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Doug, Names tended to consolidate into patroymics around mid 12th C and generally remained stable, although with all sorts of variations in spelling. From what I've noted, changing of surnames was rare, probably occurring mainly with marriage to an heiress where the name change was a requirement of the marriage aggreement. This seems to have occurred from time to time when the landowner wished to retain the family name as holders of the estate. Perhaps it made things easy legally. We have a 19th C example in Ireland with Rolleston-Spunner. Maybe this could explain your example with de Bramhole becoming de Holyngworth. Sometimes it was also the case that the husband took up the coat of arms of the heiress.
Bastardy is a bit more tricky, I can't claim to be an expert on the subject....however you might read that.
I've not seen anything in the plantation records that suggest bastardy may have been an issue for tenancy. I think if it did become so, it would have been imposed by individual puritanical landlords rather than as a widespread policy and I'm not sure that the church was strong enough in Ulster to impose such restrictions. Illegitimacy as an incentive to emigrate? Perhaps so, because normally inheritance went to lawfully begotten sons and it was very rare for bastards to inherit unless there were no other issue. As an example, I am presently working on a Rolleston will from Ireland dated 1691 where the line of inheritance for the land holding is very carefully worded..."to my eldest son Captain Francis Rolleston all my real estate and after his decease to the eldest son of his body lawfully to be begotten...." There's certainly no chance of inheritance by illegitimate issue in this family. Therefore the chance to take up a new tenancy in Ireland free of such restrictions early in the plantation years would have been welcome to more than a few in that state.
Your DNA exercise sounds very interesting, it must have demolished a few misconceptions. We're not so lucky, nothing having been done along those lines. Perhaps in the future.
Ken.
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