The monument to Thomas Comerford in the ruined South Aisle in Saint Mary's Church, Callan (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)
Patrick Comerford
RICHARD COMERFORD ‘Senior’ (ca 1462-ca 1532). Richard, who was born ca 1462, may have been a brother of both Bishop Edmond Comerford. [See Chapter 4: Comerford of Ballybur Castle and Kilkenny City]. Richard married Ellen Freny (or French), daughter and co-heir of Patrick fitzFulk Freny, and heiress of Ballymaclaphry and of the moiety of the manor of Ballymacuoge, Co Wexford, and they were the parents of:
1, Richard ‘Roe’ Comerford, ancestor of the Comerfords of Ballybur [See Chapter 4: Comerford of Ballybur Castle and Kilkenny City]
2, Edward Comerford of Ballybur, living in 1542 [See Chapter 4: Comerford of Ballybur Castle and Kilkenny City].
3, James Comerford, ancestor of the Comerfords of Ballymack, of whom next.
4, Edmund Comerford of Garryduff, Co Tipperary [See Chapter 4: Comerford of Ballybur Castle and Kilkenny City].
5, Patrick Comerford of Ballymack (living in 1549).[1]
6, Nicholas Comerford of Ballymack (living in 1549).[2]
The third son:
JAMES QUEMERFORD or Comerford of Ballymack, Co Kilkenny (ca 1493 – post 1560). He was Attorney for the Earl of Ormond in counties Kilkenny, Wexford, Carlow and Tipperary, from 1531.[3] He was presented with Richard ‘Roe’ Quemerford of Ballybur [see Chapter 4: Comerford of Ballybur Castle and Kilkenny City] and the rest of the gentry of Co Kilkenny in 1537 for charging of coyne and livery.[4] On 26 June 1543 he was in possession of Ballymartown, and held Ballymack.[5] On 26 March 1549, he was pardoned along with his brothers, Patrick Quemerford and Nicholas Quemerford, and Richard Comerford of Ballybur, described as of Redmore.[6] James was Queen’s Attorney for Waterford in 1558,[7] and Sheriff of Co Kilkenny, 1549, 1555-1559,[8] and was killed in office.[9] Elizabeth I’s letter to Perrot in January 1585 implies he had been attainted for rebellion, but this may be a mistake for his son, Thomas.[10] His children included:
1, Thomas Quemerford (ca 1523 - ca 1583), of whom next.
2, Edmund Quemerforde (ca 1524-post 1568), of ‘Kilchasse’ (Kilcash), Co Tipperary, pardoned in May 1567. He married Ellena or Elis, daughter of Edmund Wall, the last Wall of Kilcash, and he was living at Kilcash in 1567 and 1578,[11] although Kilcash had passed to John Butler, third son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond. They had at least one son and one daughter:
● 1a, Robert Comerford, of Kilcash, living in 1602.[12]
● 2a, Catherine, married Garret Wall of Coolnamuck, Co Waterford.[13] Gerald or Garret Comerford of Castleinch (Inchiolohan) [see Chapter 7] died at their home in 1604.[14] Garret Wall died 2 December 1612, and he and Catherine were buried in the Franciscan Friary, Carrickbeg, Carrick-on-Suir.[15] Their children included:
●● 1b, William Wall, ancestor of:
●●● William Wall, MP for Knocktopher (died 1747).
●●● (The Ven) Garret Wall, Archdeacon of Emly (died 1820).
●●● (The Revd) Daniel Henry Wall, Rector of Clonmel (died 1851).
●●● (The Revd) Charles William Wall, vice-provost of TCD (died 1862).[16]
● 2a, Ellis, married (1) Bennet White, son of John White, first Mayor of Clonmel; and (2) Redmond Morres of Knockagh, ancestor of the Viscounts Mountmorres and Lord Frankford de Montmorency.[17]
3, Henry Quemerford (ca 1525-1590), of whom below.
4, Ellen, married Oliver St Leger, of Tullaghanbroge. He died 5 September 1597 and they were buried in Tullaghnabroge or Grove parish church.[18] Their son:[19]
● 1a, Edmund St Leger (died 1625) of Tullaghanbroge married Elizabeth Sweetman.
The eldest son:
THOMAS QUEMERFORD of Ballymack, Co Kilkenny (ca 1523-ca 1583), elder son of James (ca 1493-post 1560).[20] In 1566, he had a commission with Richard ‘Oge’ Comerford [See Chapter 4: Comerford of Ballybur Castle and Kilkenny City] and others to make war on Piers Grace.[21] However, he was attainted soon after, and he lost Ballymack briefly to Patrick Sherlock of Waterford, who also acquired Mothel Abbey, near Carrick-on-Suir, and the townland of Kilbline.[22] Thomas, who was to become known as a “perpetual rebel and traitor,”[23] was pardoned on 1 March 1569.[24] However, that summer he joined FitzMaurice’s rebellion, which lasted for two years, and Thomas was attainted again in 1571.[25] In 1575, all his lands were granted to John Prescott,[26] but in 1580 they were granted to Francis Lovell, and this was confirmed in 1583 with a crown lease to Francis Lovell of Lysmacteige at a rent of £20 for the life of Thomas’s wife, Margaret, and after her death for £30 per annum. The 21-year lease included the lands of Ballmackane (with four castles), Leslonine, Tullaghmain, Magistoun, Redmore, Kilbreckan, Newehouse, Kilnelyn, Rowestown, Blackeslande, Carnegeill, Goslingston, Shellam Rath, Arlestone, Corbally, Dungarvin, “Busshoppesloughe” (Bishopslough), and Thomaston, all within the burrage of the barony of Burnchurch.[27]
Thomas Comerford married Margaret Cowley,[28] but there is no record of any children.
His brother:
HENRY QUEMERFORD of Ballymack, Co Kilkenny, (ca 1525-1590), younger son of James (ca 1493-post 1560).[29] He was attainted in or before 1566, but was pardoned 1567.[30] In January 1585, Elizabeth I wrote to the Lord Deputy, Sir John Perrot, to grant to Henry Quemerford the rent of Ballymack which fell to the Crown by the attainder of his father and then in lease to Francis Lovell. After Lovell’s lease, the land, ‘being the estate of his ancestors,’ was to be granted to Henry in fee farm.[31] Henry was still living on 30 October 1587, by which time he had recovered full possession of Ballymack.
He died on 14 October 1590,[32] leaving two sons:
1, James Comerford of Ballymack (ca 1555-1601),[33] of whom next.
2, Thomas Comerford,[34] from whom the Comerfords of Callan and Clonmel were descended (see below), of whom later.
The elder son:
JAMES COMERFORD of Ballymack, Co Kilkenny (ca 1555-1601), elder son of Henry Quemerford (ca 1525-ca 1590). He was Sheriff of Co Wexford in 1583.[35] He died before 30 May 1601, when his eldest son Thomas was still a minor.[36] James had one son:
1, (The Revd) Thomas Comerford, of Ballymack (ca 1596/1598-1635), of whom next.
(The Revd) THOMAS COMERFORD, MA, of Ballymack (ca 1596/1598-1635). He was born ca 1596/1598, and was still a minor when his father died in 1601.[37] On 30 May 1601, John King had a grant from the Court of Wards “of the wardship and marriage of Thomas, son and heir of James Quemerford, alias Comerford, of Ballymacka, Co Kilkenny, gent; and custody of his lands during his minority...” The rent from the Ballymack estate totalled £4, of which 70 shillings was to be retained for maintaining the minor. The grant stipulated that King “shall cause the ward to be maintained and educated in the English religion, and in English apparel, in the college of the Most Holy Trinity, Dublin, from his twelfth year until he shall complete his eighteenth year.”[38]
An inquisition at Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, on 5 September 1607 found that Thomas Comerford was still a minor and that his father’s first cousin, Edmund St Leger fitzOliver of Tullaghanbroge, had “a head rent of 3s 4d issuing from a parcel of the town of Ballimaka, now in the King’s hands by reason of the minority of Thomas Comerford of Ballimaka.”[39]
Thomas Comerford was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he became a Scholar on 17 October 1615; he graduated BA in 1620, and received his MA in 1623.[40] While still a student at TCD, he was of age before 11 February 1618/1619 (i.e., he was born before 1597/1598), and had livery of seisin as son and heir “of James Comerford late of Ballymacka, deceased.”[41]
Thomas Comerford was ordained after 1620. He was Chaplain of Trinity Chapel, Callan, in 1623, when he certified a copy made by Thomas Mary or Merry, Sovereign of Callan, on 4 June 1607 of the rentals of the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, Callan, originally drawn up on 5 July 1564. The chantry chapel, dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity and Saint Catherine, was attached to the north side of the chancel of Callan parish church, and had been founded and endowed by the Revd John Tobin, Rector of Callan (1516-1542).[42] It is likely that Thomas Comerford was also Rector of Callan at this time, although Leslie names no rector or vicar for Callan ca 1620, his entry being for 1615, when the Revd John Butler was Rector and the Revd Patrick FitzGerald was the “preaching minister.”[43]
The Rower Church, Co Kilkenny ... the Revd Thomas Comerford was Vicar of The Rower from 1630 until his death in 1635 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)
Thomas Comerford became Vicar of Attanagh (united with Aghter or Attyer) in the Diocese of Ossory, Co Kilkenny, on 7 September 1626, when the Revd Nicholas Meyler became Chancellor of Saint Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny.[44] In 1630, he exchanged parishes with the Revd John Baskerville to become Vicar of The Rower, Diocese of Ossory, Co Kilkenny, where he was presented on 21 June and instituted on 23 June 1630.[45] Hayes notes a quit claim to Thomas Comerford by the Earl of Ormond of the tithes of Redmore, Co Kilkenny, dated 7 September 1633.[46]
The Revd Thomas Comerford died 12 December 1635, seised of Ballymack and four acres, four acres in Graige, eight acres in Lislonyne called Portraight, two acres at Kilbreckane, an annual rent of 30 shillings from one burrage in Earlstowne, called St Leger’s towne, 6 d (pence) and the reversion of the town and lands of Redmore, alias Moneroe, one burgage in Bishopslough, containing four small burrage acres, 40 shillings from one burrage of five acres, and that reversion in Dungarvan, and one toft and one garden in Thomastown, held in capite by king’s service.[47]
While still a minor, Thomas Comerford married on 20 April 1614 Ellen or Ellinor Walsh, youngest daughter of Walter Walsh (died 1619) of The Mountains, Co Kilkenny, and Courthoyle, near Carrigbyrne, Co Wexford, and his wife, Hon Ellinor Butler of New Ross, Co Wexford, daughter of Richard Butler, 1st Viscount Mountgarret.[48] Ellen’s sisters included Onor Walsh, who married Leonard Colclough of The Duffry, Co Wexford, Margaret, who married William Furlong of Horetown, Co Wexford, and Joan, who married Philip Devereux of Courthoyle, Co Wexford.[49]
Thomas Comerford and Ellen Walsh had five sons and a daughter still living when his inquest was held in 1636:[50]
1, James Comerford (1614-1691) of whom next.[51]
2, Leonard Comerford,[52] probably named after his uncle Leonard Colclough of The Duffry, Co Wexford.
