear when these forms became current. As late as the 16th century, in the Tudor Fiants, the name appears variously as O Dowgenan, O Dowgynan, O Dougenane and O Duygenain, clearly attempts by non-Irish speakers to write it in English orthography. In this context a pardon granted in 1592 to 'Patk. Duignam of Achchurren, gent.' is interesting as it may be the first recorded occurrence of one of the modern anglicized forms of the name, with the prefix 'O' omitted.

The earliest recorded reference to the surname is the death, in 1296, of Mael-Pedair Ua Duibhgeannáin, archdeacon of Breifne (Annals of Ulster, Annals of the Four Masters)

Historical occurrences of the name

The best known Uí Duibhgeannáin were members of a north Connacht family of chroniclers and scribes. They were hereditary historians to the Mac Donaghs, the Mac Dermotts and the O Farrells, and had bardic schools at Kilronan in Co. Roscommon and at Castlefore in Co. Leitrim. This family identified their eponymous ancestor as Dubcenn, a son of that Tadgan who may have been a ruler of Teathbha (approximately the bordering areas of modern counties Longford and Westmeath) in the mid-10th century. Dubcenn was buried at Clonmacnoise. A description of his grave slab, unfortunately now lost, was published by George Petrie (The ecclesiastical architecture of Ireland, 2nd edition, 1845; pp 329-331).

There are many references to members of the family in the medieval Irish annals, including an entry relating to my namesake Lasairíona, 'daughter of Fearghal Ó Duibhgeannáin', who died in 1381.

Maghnus Ó Duibhgeannáin (fl. 1400), principal scribe of the Book of Ballymote
The unfortunate Maghnus Buidhe Ó Duibhgeannáin, strangled by his wife (!) in 1534
Cú Choigríche Ó Duibhgeannáin (fl. 1630s), known in English as Peregrine O Duigenan. He was one of the compilers of the Annals of the Four Masters
Patrick Duigenan (1735-1816), barrister and politician. He was MP (1790-1801) for Old Leighlin in the Irish House of Commons, and for Armagh (1801-1816) in Westminster, after the Act of Union. He was violently opposed to Catholic Emancipation.
W. H. Duignan (1824-1914), Staffordshire lawyer, antiquarian and local politician. He was a supporter of Irish Home Rule.
Mary Anne Duignan (1871-1929), better known as 'Chicago May'. After absconding from home in Co. Longford with the family savings in 1890, she emigrated to the USA, and pursued a lurid career as a thief and prostitute.
Basil (1905-1979) and Mark (1909-1989) Dignam, English actors (and brothers)
Philip Deignan (1983-), professional cyclist and Irish Olympian

Name frequency

The 1901 Census of Ireland records a population of 4.45 million people on the whole island. In this census there are only 1005 individuals named Duignan, compared to 56,720 individuals named Murphy, admittedly the most common surname in Ireland. This shows how rare the surname is, even in its homeland.

Distribution of the name

Of the 1005 individuals named Duignan recorded in the 1901 Census of Ireland almost 70% are living in three counties, viz. Roscommon (338), Leitrim (253), and Meath (113). The name does not occur at all in thirteen of the thirty-two counties.

Today, according to the site Public Profiler (World names), the highest occurrence of the surname is in Ireland, followed - a long way behind - by New Zealand and then the United Kingdom.

Data

This study is still at a relatively early stage.

I have collected all the data from the 1901 and 1911 (all-Ireland) censuses, from Griffith's Primary valuation of tenements (1847-1864), and from the surviving fragments of the 19th century Irish censuses. I have also collected the raw data from the Irish Tithe Applotment Books (ca. 1823-1838), and many of the smaller census substitutes. I have collected BMD data from the Dublin and London General Record Office indexes up to at least 1958. Much of this information has been used to reconstruct families, mainly in Ireland, but also in England, Scotland, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

My next step is planned to be the more consistent collection of census and vital record data from outside Ireland. Up to now I have been acquiring this in a rather haphazard fashion, usually when tracing Irish emigrant families.

DNA

Links

Irish Script on Screen

Contact Details

Mrs Fiona Tipple

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Duignan in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages (public) 11
Global Marriages (members)* 13

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