Is Jennings an Irish name

Answer 1

Jennings Family Name History: The Irish surname Jennings is an anglicized form of Mac Sheoinin and literally signifies "son of Seoinin". The Mac Sheoinin are mainly associated with the counties Mayo, Sligo and Galway. Sheoinin means "little Sean/John". The Mac Sheoinins were a subset of the great Burke family, and it would seem that a branch of the Burke family took as their surname Mac Sheoinin as they descended from Sheoinin (Little John) Burke. Notable Jennings were Archbishop John Jennings, alias Burke who was Archbishop of Connacht from 1441-1450, and Charles Jennings (Charles Mac Sheoinin) who is regarded as the greatest Irish soldier of the French Revolutionary period. The Irish surname reached America by 1851 when Benjamin and Patrick Jennings were among a long list of Irish passengers named Jennings who arrived at the Port of New York, escaping the Potato Famine. The Jennings line listed below are my direct ancestors who we believe came up from the Galway area where they were weavers. They bought land in Sligo where they farmed for several generations.