3, Richard Comerford, living in 1636.[53]
4, Nicholas Comerford (ca 1620?-post 1670), of Wells, Co Carlow. He was living at the time of his father’s inquest in 1636.[54] On 23 March 1638, he was granted a lease of the lands of Wells and Hamerstown in Co Carlow by George Andrew, Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin, and about the same time leased the Rectory of Cloughdagh from Sir Walter Dungan.[55] He was an active Confederate in counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford throughout 1646 and 1647, when he was “receiver of the enemies’ and neuters’ rents,” paying out money for the upkeep of the Confederate army and its chaplains, and paying for the purchase of military equipment and weapons, including boats.[56] In April 1647, he was ordered to ensure that four cannons promised by the Mayor of Wexford were paid for.[57] At the restoration in 1660 he petitioned Charles II for the restoration of his lands in Co Carlow, including Wells, Hamerstown and Cloughdagh.[58] He was still living in 1663,[59] but his estates had still not been restored by January 1670, when he complained that despite his loyalty he was suffering violence (i.e., the loss of his estates) and living in poverty.[60] His case was referred to the Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Ormond, but his lands were never restored.
5, George Comerford (ca 1622?-post 1690), of whom later.
6, Barbara, living in 1636.[61] On 11 June 1663, her brother Nicholas petitioned the Duke of Ormond, asking that she should have her estate in Co Carlow restored.[62]
Thomas Comerford died on 12 December 1635, and his inquest was held at Thomastown on 11 April 1636.[63] His widow, Ellen, survived him and as Ellinor Comerford was still living in 1654 when the lands of Kilbricken were confiscated from her.[64]
The eldest son of the Revd Thomas Comerford was:
Kilcash Church, beside Kilcash Castle, Co Tippeerary ... James Comerford and generations of his family are buried in the chancel of the church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2013)
(Major) JAMES COMERFORD (1614-1691) of Ballymack, Co Kilkenny, and Kilnoressy, Kilcash, Co Tipperary, eldest son and heir of the Revd Thomas Comerford of Ballymack (ca 1597/1598-1635). He was born in October or November 1614, and was aged 21 years and six weeks when his father died on 12 December 1635.[65] An inquiry into the see lands of Ossory following the death of Bishop Jones found that only one piece of land in Bishopslough was not held by the bishop; this was known as “Comerford’s Land” and was held by James Comerford, but “by what service the aforesaid jurors know not.”[66] In 1641, James held over 580 acres in Co Kilkenny, including Comerford’s Grange, Ballymack and Kilbricken, then valued at £363.4s.0d.[67]
James was a Confederate captain in Colonel Edmund Butler’s regiment in 1644, a captain in the Confederate army in Co Kilkenny in 1646-1647,[68] and a major in 1649 in the regiment of Colonel Richard Butler of Kilcash, who was Governor of Co Wexford and a younger brother of the Duke of Ormond.[69] He was living at Kilcash on 29 April 1650 when Cromwell issued a letter of safe passage to Colonel Richard Butler of Kilcash, with James Comerford, Vincent Dalton and James Lea “his servants” to enable them to meet Lord Ormond and Lord Inchiquin.[70]
His lands were forfeited in 1654, and distributed between Joseph Cuffe, Henry Washer, William Davis, Col William Warden, William Bradley and George Burton.[71] In 1659, James Comerford was also listed as “titulado” in Kilnoressy, Kilcash, with Lady Francis Butler, wife of Col Richard Butler, and Sir Redmond Everard of Fethard, although Carrigan says he was ordered transplanted to Connacht.[72] Despite the confiscations, from his subsequent petition for the restoration of his lands it appears he continued living at his home, perhaps at Kilnoressy rather than Ballymack. After the Restoration, James sought to recover around 200 acres of his former estates in Co Kilkenny in 1664, and continued to live at Kilnoressy.[73]
With Garret Comerford, Thomas Cantwell and Christopher Shee, he was a witness to the will of Richard Shee who died in 1687.[74] James died in 1691, and is buried in the chancel of Kilcash Church.[75] His will went to probate in the Waterford and Lismore Diocesan Courts in 1692.[76] He was the father of:
HENRY COMERFORD (ca 1644-ca 1699) of Ballymack. Born ca 1644, outlawed at Kilkenny as a Jacobite on 20 April 1691.[77] He appears to have been the father of:
1, Edward Comerford (born ca 1675), of whom next.
2, James Comerford (ca 1675-1750). He married ... and is buried close to the south wall of Kilcash Church with his wife and son.[78] Their son:
● 1a, John Comerford, was born ca 1724/1725. He died on 22 August 1750, aged 25, and was buried with his parents in Kilcash.[79]
This Henry Comerford may be the same Henry Comerford who was an ensign in the Jacobite Bagnall’s Regiment of Foot, and who was alive in 1699, living at Faddenbeg, Co Tippeary, although the Madrid genealogy for John Comerford says he was the son of George Comerford and Joan Butler; that Henry married Ellenor or Leonora Grace of Gracefield (see below), and that they were the parents of:
3, Major-General John Comerford (ca 1665-1725) of Waterford and Barcelona (see below).
4, George Comerford.
5, Elizabeth, married Peter Burke (died ca 1764), of Birr, Co Offaly, and they were the ancestors of the Burke family who gave their names to Burke’s Peerage &c (see below).
However, the identification of these Henry Comerfords is not certain, and this descent is continued further below.
EDWARD COMERFORD (born ca 1675), the eldest identified son of Henry Comerford of Ballymack, lived at of K[illno]resy, Co Tipperary, and is buried in the chancel of Kilcash Church, Co Tipperary, with his wife, ... Slat... (she died 17.., aged 42).[80] They were the parents of:
JOHN COMERFORD (?1705-?ca 1770), of Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, married Mary Roche (ca 1716-1762). John and Mary Comerford are buried in Kilcash Church. They had at least three children:[81]
1, Elizabeth, died 1739, buried Kilcash.
2, ... (ca 1746-1763).
3, Catherine (ca 1746-1763).
