Binsey NY225355 near Bassenthwaite

Binsey NY225355 Binsay Hawse 1742, Binsa 1777, Binsay Fell, Binsell 1777.  

Noted in PNCu but not explained.
 I think this is Gaelic - the fell sits above the village of Ireby - the farm of the Irish. I think it is Benn "mountain, crag, peak, point, summit" in the online Irish dictionary, Scots Gaelic beann with the same meaning, though usually appearing as beinn. 

The second element is Old Irish síd, síth > Ir síoth, G sìth, Mx shee. James says that this element is used in hill names and commonly interpreted as "fairy hill, fairy mound" (James, 2016).  There is a cluster of ruinous Bronze Age dwellings on the summit and this may have prompted the identification of Binsey as a fairy hill.  Peter Drummond discusses this elemement with its meaning of "fairy hill" and gives the examples of Schiehallion and others such as Ben Tee - Beinn an t-Síth near Loch Ness and Ben Hee in North West Scotland for Beinn Shíth.

Mountains with similar names in  Binn- in Ireland, include Binn os Gaoith and Binn Chaorach in County Kerry, 

There are a couple of phonogical problems with this derivation that need to be addressed:


The loss of final /δ/ or /θ/. This happened around the 13th Century in Scots Gaelic according to (Ó Baoill, 1997). 

The lack of /ʃ/ I would put down to the local Anglo-Norse dialect which could not pronounce /ʃ/. But it should be lenited and if pure Gaelic would be *Binnhey , but many Celtic place names taken into English early do not show the Celtic lenition, e.g. Carmarthen for Caerfyrddin, and Armagh for Ard Mhacha, Aberdeen for Obar Dheathain 


So, Binsey - Beann Síth