I've a couple of theories.
First, and probably wrong, is that the 'Shannon' part is a highly morphed version of some continental city/region. It might be rendered as 'Shannon' by misappropriation or repeated misspelling.
The next two are related in that Irish-Gaelic surnames of Norman-French origin often use the odd prefix 'de.' I say odd because it is used even when incorrect, especially when a name might be more correctly prefixed 'le,' 'de' is used. For example: English 'Power,' French 'Le Poer,' Irish 'de Paor.'
The second theory is that 'DeShannon' belongs to a legitimate Norman family. Many prominent Normans had multiple branches off their family tree, each with individual surnames (six from 'Burke' that I know of). It is possible some minor family named a branch after the river called 'An tSionainn' in Gaelic.
Thirdly, a family may have put on Norman airs and masked a Gaelic name (as the 'Fitzpatricks' did). One of a few could be so disguised: 'Shanahan/Ó Seannacháin,' 'Shinane/Ó Seanáin' or 'Giltenan/Mac Giolla tSeanáin.' All three are have been commonly changed to 'Shannon' in the past
I believe the second and third theories are equal in weight. Either way, the commonality of this 'DeShannon' form seems to be very limited.
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