Later members of the family included:
GEORGE COMERFORD of Killeneresy, Co Tipperary, who conformed to the Church of Ireland in Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford, on Sunday 14 February 1770.[82]
We now return to the other descendants of the Revd Thomas Comerford (see above):
GEORGE COMERFORD (ca 1622?-post 1690), of Callan, Co Kilkenny, was the fifth son of the Revd Thomas Comerford. He was living in 1636 at the time of his father’s inquest.[83] He probably inherited Portraight from his father. A Co Kilkenny Confederate in 1647, he was “reduced to a distressful condition.”[84] A letter from George Comerford at Tenlogh to Theobald Mathew dated 28 November 1676 survives in the Ormond collections.[85]
He was a burgess of Callan when King James II granted a charter to the town, and was among the Irish Jacobites who unsuccessfully appealed to retain their confiscated estates.[86]
We now return to the descendants of Thomas Comerford, second son of Henry Comerford (ca 1525-1590) of Ballymack (see above):
THOMAS COMERFORD (died ca 1627/1629), of Callan, Co Kilkenny, second son of Henry Comerford (ca 1525-1590, see above), of Ballymack, Co Kilkenny. He received a grant of property in Thomastown from Foulk Comerford of Callan on 17 July 1586,[87] and was witness to a number of Ormond deeds between 1584 and 1603.[88] On 18 November 1602 as “Thomas Comerford fitzHenry, gent,” he was pardoned along with Richard Comerford and George Comerford of Ballybur, probably on the recommendation of Lord Ormond.[89]
In 1604, on the petition of Murtagh O’Brien-Arra, Bishop of Killaloe (1570-1613), King James I directed the Lord Deputy to make Thomas Comerford of Callan a grant of the wardship of the bishop’s son, Turlough O’Brien-Arra.[90] James I also instructed Sir Arthur Chichester on 16 February 1610 to grant to Thomas Comerford of Callan the wardship of Turlough O’Brien, son of Murtagh O’Brien-Arra, Bishop of Killaloe, on the petition of the bishop.[91] Thomas Comerford’s ward later married Lady Ellis Butler, eighth and youngest daughter of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond, and aunt of the 1st Duke of Ormond.[92]
In a report on the abuses in the Dioceses of Cashel and Emly and Waterford and Lismore on 4 August 1607, the commissioners reported that Archbishop Miler Magrath of Cashel had forced Canon William Flanagan to grant a 21-year lease of the Prebend of Fynor or Fenner in the Diocese of Cashel to Thomas Comerford, who paid Archbishop Magrath £30 for the lease.[93] For his part in disposing of church lands, Magrath, who had also become Bishop of Killala and Achonry in 1613, rewarded Flanagan by making him Prebendary of Newchapel in the chapter of Cashel Cathedral, Dean of Killala in 1613 and Dean of Achonry in 1615.[94]
On 10 December 1613, Thomas Comerford, Thomas Merry and others received a lease from the Earl of Ormond of the Manor of Callan for 21 years.[95] He was living in 1614,[96] 1619 and 1621.[97] At one stage he was Sovereign of Callan.[98]
Thomas Comerford married Lettice Shee and they were the parents of:
1, Edward Comerford,[99] of whom next.
2? Henry Comerford, of whom later.
Thomas Comerford died in January or February 1627 or in 1629 and was buried in Saint Mary’s Church, Callan, perhaps in the south aisle. Carrigan later reconstructed the inscription of a floor slab he found broken in many pieces in the graveyard. He found only three pieces, one marking a grave at the north side of the church, another at the south side, and a third small fragment bearing the date 1627. It bore a cross, to the right of which were the richly carved initials “TC” and to the left “LC”. He transcribed the inscription as:
Hic jacet egregius ...homas Co.......
quondam superior qui obiit postidie ...arii 1627
et post... uxor eius Le... umentum fieri fecit
It translates:
“Here lies the excellent [man] [T]homas Co[merford] formerly Sovereign [of the town of Callan], who died the day after ... of [January or Febru]ary 1627 and afterwards his wife Le[titia Shee] got this [mon]ument erected.”[100]
However, another monument erected to his memory in the south aisle of Saint Mary’s Church, Callan, bears the inscription:
Fortunate lapis dives qui fu[n]ere Thomae
Ossa sepulchrali condita mole tegis
Callaniae flore[m] caeca complecteris urna:
No[n] tame[n] hic verno flos novat imbre decus
Maioru[m] gen[us] hic claru[m] dedit Anglia nomen
Haud usqua[m] clausae posthuma fama dom[us]
Vive polo cui vita solo est. Nece decidit omnis
Pompa soli. Soli vivere disce Deo, 1629.
It translates:
“O fortunate stone, which, enriched by the death of Thomas, dost cover his bones in sepulchral mound: Thou holdest the flower of Callan in thy gloomy urn; yet this flower does not renew its beauty by vernal shower. England, the cradle of his race, gave him an illustrious name. The fame of a house never yet closed still flourishes. Live for heaven, in the region of this life. At death all pomp of the world fades away. Learn to live for God alone, 1629.”[101]
This renaissance monument on the east gable of Callan Church is about 5 ft above the ground. The letters are in raised Roman capitals, and on either side there is a representation of a rose bush in flower. A slab inscribed Ostium monumenti marks the entrance to the vault beneath.[102] The coat-of-arms is that of the Comberford family of Comberford, Staffordshire, rather than the Comerfords of Co Kilkenny, and impales those of Shee, with three mottoes: Virtus Venusta (above the Comberford crest), Vincit Veritas (a Shee motto, above the Shee crest), and So hov hoo den (below the shield). It may be that an original monument was replaced by Joseph Comerford of Clonmel (below), who also erected to the monument in the Comberford Chapel in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, which is in a similar style.[103]
Although Crotty argues that this may be the original monument, the existence of the earlier monument described by Carrigan, the mistaken date 1629 rather than 1627, the similarity to the Comberford monument in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, and the use of the heraldic arms of the Comberford family of Staffordshire make this unlikely.[104]
Thomas Comerford’s son:
EDWARD ‘Ned’ COMERFORD, of Callan, Co Kilkenny (ca 1600-ca 1660) [see Comerford profiles 7: Edward Comerford (ca 1600-ca 1660), MP for Callan]. Born ca 1600, on 25 February 1621/1622, Edward was of full age (i.e. 21) and was holding Ballyclovan, Foulksrath, and other property in Callan from his father.[105] In 1629, he was party to the lease of Bennetsbridge and the mills as part of the marriage settlement of James Butler, Viscount Thurles, and Lady Elizabeth Preston.[106] James Butler succeeded as 12th Earl of Ormond in 1632, and later became Duke of Ormond, and Edward Comerford was Ormond’s agents through much of his life.
In 1636, after the death of the Revd Thomas Comerford, Edward claimed he was the rightful heir to all the estates of the Ballymack branch of the Comerford family.[107] In 1636, Edward Comerford with others received the lands of Tullow and Rathvilly Manors, Co Carlow, from Thomas Comerford and others in trust for the Earl of Ormond.[108] On 26 September 1639, he was granted the town and lands of Killtoleghan and a parcel of arable wood and pasture in Maylardstowne, the town and land of Ballclovan, Foulksrath, East Bowton, &c.[109] On 13 November 1639, he purchased Westcourt, then called White’s Court, near Callan, from Robert Twye of Birr, Co Offaly, for £600.[110]
Edward Comerford was Sovereign (Mayor) of Callan in 1632, and MP for Callan in 1634-1635 (with Lord Maltravers, son of the Earl of Arundel), and in 1639-1648 (with Sir Thomas Wharton). His initials ‘EC’ were on the Callan Mace, which remained in the possession of Callan Town Commissioners until their abolition in the 1940s.[111]
The Ormond papers include a large series of correspondence between Edward Comerford and Lord Ormond between 1630 and 1652. He was known to Ormond as ‘Ned’ and appears to have acted as Ormond’s agent as he travelled between Ireland and England over a period of 12 years, reporting from Foulksrath, Co Kilkenny (1630), Clonmel, Co Tipperary (1631), leaving Passage, Co Waterford, in 1636 for London, with a brief visit to London.[112] He went back to London, returned to Callan for the end of 1636 and early 1637, but was back in London for most of 1637, except for a brief visit to Callan from the end of July until September or October. He was in Callan again in April 1639, and wrote to Ormond later that year from Kilkenny.[113] He went to Dublin in mid-November and there he continued to work for Ormond until the end of 1640, when he returned to Callan.[114] In July 1641 he was involved in Ormond’s lease of the lands of Nenagh, Templemore and other lands in Co Tipperary to Sir William Usher.[115]
There is no correspondence from Edward Comerford throughout 1642, when the Confederation was meeting in Kilkenny.[116] Edward subscribed to the oath of association of the Confederation of Kilkenny in 1642, but he opposed Cardinal Rinnucini and remained loyal to Charles I and Ormond.[117] Between November 1643 and February 1647, Edward Comerford and Ormond continued to correspond, with Comerford sending his reports from Callan, Gowran, Kilkenny and Kilcash. Throughout this correspondence, Comerford is concerned with collecting rents, raising mortgages on the Ormond estates, and raising money and looking after the safety of Ormond’s mother, while Ormond is friendly and affectionate, and signs himself “your assured loving master.”[118] After that, the letters are less regular, although the correspondence continues intermittently from 1648.[119]
Edward Comerford died in 1649, and Charles II, in a letter to the Lord Justices of Ireland on 28 February 1661 on behalf of Edward’s son and heir, Thomas Comerford, recalled that Edward Comerford was Ormond’s “servant for many years” and that he served Ormond and the royalist cause faithfully until his death in 1649.[120]
His lands in Castletobin, White’s Court and in the Liberties of Callan, were confiscated in 1653; according to the Civil Survey of 1654-1656, his holdings in Callan included: a slated, two-storey house, a second slated house, a thatched house, a house plot, a wasted house plot, and old walls in East Street, then occupied by Major Redmond; a garden and orchard in East Street held by Edmond Comin; a garden and small cabin in East Street, along with a garden or orchard, a garden plot, a thatched cabin with stone walls, and a thatched cabin with mud walls held by John Pressick; a house plot and small cabin in East Street held by Patrick Vance, John Corbill and John Pressick; a thatched cabin with mud walls in East Street held by James Hickey; a thatched house with stone and wattled walls in East Street held by James Hickey; and a garden plot held by Major Redmond; a house in Kenny Street occupied by Darby Doyle; a garden in Kenny Street held by Patrick Vance; and a thatched house held by Pierce Comerford.[121] The new proprietors of his other holdings included Edward Stubbors, the Corporation of Callan and the Duke of Ormond.[122] After the restoration of Charles II, his family sought the restoration of about 100 acres.[123]
Edward married Anstace [?Everard].[124] They had a son:
THOMAS COMERFORD, of Callan, Co Kilkenny, elder son of Edward Comerford, MP, of Callan.[125] He enlisted in the Royalist army in 1649.[126] Carrigan says he was ordered transplanted to Connacht in 1653. In 1660, he was recommended to Ormond for service and for the restoration of his father’s lands by Ormond’s mother, Lady Thurles.[127] He died in 1662, and administration of his goods was granted to his children on 28 October 1666.[128] Thomas married ... and had one son and four daughters:[129]
1, Gerald Comerford.
2, Frances.
3, Mary.
4, Anastasia.
5, Elinor.
Edward Comerford MP for Callan may have been a brother of:
HENRY COMERFORD of Callan, living in 1648, perhaps a brother of Edward Comerford, MP for Callan.[130] He married Ellen or Leonor Kearney.[131] A chalice, which later came into the possession of a Mrs O’Brien of King’s Square, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, and described by Carrigan, was made by them for Callan Priory in 1648. The inscription reads:
Deo & Conventui Divi. Augni. Callaniae
Dns Henricus Comerford & Dna Ellina Kearney uxor ejus
hunc Calicem dederunt 1648
Priore tunc fre. Nichalao Kearney.
It translates:
“Mr Henry Comerford and Mrs Ellen Kearney his wife gave this chalice to God and the Convent of Saint Augustine, Callan, AD 1648, Father Nicholas Kearney then being Prior.”[132]
Nicholas Kearney later went into exile in France, but returned to Ireland and was Prior of Fethard in 1670. He was succeeded in both positions by the Very Revd Edmund Comerford, who was Prior of Callan in 1670, and Prior of Fethard in 1673.[133]
According to the genealogy registered by Joseph Comerford in 1724 and a genealogical certificate signed by the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin and the Bishops of Clogher, Meath, Derry, Kilmore and Kildare in 1744 in favour of Joseph Comerford of Madrid,[134] Henry and Ellen or Leonor Comerford were the parents of:
GEORGE COMERFORD, who married Joan Butler, only child of Richard Butler of Timlough, descended from the Dunboyne branch of the Butler family.[135]
According to the Madrid genealogy, they were the parents of:
HENRY COMERFORD, an ensign in the Jacobite Bagnall’s Regiment of Foot. He was alive in 1699, living at Faddenbeg, Co Tippeary.[136] Although the Madrid genealogy says this Henry was the son of George Comerford and Joan Butler, he may have been the same person as Henry Comerford (ca 1644-ca 1699) of Ballymack, who was outlawed at Kilkenny as a Jacobite on 20 April 1691, and whose descendants are buried in Kilcash (see above). According to the Madrid genealogy, this Henry married Ellenor or Leonora Grace of Gracefield, and they were the parents of:[137]
1, Major-General John Comerford (ca 1665-1725) of Waterford and Barcelona (see below).
2, George Comerford.[138]
3, Elizabeth, married Peter Burke (died ca 1764), of Birr, Co Offaly. Their children included:[139]
● 1a, Dominick Burke (died 1786), married Catherine (died 1801), daughter of Philip Langton; they were parents of:[140]
●● 1b, Joseph Burke of Rockville, Co Tipperary (died 1783). He married Mary Murphy (died 1836), and they were the parents of:[141]
●●● 1c, Margaret, who married Jeremiah Ryan of Kilkenny and Waterford; he was descended from the Comerfords of Danganmore [see Chapter 5: The Comerfords of Danganmore], and they were the parents of:
●●●● 1d, Mary Ryan (1795-1864), of Waterford, married Michael Theobald Langton (1782-1844) of Paris and Bath, landlord of the Comerford house in the Butterslip, Kilkenny [see Chapter 4: Comerford of Ballybur Castle and Kilkenny City].
●● 2b, John Burke of Clongowna, Co Tipperary, father of:[142]
●●● 1c, Catherine Maria (died 1824), who married the Hon Augustine Abraham Hely-Hutchinson (1766-1834), Commissioner of the Customs and brother of the first Earl of Donoughmore.[143]
● 2a, John Burke, an officer in the Spanish army for seven or eight years under his uncle, John Comerford. His grandson, John Burke (1786-1848), and great-grandson, Sir John Bernard Burke (1814-1892), the genealogists, gave their names to Burke’s Peerage, &. Another descendant, Barbara Burke, married the 5th Lord Bellew in 1912.[144]
The elder son:
(Major-General) JOHN COMERFORD (ca 1665-1725), of Finlough in Loghkeen, Co Tipperary, Waterford, and Madrid. He was sworn a freeman of the City of Waterford on 23 August 1686,[145] an ensign in the Jacobite Bagnall’s Regiment of Foot with his brother Henry. He was a colonel in the Regiment de Waterford in the Spanish army in 1718.[146] Later, he was promoted to the rank of Major-General and knighted by the King of Spain.[147] He died in Badajoz on 18 May 1725.[148]
John Comerford married Henrietta O’Neill. She died in Madrid in 1747. She was the widow of Colonel Henry O’Beirne, an Irish colonel in the Spanish army, and daughter of Henry O’Neill of Eden, Co Antrim, and his wife, Sarah O’Neill, of Shane’s Castle.[149] By her first husband, Henrietta Comerford was the mother of Maria Therese O’Beirne (died 1777), Maid of Honour to the Queen of Spain, who married in 1726 the attainted Philip Wharton (1698-1731), 2nd Duke of Wharton, Marquess of Catherlough, Earl of Rathfarnham and Baron Trim.
The Duke of Wharton inherited Rathfarnham Castle, Knocklyon Castle and other estates in south Co Dublin through his mother, Lucy Loftus of Fethard-on-Sea, Co Wexford. Wharton sold those estates to Sir William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, in 1723 for £62,000.
A writer in the Gentleman’s Magazine later referred to the Duchess of Wharton’s step-father, John Comerford, as her father, and in her will she referred to her half-brother, Joseph “my deceased brother Comerford.”[150] Henrietta Comerford’s brother, John O’Neill, was father-in-law of Richard Butler, 7th Viscount Mountgarret, and was grandfather of Lord O’Neill, who was killed at the Battle of Antrim in 1798.
John and Henrietta Comerford had one son and four daughters:
Doña Josefa Eugenia Maria Francisca de Sales de Comerford (Josefina de Comerford) has been the subject of many Spanish historical novels and semi-biographical studies, portraying her as either a fanatic or a defamed heroine
1, Joseph John Comerford (‘Don Joseph’), (1719-post 1777). He was born in 1719 in Barcelona. He was a Knight of the Order of Calatranta, and was living in 1744. He married Maria Magdalena de Sales, Madame de Salles, a widow sometimes described as Marquesa de Sales. He was still living in 1777. [151] They had two sons:
● 1a, (Major) Francisco Comerford ( -1808), of the Regiment of Ireland. He was a sponsor in 1772 at the baptism in Spain of Carlos O’Donnell, father of the first Duke of Tetuan, Spanish Minister of War, and grandfather of the second Duke of Tetuan, Spanish Foreign Minister. He proved the will of his aunt, the Duchess of Wharton, in 1777. [152] He was stationed next to Gibraltar and in Tarifa with his regiment. He was an eyewitness of the Battle of Trafalgar. He married Maria MacCrohon. He died in 1808. They were the parents of:
●● 1b, (Doña) Josefa Eugenia Maria Francisca de Sales (‘Josefina’) de Comerford (1794-1865). She was born in Ceuta in Spanish North Africa in 1794, and was baptised on 26 December 1794 in the Church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios in Ceuta. She was adopted by her uncle Enrique Comerford, moved with him to Dublin and was with him at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. She moved to Rome before returning to Spain, and became involved on the ultra-royalist side in the political wars in Spain. On 21 June 1822, the Spanish Regency gave her the title of Condesa de Sales, which was confirmed by Fernando VII. At the fall of the constitutional regime in 1824, she moved to Barcelona. She was imprisoned in the Ciudadela in Barcelona in November 1827, but her death sentence was commuted and she was exiled to the Convent of Encarnación in Seville. She regained her freedom after the death of Ferdinand VII in 1833. She then lived in Corral del Conde on Calle Santiago in Seville, and is said to have returned to Ireland the 1850s. She died in Seville on 3 April 1865, and was buried in the Cemetery of San Fernando. Her life has been the subject of many popular Spanish romantic novels, so that the historical biographical details of her life are often lost in the fictional retelling of her legend. She is often described as “the woman general,” “la dama azul,” and “the fanatic,” while other writers have defended her as “a defamed heroine.” The historical and fictional accounts of her life include: AgustÃn de Letamendi, Josefina de Comerford o el fanatismo (Madrid, 1849), Betino Pérez Galdós, ‘Episodios Nacionales,’ in El voluntario realista (num 18, Madrid, 1976), Francisco José Orellana, El conde de España (Madrid, 1856), Antonio Pirala, Historia de la guerra civil y de los partidos liberal y carlista (Madrid, 1889-1891), Crisóbal de Castro, La Inglesa y el Trapense (Madrid, 1926), Crisóbal de Castro, La generala carlista (Madrid, 1931), PÃo Baroja, Siluetas Románticas (Madrid, 1938).
● 2a, Enrique Comerfort, Conde de Bryas. He married Juana Francisca de Comerford y Sales. He moved to Dublin in 1809 with his orphaned niece Josefina. He attended the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and died soon after.
2, Elinor, married ... O’Beirne, and she was living with the Duchess of Wharton at her house in Golden Square London when she died in 1777. [153] She had three daughters:
● 1a, ‘Mrs Elinor O’Beirne’, living at the court of Spain in 1777.
● 2a …, a daughter aged under 21 in 1777. [154]
● 3a …, a daughter aged under 21 in 1777. [154]
3, Frances (Doña Francisca) Magdalene. [155]
4, Dorothea, who appears to have been dead by 1777, when her half-sister, the Duchess of Wharton, died. [156]
* * * *
COMERFORD of ANGLURE
Because of the apparent kinship of John Comerford of Madrid and Joseph Comerford of Anglure, another branch of the Comerford family may also be related to the Comerfords of Ballymack and Callan. However, the pedigree registered by Joseph Comerford of Clonmel and Anglure at the Ulster Office on 22 April 1724[157] must be treated with caution and, on occasion, scepticism for the most part, and used only when the details can be verified from other sources. We can presume Joseph Comerford knew the names of his grandparents, but should not use his pedigree to trace this branch of the family back further than:
PETER COMERFORD, who married Honor Everard.[158] They were the parents of:
EDWARD COMERFORD merchant, of Clonmel, Co Tipperary. He is named in the Betham abstracts as a nephew of M... Everard. He married Barbara Browne. Edward died in November or December 1679, and his wife died in 1719.[159] They had four or five sons and two daughters:
1, Joseph Comerford, of Clonmel, Cork, and Anglure, France, of whom next.
2, (Captain) Bonaventure Comerford, a captain in the Regiment de Dillon in France, he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Malplaquet. He died in 1709 without having any children, and is buried in the Church of Saint-Pierre in Douai.[160]
3, (Captain) Luke Comerford, of whom after his brother Joseph.[161]
4, John Comerford.[162]
5, Mary.[163]
6? Michael Comerford, died in Dublin 1724. In his will dated 1723 he named Joseph Comerford of Dublin as his relation and uses the Comberford coat-of-arms.[164] He married Katharin ...[165] and had a son:
● 1a, George Comerford.[166]
7, Catherine, married James Nagle of Garranvilly or Garnavilla, near Cahir, Co Tippeary (died ca 1709-1710).[167] He was Serjeant-at-Arms in the Irish House of Commons, and his brother, Sir Richard Nagle, was Speaker. They had 10 children, including some with Comerford names:
● Joseph Nagle.
● Catherine.
● Bonaventure Nagle.[168]
The eldest son:
JOSEPH COMERFORD, sworn a freeman of the City of Waterford, 10 December 1686,[169] and a captain in the Earl of Tyrone’s regiment of foot, a Waterford regiment in the army of James II.
Joseph Comerford was still living in Ireland in 1692, when he bought the “Ikerrin Crown,” an encased gold cap or crown, which was discovered at the Devil’s Bit, Co Tipperary, and saved it from being melted down.[170]
In his Histoire d’Irlande (1758), Abbé MacGeoghegan, described this gold crown in the shape of a bonnet, and added: “This curious part it of antiquity was sold to Joseph Comerford and must be preserved in the Castle of Anglure, where he had bought the estate.” A contributor to the Dublin Penny Journal in August 1832, claimed that the crown was then preserved in the Chateau d’Anglure. However, Dr Czernicki, whose father bought the Chateau in Anglure in 1832 from Monsieur Tissandier, said: “I never heard anyone speak about the piece of antiquity that you refer to.” The crown weighed about five ounces, and may have been melted down for its intrinsic value during the Reign of Terror.
Soon after, Joseph moved to France, and as Joseph de Comerford of Clonmel, he received letters of naturalisation in France in January 1711.[171] In exile in France, he was made a Chevalier of St Louis, bought the Anglure estate on the banks of the River Aule in Champagne and claimed the title of Marquis d’Anglure [see Chapter 20: Comerford, Marquis d’Anglure].[172]
He may be the Baron d’Enguemore who appears in Reitstrap’s Armorial. However, he returned to Ireland at the beginning of the 18th century, when he was living in Cork,[173] and moved to Dublin in or before April 1724, when he registered a fanciful family pedigree at the Ulster Office of Arms in Dublin Castle.
Joseph Comerford probably erected the plaque in the Comberford Chapel in Tamworth, Staffordshire, in 1725, and the monument to his great-grandfather, Thomas Comerford, in Saint Mary’s Church, Callan.
He married Margaret Browne and died in 1729, when his will was proved in Paris. Another will dated 19 May 1729 went to probate in Dublin that year. He was buried in the chapel at Château d’Anglure under the name of Baron d’Anglure et Dangermore. He designated his brother Luc (Luke) Comerford as his heir.[174] On 28 November 1725, Joseph de Comerford gave the Anglure estate, including “the grounds and seigniories of Mesnil and Granges,” 3 km west of Anglure, to his nephew, Louis Luc de Comerford. In default of male heirs, Joseph Comerford settled his estates in Champagne on the heirs male of his brother, Captain Luke Comerford, and in default of such heirs male on his kinsman, Major-General John Comerford, and his male issue.[175]
Joseph and Margaret Comerford had one daughter:
1, Jane Barbara.[176]
Joseph Comerford’s next brother:
(Major) LUC (LUKE ) COMERFORD (ca 1673-1728), born ca 1673, he settled in France, where he became a major in the Regiment de Lee. He settled in France with his first wife Constance Lucy Gough, who died without having any children.[177] On 2 January 1700, the exiled James II signed a declaration in French that Luke Comerford was a gentleman, born to parents of gentle blood in Ireland.[178] He later became a Chevalier de Saint-Louis, and died at Douai at the age of 55 in 1728. He is buried in the Church of Saint-Pierre. His second wife, Péronne Geneviève de La Porte de Milleray, died before him. They were the parents of:[179]
1, (Captain) Louis-Luc Comerford, of whom next.
2, (Captain) Pierre-Edouard Comerford (ca 1700-1782). He was born ca1700. After his brother’s death, he used the title of Baron Dangermore. He was a captain in the Regiment de Roth (later Walsh), and a Chevalier de Saint-Louis. He married on 28 February 1732, at Montdidier, in Somme, Picardie, Catherine Pasquier. She was born ca 1703, and died on 25 May 1783. He died in 1782 without male heirs. They had an only daughter:[180]
● 1a … who married the Comte d’Armanville.[181]
Pierre-Edouard Comerford also had two illegitimate sons with Marie-Bernardine Devienne:[182]
● 2a, Jean-Pierre-Edouard Comerford, baptised in Saint-Etienne de Lille in 1728.
● 3a, Edouard-Bernard Comerford, baptised at Saint-Etienne de Lille in 1730.
3, (Captain) Germain-Joseph Comerford (ca 1702-post 1783), a Captain in the Regiment de Bulkeley in 1739, and a Chevalier de Saint-Louis. He was living in Montdidier in 1783, then aged 81 and unmarried.[184]
4, (Captain) Alexandre Comerford (ca 1703-1748), of whom after his eldest brother.[183]
5, … Comerford, “religieuse à Paris.”[185]
The eldest son of Major Luke Comerford:
(Captain) LOUIS-LUC COMERFORD, a Captain in the Regiment de Bulkeley and a Chevalier de Saint-Louis. He became Seigneur d’Anglure as heir to his uncle, Joseph Comerford. However, Louis Luc Comerford was soon financially ruined. He sold the Anglure estates, including Belle-Assise, and retired to Sézanne in extreme poverty. On 12 June 1752 an advertisement appeared offering the chateau, lands and title of Anglure for sale by auction in order to divide an inheritance. Anglure appears in the notice as a marquisate, with the title of a barony dating from “time out of memory”, and the title of marquis created 1657. The lordship spreads over nine parishes. Revenue is given as 8,000 to 9,000 Francs, the initial bid was put at 148,500 Francs. Revenue came not only from the lands comprising the domain, but also the fees and rents collected (cens & rentes), and a right to levy a toll on the nearby river. Of course, the purchaser would have needed to receive the king’s permission in order to bear the title of marquis, but, if noble, he could call himself Baron d’Anglure; otherwise, he would just be “seigneur d’Anglure.”[186]
Louis-Luc Comerford had several children, but only two of his daughters survived. He died in poverty in Sézanne, about 50 miles east of Paris, ca 1777. The title of Marquis d’Anglure was never inherited by any other member of the Comerford family.[187]
The third son of Major Luke Comerford:
(Captain) ALEXANDRE COMERFORD (ca 1703-1748), a Captain in the Regiment de Bulkeley and later de Dillon, a Chevalier de Saint-Louis. He was born in Péronne ca 1703-1705 (he was said to be 41 in 1744, but 43 at his death in 1748). He fought in Scotland at the Battle of Falkuer on behalf of the Jacobite Pretender, James III. He married on 16 February 1744 in Douai, Thérèse-Philippine Carton, widow of Pierre-François Fourdin. When he died in Douai in 1748 he was buried in Saint-Albin. He had one child:[188]
1, (Captain) Alexandre-Bonaventure de Comerford (1729-post 1789), of whom next.
Alexandre Comerford also had an illegitimate daughter with Isabelle Fortier:
2, Henriette-Joseph (1730-1796), baptised at Saint-Etienne in Lille in 1730, died in 1796.[189]
The only son:
(Captain) ALEXANDRE-BONAVENTRUE de COMERFORD of Douai and Erfurt(1729-ca 1794). He was born in Lille on 1 September 1729, and was baptised at Saint-Sauveur in Lille in 1729. He called himself Baron Dangermore after the death of his uncle, Pierre-Edouard Comerford in 1782. He was a lieutenant in the Regiment de Bulkeley and later a captain of the Grenadiers in the Regiment de Dillon, and a Chevalier de Saint-Louis. He was present at the Battle of Lawfeld on 2 July 1747, when the French defeated the British under the Duke of Cumberland. In 1789, prior to the French Revolution, he was a Captain in the Regiment de Dillon and took part in the electoral assembly of the nobility in Douai.
He married in Dunkirk (Dunkerque) on 6 June 1752 Marie-Antoinette Lorgnier, daughter of Antoine Lorgnier, a lawyer, and his wife, Dorothée Derycke. Alexandre de Comerford left France for Germany after the French Revolution in 1789, and died in Erfurt ca 1794 at the age of 65; Marie-Antoinette died in 1813 They had two sons:[190]
1, Joseph-Alexandre-Antoine Comerford (1752-1813), of whom next.
2, Alexandre-Dominique-Joseph Comerford (1754-1755). He was born in 1754 and was baptised at Saint-Pierre in Douai. He died at Goeulzin on 26 March 1755.[191]
The second son:
(Captain) JOSEPH-ALEXANDRE-ANTOINE de COMERFORD, Baron de Comerford (1752-1813). He was born 15 August 1752 in Dunkerque, a Sub-Lieutenant in 1777, he was a Captain in the Regiment of Grenadiers in Dillon’s Infantry 1782-1786, commandant of the National Guard, Douai, and a Chevalier de Saint-Louis. He fought in the French army during the American War of Independence. He was married twice: (1) Marie-Thérèse-Gabrielle d’Assenoy; and (2) in Aire-sur-la-Lys, near Calais, on 3 October 1804, in Aire-sur-la-Lys Marie-Joseph-Adélaïde de Lencquesaing (1757-1836), daughter of Charles-Louis-François de Lencquesaing and his wife Marie-Louise-Joseph de Lencquesaing. He died 12 February 1813 at Aire-sur-la-Lys in Pas-de-Calais without children.[192]
* * * *
COMERFORD of CALLAN
Other accounts also record:
LUKE COMERFORD of Callan, Co Kilkenny, who married the Hon Elizabeth Butler (living ca 1640), daughter of Sir Edward Butler (ca 1587-1653), of Galmoy Castle, 1st Viscount Galmoy (title created 1646) and his wife, the Hon Anne Butler, seventh daughter of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret.[193]
Edward Butler of Galmoy was the eldest son of Piers fitzThomas Butler (born 1554), of Duiske Abbey, Graiguenamanagh, Co Kilkenny, a natural son of Thomas ‘Black Tom’ Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, allegedly by Queen Elizabeth I,[194] making Elizabeth Comerford putatively the great-granddaughter of Elizabeth I; the mother of Edward Butler of Galmoy was the Hon Catherine Fleming, eldest daughter and co-heir of the 15th Baron of Slane.
However, Burtchaell, in a pencilled note beside Luke Comerford on the Joseph Comerford pedigree of 1724 declares: “No such man,” and in another note beside Elizabeth Butler offers: “No such marriage.”[195]
A certificate for Edmundo Tovin signed by Christopher Butler, Archbishop of Cashel, in 1726, and the Joseph Comerford pedigree also include the following – but my research is not confidently able to ascertain their place in the family:
(The Most Revd Dr) EDWARD COMERFORD (ca 1644-1710), Archbishop of Cashel (1697-1710).[196] He was ordained priest in Roan in 1669 by Andrew Linch (sic), Bishop of Finabore.[197] The see of Cashel was vacant since the death of John Brenan. Edward Comerford was nominated Archbishop of Cashel on 4 or 14 November 1695 by the exiled James II and was consecrated on 28 June 1697.[198] In 1704, when he was aged 60, he was recorded as living in Thurles, Co Tipperary, as parish priest.[199] By then, he was one of only two Roman Catholic bishops resident in Ireland, and was bed-ridden.[200] From 1705-1710, he was also Administrator of the Dioceses of Emly and Kilfenora, although he was living in France from 1706 to 1708.[201] He died on 21 February 1710 and was succeeded at Cashel, on the nomination of the exiled Stuart court, by the Most Rev Christopher Butler (1673-1757) of Garryricken.[202]
His brother:[203]
JAMES COMERFORD was father of:
1, Joan ‘Juana’ Comerford, who married Denis O’Dwyer, alias Dionisio O Duyer.[204] They were the parents of:
● 1a, Maria, who married Thomas ‘Tovin’ (Tobin), grandfather of:
●●● Edmundo Tovin, living in 1726.[205]
* * * *
COMERFORD of HOLY CROSS and ATHY
Direct descent from the Comerford family of Ballymack or Ballymacken was claimed in January 1786 when the Countess of Crequy had a pedigree drawn up at the College of Heralds in London by Ralph Bigland, Richmond Herald, and Benjamin Pingo, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant. She lived at 21 Walcot Place, Lambeth. This pedigree, liberally illustrated with heraldic representations, was based on the extraordinary family tree registered in Dublin at the beginning of the century by Joseph Comerford, claiming descent from both the Comberford family of Comberford and the Comerfords of Ireland, and a manuscript in the hand of Edward Comerford.[206]
According to this pedigree:
EDWARD COMERFORD of Ballymacken, Esq, married Joane, daughter of Bryan Hinesy and Ellen (Roche).[207] Their son:
EDMUND COMERFORD (? ca 1670-ca 1738) of Ballymacken, Esq. He married Hellen Fogharty. They both died about 1738 and were buried in Holy Cross, Co Tipperary.[208] Their son:
(Dr) EDWARD COMERFORD, MD (1700-1766), of Ballymacken. He was born near Thurles, Co Tipperary, in 1700, and later lived in Athy, Co Kildare, and the City of Dublin. He died in Leeds, Yorkshire, on 5 January 1766, aged 66, and is buried in Trinity Church, Leeds. He married firstly on 20 January 1735 Susanna, daughter of Richard Flood of Rathkeenan, near Holy Cross, Thurles, Co Tipperary. She died in April 1738 and is buried at Holy Cross.[209] They had a son and two daughters:
1, Edmund Comerford (1736-1782), of whom next.[210]
2, Hellen, a twin, died aged three.[211]
3, Mary, Countess de Créquy, of whom after her brother Edmund.[212]
Edward married secondly Elizabeth Worington, who died in 1750.[213] Edward and Elizabeth had a son:
4, Edward Comerford.[214]
The eldest son:
EDMUND COMERFORD (1736-1782), of Leeds, Esq. He was born at Athy, Co Kildare, on 13 February 1736. He was married but had no children. He died in Bristol on 17 November 1782 and was buried in Trinity Church, Leeds, with his father.[215] His sister:
MARY COMERFORD, Countess de Créquy, named in some accounts as as Mary or Marie de Comerford. She married Hugues-Louis de Créquy, known as “the Bearded”, who succeeded his brother as Count or Comte de Crequy Canaples. He lived first in Orville, in Artois, where, as a Deist, he won the admiration of Voltaire for telling the parish priest of Orville in 1768 not to use the public prayers of the church. The Count de Créquy de Canaples later moved to the Château de Caumesnil.
It is said that one day when asked why he remained single, he replied that he was waiting to be asked. Within days, he accepted a proposal from Mary Comerford, a young Irishwoman who is said in some account to have been his servant – although this has been questioned by French genealogists who point to her descent from a “line it seems to be the finest Irish lineage.” It is said that in 1785, she poisoned her husband and then fled to her homeland with all its wealth. [216]
In London in January 1786, as the Countess of Crequy she had a pedigree drawn up at the College of Heralds by Ralph Bigland, Richmond Herald, and Benjamin Pingo, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant. The widowed countess lived at 21 Walcot Place, Lambeth, and died in Ranelagh, London, in 1796.[217]
Footnotes and references:
[1] Fiants Eliz 248, DKPRI 8 (1876), p. 52; Carrigan 3, p. 382.
[2] Fiants Eliz 248, DKPRI 8 (1876), p. 52; Carrigan 3, p. 382.
[3] Ormond 4, pp 144-147, 207, 252-255, 301; Ormond 5, pp 33-34; HMC Ormond NS, HMSO 1895 (HMC 14 Appendix vii), p. 3; Hayes i, p. 654.
[4] Carrigan 3, p. 382.
[5] Ormond 4, pp 252-255, 301.
[6] Fiants Eliz 248, DKPRI 8, 1876, p. 52; Carrigan 3, p. 382, although Carrigan omits Richard’s name.
[7] CSPI, Mary, vol 2, p. 145.
[8] Fiants Eliz 248 (DKPRI 8, 1876), 1876, p. 52; CSPI, Henry VIII to Eliz I, p. 409; Fiants Edward VI, 248 (248); Fiants Eliz 248, DKPRI 8, p. 52; ibid, 504 (537), DKPRI 8, p. 81; Fiants Eliz 34 (106), DKPRI 8, p. 81; Fiants Eliz 34 (106), DKPRI 11, p. 34; Fiants Eliz 56 (6488), DKPRI 11, p. 36; Fiants Eliz 128 (47), DKPRI 11, p. 43; Ormond v5, pp 33-34, 87, 116; Carrigan 3, p. 382; Healy 1, pp 64-65, D. Edwards, The Ormond Lordship of County Kilkenny 1515-1642 (Dublin: Four Courts, 2003), p. 344.
[9] Carrigan 3, pp 382, 393; Edwards, p. 344.
[10] Carew 2 (1575-1588), p. 420.
[11] H. Galwey, The Wall Family in Ireland (Naas, 1970), pp 119, 126, 153, n 7, 194, 197 n 57; Fiants Eliz, No 1043.
[12] Check refs.
[13] Gallwey, Wall Family, pp 119, 126.
[14] Gallwey, Wall Family, p. 126; Carrigan 3, p. 231.
[15] Gallwey, Wall Family, pp 128-129.
[16] Gallwey, Wall Family, pp 119, 173.
[17] Gallwey, Wall Family, p. 130.
[18] Carrigan 3, p. 385; Carrigan Mss 71, f. 156.
[19] Carrigan Mss 71, f. 156.
[20] Carrigan 3, pp 393, 485.
[21] Fiants Eliz 891 (DKPRI 9), p. 130; Carrigan 3, p. 393.
[22] CSPI 1509-1573, p. 317; Carrigan 3, p. 485.
[23] Carrigan 3, pp 382-383.
[24] Fiants Eliz 1288 (DKPRI 11), p. 192.
[25] Prim, ‘Langton memorials,’ p. 82 n 11; see MacCurtain, Tudor and Stuart Ireland, p. 75 ff.
[26] DKPRI 13, p. 27, 3012.
[27] Fiants Eliz 4267 (DKPRI 15, 1883), p. 18.
[28] Fiants Eliz 4267 (DKPRI 15, 1883), p. 18.
[29] CSPI 1586-July 1588, p. 429, where he is described as younger brother of Thomas; ibid, pp 329-330; Carew Mss 2 (1575-1588), p. 420; Carrigan 3, p. 383.
[30] Fiants Eliz 897, DKPRI 11, p. 132; Fiants Eliz 1008, DKPRI 11, p. 151; CSPI (1574-1585), p. 564; CSPI (1586-1588), pp 99, 467-468.
[31] CSPI 1586-July 1588, pp 329-330; Carew Mss 2 (1575-1588), p. 420; Cal Pat & Close Rolls 18-45 Eliz, vol 2, p. 106.
[32] Carrigan 3, p. 383.
[33] Carrigan 3, p. 383.
[34] Fiants Eliz 6706, 6707 (DKPRI 18, pp 102-106); Carrigan 3, pp 304, 383.
[35] Carrigan 3, p. 383.
[36] Fiants Eliz 6544 (6152), DKPRI 17, p. 254, Carrigan 3, p. 383; Ormond 5, pp 139-142.
[37] Fiants Elizabeth 6544 (6152), DKPRI 17, p. 254; Carrigan 3, p. 383.
[38] Carrigan 3, p. 387.
[39] Burtchaell and Sadlier, p. 167; Leslie, Ossory, p. 346.
[40] Carrigan 3, p. 383; Burtchaell and Sadlier (p. 167) give this date one year earlier as 11 February 1617-1618, which would mean Thomas was born before 1596/1597.
[41] Ormond 5, pp 139-142; see note in parentheses, p. 337.
[42] Carrigan 3, p. 342.
[43] Leslie, Ossory, pp 212-213.
[44] Leslie, Ossory, p. 195.
[45] Leslie, Ossory, pp 195, 346; CSPI, Charles I, years 1-8, pp 541, 549; Burtchaell and Sadlier, p. 169.
[46] Hayes 1, p. 655.
[47] PRI Reports 8, p. 443; Carrigan 3, pp 383-384.
[48] Carrigan 3, p. 384; Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland (1912), s.v. Walsh, p. 739; Hilary Murphy, p. 250.
[49] Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland (1912), p. 739.
[50] Carrigan 3, p. 384.
[51] Carrigan 3, p. 384.
[52] Carrigan 3, p. 384.
[53] Carrigan 3, p. 384.
[54] Carrigan 3, p. 384.
[55] CSPI 1660-1662, pp 148-149.
[56] CSPI 1633-1647, pp 616, 619, 636, 661, 664, 687, 691-693, 696, 707-708, 711-712, 714, 722, 724, 725, 727.
[57] CSPI 1633-1647, p. 612.
[58] CSPI 1660-1662, pp 148-149.
[59] HMC, 8th report, p. 518b.
[60] CSPI 1669-1670, p. 60.
[61] Carrigan 3, p. 384.
[62] HMC, 8th Report, p. 518b.
[63] Carrigan 3, pp 383-384.
[64] Carrigan 3, p. 384.
[65] Carrigan Mss, Pos 207, no folio no.
[66] Carrigan 4, p. 394.
[67] Healy 1, pp A31-A33.
[68] CSPI 1633-1647, pp 573, 606, 619, 623, 712, 724; HMC Ormond Ns i (1895), App vii, pp 120, 177.
[69] HMC Ormond Ms i (1895), App vii, pp 211.
[70] Calendar of the Ormond Mss, NS, vol 1 (London, 1902), p. 148.
[71] Healy 1, pp A31-A33.
[72] Seamus Pender, A Census of Ireland in 1659 (Dublin, 1939), pp 295, 310; Carrigan Mss Pos 207, no folio no.
[73] ‘Dispossessed Landowners’, Irish Genealogist (1971), pp 276, 286.
[74] Carrigan Mss 59, fol 112.
[75] Gravestone inscription; John Flood and Phil Flood, Kilcash 1190-1801 (Dublin, 1999), pp 109, 118 # 77.
[76] Waterford and Lismore Probates.
[77] Carrigan 3, p. 384; Carrigan Mss, Pos 207, no folio no; Anal Hib 22, p. 43.
[78] Gravestone inscription; Flood and Flood, pp 109, 115 # 19.
[79] Gravestone inscription; Flood and Flood, p. 115, # 19.
[80] Gravestone inscription; Flood and Flood, p. 118 # 75.
[81] Gravestone inscription; Flood and Flood, p. 118 # 76.
[82] Hibernian Chronicle 22 February 1770, quoted in Anne R. Chamney, “Catholic Converts Records in the some 18th century Irish newspapers”, The Irish Genealogist, vol 11, no 1, 2002, p. 34.
[83] Carrigan 3, p. 384.
[84] CSPI, 1633-1647, p. 713.
[85] HMC vi (1876), p. 758b.
[86] Burtchaell, Kilkenny MPs, p. 31; Carrigan 3, pp 295-296; Anal. Hib. 22, p. 122.
[87] Ormond 6, p. 2.
[88] Ormond 6, pp 3, 7, 60, 186-188.
[89] Fiants Eliz 6706, DKPRI-18, pp 102-106; see Fiants Eliz 6707, DKPRI-18, p. 106; Carrigan 3, p. 383.
[90] CSPI James I, 1603-1606, p. 591.
[91] CSPI James I, 1608-1610, p. 384.
[92] Burke’s Peerage, various eds, s.v. Ormonde.
[93] CSPI James I, 1611-1614, p. 104.
[94] Cotton, Fasti, 1, pp 62, 65.
[95] Hayes 1, p. 655.
[96] Ormond 6, p. 172.
[97] Carrigan 3, p. 304.
[98] Original gravestone, quoted in Carrigan 3, p. 308.
[99] Carrigan 3, p. 304.
[100] Carrigan 3, p. 308.
[101] Shelley (1874), cited in Kennedy (2007), p. 461; Carrigan 3, p. 303; JAPMD 2, pp 147-148. Both Shelley and the JAPMD describe it as “This once elegant, but now sadly damaged monument.”
[102] Carrigan 3, p. 304.
[103] Adams, pp 13-14; see Kennedy (2007), pp 461-462.
[104] Crotty, pp 000.
[105] Carrigan 3, p. 304.
[106] Ormond NS 2 (London, 1903), p. 359.
[107] Carrigan 3, pp 383-384.
[108] Michael Comerford, Collections 3, pp 184, 384.
[109] Carrigan 3, pp 304-305.
[110] Carrigan 3, pp 304-305; Pat 15, Charles I, 13, 52.
[111] Carrigan 3, p. 305, Burtchaell, Kilkenny MPs, p. 30; CSPI 1633-1647, p. 64; Shelley (1874), cited in Kennedy (2007), p. 463.
[112] HMC iv (London, 1874), p. 541.
[113] HMC iv (London, 1874), pp 541-542.
[114] HMC iv (London, 1874), pp 542-543.
[115] Egmont Mss, vol 1 (London, 1905), pp 139-140.
[116] HMC iv (London, 1874), p. 544.
[117] CSPI 1633-1647, p. 592; Carrigan 3, p. 305; Burtchaell, Kilkenny MPs, p. 30; “Dispossessed Landowners of Ireland, 1664,” Irish Genealogist (1971), pp 276, 286.
[118] Ormond NS 1, (London, 1902), pp 74, 94, 107, 112; HMC iv, pp 543-545, 558.
[119] HMC iv, pp 545, 547; HMC vii, p. 826a.
[120] CSPI 1660-1662, p. 237.
[121] Healy, p. A4; Conleth Manning, “The Civil Survey of Inistioge and Callan, Co Kilkenny,” RSAI.Jn 128 (1998), pp 55, 58, 59.
[122] Healy, p. A5.
[123] “Dispossessed Landowners,” pp 276, 286.
[124] CSPI 1660-1662, p. 237.
[125] CSPI 1660-1662, p. 237.
[126] CSPI 1660-1662, p. 237.
[127] Ormond NS, vol 00, p. 11.
[128] Hilary Walsh, “Ossory and Leighlin Administrations Intestate,” Irish Genealogist 1972, p. 478; Carrigan Mss 58, f. 43; Phillimore 1, p. 7.
[129] Walsh, “Ossory and Leighlin Administrations,” p. 478.
[130] See pencilled note by Burtchaell on the Joseph Comerford pedigree, Genealogical Office Dublin Ms 160, f. 103.
[131] Carrigan 3, p. 314; Micheline Walsh, Spanish Knights of Irish Origin, vol 3 (Dublin, 1970), p. 37; GO Ms 160, f. 103.
[132] Carrigan 3, p. 314.
[133] Carrigan 3, pp 316-317; Carrigan Mss 71, ff 199-200.
[134] GO Ms 160, f. 103; Walsh, Spanish Knights 3, pp 36-37.
[135] GO Mss 160, f. 103; Walsh, Spanish Knights 3, p. 37; Burke’s Landed Gentry, vol 1, p. 99.
[136] Anal Hib, 22, p. 108; Burke’s Landed Gentry, vol 1, pp 99-100.
[137] GO Ms 160, ff 103-104; Walsh, Spanish Knights 3, p. 37; Burke’s Landed Gentry 1, pp 99-100.
[138] GO Ms 160, f. 104.
[139] Burke’s Landed Gentry 1, pp 99-100; Burke’s Irish Family Records, p. 173.
[140] Burke’s Landed Gentry 1, pp 99-100; Burke’s Irish Family Records, p. 173.
[141] Burke’s Landed Gentry 1, pp 99-100; Burke’s Irish Family Records, p. 173.
[142] Burke’s Landed Gentry 1, pp 99-100; Burke’s Irish Family Records, p. 173.
[143] Burke’s Landed Gentry 1, pp 99-100; Burke’s Irish Family Records, p. 173; Burke’s Peerage, s.v. Donoughmore.
[144] Burke’s Landed Gentry 1, pp 99-100; Burke’s Peerage, s.v. Bellew.
[145] Waterford, p. 267.
[146] check refs.
[147] Burke’s Landed Gentry 1, p. 99.
[148] Walsh, Spanish Knights 3, pp 35 ff.
[149] Walsh, Spanish Knights 3, pp 36, 38-40; Burke’s Peerage, various eds., s.v. O’Neill.
[150] Burke’s Peerage, s.v. O’Neill and Ely; The Complete Peerage, vol 12, part 2 (eds GH White and RS Lea, London: St Catherine Press, 1959), s.v. Wharton, pp 609-614.
[151] Walsh, Spanish Knights 3, pp 35-36; Complete Peerage, vol 12, part 2, p. 612, note d.
[152] Walsh, Spanish Knights, 2 (Dublin, 1965), pp 80-81; Complete Peerage, vol 12, part 2, p. 612, note d.
[153] Complete Peerage, vol 12, part 2, p. 612, note d.
[154] Complete Peerage, vol 12, part 2, p. 612, note d.
[155] Walsh, Spanish Knights 3, pp 35 ff; Complete Peerage, vol 12, part 2, p. 612, note d.
[156] Walsh, Spanish Knights 3, pp 35 ff; Complete Peerage, vol 12, part 2, p. 612, note d.
[157] GO Ms 160, ff 102-104.
[158] GO Ms 160, f .103.
[159] Betham, check refs; GO Ms 160, f. 104.
[160] GO Ms 160, f. 104; Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[161] Burtchaell’s pencilled notes on Joseph Comerford’s Pedigree, GO Ms 160, f. 104; Basil O’Connell, “The Nagles of Garnavilla,” The Irish Genealogist, vol 3, no 1 (January 1956), p. 20; Hayes 1, p. 654.
[162] Basil O’Connell, p. 20; he is not named in GO Ms 160.
[163] GO Ms 160, f. 104.
[164] Betham, check refs.
[165] Betham, check refs.
[166] Betham, check refs.
[167] GO Ms 160, f. 104; Basil O’Connell, pp 17, 20.
[168] Basil O’Connell, p. 17.
[169] Waterford, p. 269.
[170] The Dublin Penny Journal, vol. 1, no. 9 (25 August 1832); John Cornelius O’Callaghan, History of the Irish Brigades in the Service of France (Glasgow, 1870), p. 275.
[171] Hayes 1, p. 654.
[172] JC O’Callaghan (1870), p. 275.
[173] Basil O’Connell, p. 20.
[174] Burtchaell’s pencilled notes, loc cit, f. 104.
[175] JC O’Callaghan (1870), p. 275.
[176] Burtchaell’s pencilled notes, loc cit, f. 104.
[177] GO Ms 160, f. 104.
[178] Burtchaell’s pencilled notes on Joseph Comerford’s Pedigree, GO Ms 160, f. 104; Basil O’Connell, p. 20; Hayes 1, p. 654; Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[179] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[180] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[181] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[182] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[183] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[184] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[185] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[186] Check refs.
[187] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[188] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[189] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[190] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[191] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[192] Comerford (Aire-sur-la-Lys), http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lencquesaing/index_fichiers/Page1278.htm (30.11.2007).
[193] Burke’s Irish Family Records, pp 197-199.
[194] Lord Dunboyne, Butler Family History (4th ed, Kilkenny, n.d., ?1965), pp 16-17; John O’Callaghan, “Monksgrange,” Journal of the Old Wexford Society 1 (1968), p. 21.
[195] Burtchaell’s pencilled notes, loc cit, f. 103.
[196] GO Ms 169, f. 103.
[197] O’Rourke, pp 579.
[198] Giblin, “Stuart Nomination,” pp 38-39.
[199] O’Rourke, p. 576.
[200] Giblin, “Stuart Nomination,” p. 40.
[201] Hayes 1, p. 653.
[202] Giblin, “Stuart Nomination,” p. 42; Burke’s Peerage, s.v. Ormonde.
[203] Micheline Walsh (ed), Spanish Knights of Irish Origin, vol 1 (Dublin, 1960), pp 70-71.
[204] Micheline Walsh (ed), Spanish Knights of Irish Origin, vol 1 (Dublin, 1960), pp 70-71.
[205] Micheline Walsh (ed), Spanish Knights of Irish Origin, vol 1 (Dublin, 1960), pp 70-71.
[206] This mss pedigree was presented to the British Museum by F. Slade on 25 July 1868. Referred to hereinafter as the Crequy Pedigree.
[207] Crequy Pedigree, f. 16.
[208] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17.
[209] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17.
[210] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17.
[211] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17.
[212] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17.
[213] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17.
[214] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17.
[215] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17.
[216] Crequy Pedigree, ff 16-17; http://famille.de.crequy.com/crequyfrohans.htm (5.9.2010); http://picardie.genfrance.org/lofiversion/index.php/t1266.html, 5.9.2010.
[217] Annual Register, 1796, p. 60.
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Saturday 8 August 2009
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3 comments:
Can you tell me if you know of any Comerfords who lived in a house or place called Kileen - do you know where it is? Also do you know of John and Anne Comerford who had a business in High Street (no 24 I think) in 1724?
Mary Jane
Thanks Mary Jane.
Kileen is a common place name in Ireland ... can you be more specific? As for John and Anne in High Street, have a look at James and Anne who lived at the Butterslip, off High Street, kilkenny, in the 18th century on this page: http://comerfordfamily.blogspot.com/2007/11/4-comerford-of-ballybur-castle-and.html
Does this help?
Patrick
How embarrassing to find that the brother of one of my ancestress was so pretentious as to make up a fictionists pedigree.
I am descended from the Catherine Comerford of Clonmel who married James Nagle of Garnavilla and who was godmother to John Langton born 21/7/1715 son of Nicholas Langton Ald. Kilkenny-Journal of Royal society of Ant. of Ireland
I noted your article on the fictional pedigree of Joseph where at the end of the article you mention and give Burtchael's notes
[In a separate column on fol 103, the pedigree continues with James Comerford’s second son:]
Edw[ar]d de Comerford,[35 Burtchael pencilled a query: ‘MP of Callan?’] 2nd son [married] Ann Hoar of the House of Harperstowne
father of
Peter de Comerford[36 Burtchaell has pencilled a note: N. Ross] [married] Honor Everard of the House of Fethard
father of
Edward de Comerford[37 has added a pencilled note: ‘will 10 Nov 1679, pr 13 Dec 1679, of Clonmel] [married] Barbara Brown[38 has added a pencilled note: ‘will 11 June 1711, pr 1719] of Comins Co Limer[ick]: descended from the House of Montague [father of three sons and a daughter:]
My questions are
1. Would you considered that the pedigree is accurate to Catherines Nagle orse Comerfords great grandparents or just her grandparents
Would you consider that there is a possibility that these Comerfords were related or connected to the Langtons and the Comerfords of Ballybur who were also connected to the Langtons, a big jump and no evidence just speculation and a place to start searching. I have started researching the Comerfords in Kilkenny on the odd occasion when I visit the county, while looking also for Nagle and FitzGerald lines.
I am hopefully finally setting up a Kirwan 'one named study' I have compiled tons of research material but my technical know how has been slow in catching up.
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