tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62435713351204655942012-02-02T14:50:15.477ZA blog devoted to the history of the Comerford, Comberford and Quemerford familiesPatrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.comBlogger781100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-87358652426953455762012-01-28T13:14:00.000Z2012-01-28T13:15:41.445Z

Welcome to the story of the Comerford, Comberford and Quemerford familiesSome words of welcome from Patrick Comerford:Welcome to my blog on the Comerford Family History, looking at the history of the Comerford family in Ireland, especially in Co Kilkenny, Co Wexford and Dublin, and the history of the Quemerford family in Wiltshire and the Comberford family in Staffordshire.The essays on this blog

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Doorways into the Comerford family history: the front door of Quemerford House in Quemerford, Calne, Wiltshire (above); and (below) the doorway at Ballybur Castle, Co Kilkenny (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)Patrick ComerfordProfessor Katie Cannon once offered a course at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, entitled the “Genealogy of Race, Sex, Class Oppression.” Most of us,

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2.1: Welcome to Quemerford: where the Comerford family finds its origins (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2009)By Patrick ComerfordAccording to the 18th century genealogist, Sir William Betham, the Comerford family was of Norman origin, coming to England with William the Conqueror in 1066, and then to Ireland in 1189. In an account which had wide currency in the 18th and 19th century, the

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3:1, Quemerford: this part of Calne in Wiltshire gave its name to the Comerford family in Ireland (Photograph © Patrick Comerford, 2008).Patrick ComerfordThe origins of the Quemerford and Comerford family in Wiltshire and their move to Co Kilkenny are traced in Chapter 2: Quemerford and Comerford family origins. From that narrative, we see that the first member of the family using the name of

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4.1: Ballybur Castle, ancestral home of the Comerford family of Ballybur and Kilkenny City (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)By Patrick ComerfordGERALD COMERFORD (fl 1300-1302?). According to a volume of pedigrees in the possession of Blake Forster, Gerald Comerford was Guardian of the Peace for Kilkenny in 1300, and in 1302 he married Arabella Plunket, daughter of Sir Anthony Plunket.[1]

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-2536100874763213692009-08-09T20:41:00.016+01:002012-01-19T21:00:21.669Z

Richard Comerford’s altar tomb (1624) in the ruined church in Kilree, south of Kells, Co Kilkenny (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)Patrick ComerfordDanganmore, near Casle Morres,[1] is a townland of 376 acres in the parish of Dunnamaggin in the Barony of Kells, Co Kilkenny, and Danganmore Castle was 150 metres south of the churchyard.[2] Joseph Comerford, in the pedigree registered at the

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The monument to Thomas Comerford in the ruined South Aisle in Saint Mary's Church, Callan (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)Patrick ComerfordRICHARD 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

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The crossroads at Castleinch, Co Kilkenny. Today there are no surviving remains of the Comerford castle at Inchiholohan (Photograph © Patrick Comerford, 2009)Patrick ComerfordThe Quemerford or Comerford family was involved in the civic, mercantile, social, political and ecclesiastical life of the City of Waterford from the early decades of the 15th century. The branch of the Comerford family

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8.1: Bunclody in the 21st century: this branch of the Comerford family moved to the Bunclody area in the late 17th and early 18th centuriesPatrick ComerfordIntroductionAt the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, one line of the Comerford family of Ballybur [see Chapter 4: Comerford of Ballybur Castle and Kilkenny City] moved from Kilkenny to the area around Newtownbarry (Bunclody), in north Co

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Willie Sinnott y Comerford, who died in Buenos Aires in 1940: the Comerford name continued in his family in ArgentinaPatrick ComerfordThe Comerford family name continued to be used in Argentina by two families whose direct male line of descent was derived from a Kelly and a Sinnott family in Co Wexford.The sisters Margaret and Bridget Comerford, who moved to Argentina, married into the Kelly and

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Patrick ComerfordA Comerford family with origins in Co Wexford has been intimately involved in the founding and later history of Minooka in Illinois, a town 65 miles outside Chicago. Minooka was originally home to the Potowatomie Indians, who first lived in the surrounding area.[1]Minooka dates back from 1852 when the Chicago, Rock Island and Peoria Railroads came through the area on the

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The castle at Fethard-on-Sea was the official residence of Edmond Comerford as Bishop of Ferns at the beginning of the 16th century. One branch of the Comerford family was living nearby in Fethard-on-Sea in the 19th and the early 20th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)Patrick ComerfordNewbawn is in Adamstown Parish, Co Wexford. The Sweetman family was associated with this parish from

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The Franciscan Friary in Wexford Town and John Street, seen from the gates of Rowe Street Church. Generations of Comerfords were baptised here in the 18th and 19th centuries when they lived in John Street and the neighbourhood (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2007)Patrick ComerfordThe Comerford family has been present in Wexford Town since the end of the 17th or the beginning of the 18th century.

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Ardavon House, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, home to generations of this branch of the Comerford family (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2009)Patrick ComerfordThe Comerford family of Ardavon House, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, founded Rathdrum Mill, beside Rathdrum Bridge, in the mid-19th century. Rathdrum Mill finally closed in 1935. Ardavon House occupied a prominent site at the northern end of the town,

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12.1: Anthony Hope Hawkins, author of The Prisoner of Zenda, was the son of the Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins (1827-1906), of Saint Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, and through him was descended from the Comerford family of Wexford and Cork.Patrick ComerfordAccording to John O’Hart, the Comerfords of Cork are said to be a branch of the Comerford family of Co Wexford.[1] However, Joseph Comerford,

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Waterford Cathedral (Roman Catholic), where Edward Comerford from Dundalk was the organist. He died in Waterford in 1894. (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2007)Patrick ComerfordAnother family of Comerfords is found in counties Longford, Monaghan and Louth, where the name is often a variant of Comiskey. However, some descendants of the Comerfords of Kilkenny and Bunclody [see Chapter 8: Comerford

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The parish records at Saint Mary's Church, Alverstoke, west of Portsmouth Harbour, hold details of many members of this branch of the Commerford familyComerford of Wexford, Hampshire and JerseyPatrick ComerfordOne Comerford or Commerford family with roots in Co Wexford appears in the 19th century in Hampshire and in Jersey in the Channel Islands, and can be traced through local parish records and

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17.1: Comerford House, near Spanish Arch, Galway: donated to Galway City by the Comerford family and fora time the home of the Galway City Museum (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2009)Patrick ComerfordComerford House, beside the Spanish Arch in Galway, was home to the Comerford family for a number of generations before being donated to Galway Corporation. It has been an award-winning city museum

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Pill Creek on the banks of the River Avon in Somerset ... generations of Comerford men living in Pill worked on the River Avon and the Bristol Channel as pilots and marinersPatrick ComerfordA Comerford family from Ireland moved to Somerset in England in the early 19th century. I have long been fascinated by this family. Although I have been unable, to date, to establish which part of Ireland

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-82831392752475133592009-07-26T16:48:00.010+01:002011-06-08T19:00:08.615+01:00

The Harbour, built by the Hamilton family, and the railway aqueduct in Balbriggan ... the Comerford family was involved in running one of the main mills that brought industry and prosperity to this north Dublin harbour town in the late 18th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)Patrick ComerfordThis is essay is a stub. I would welcome comments and further information from anyone who knows

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Patrick ComerfordThe Comerford family of Ireland has been associated with the village of Anglure in France since the early 18th century, when Joseph Comerford of Clonmel, Co Tipperary, bought the village and château of Anglure, and with them acquired the title of Marquis d’Anglure. [1]This Joseph Comerford also fancifully claimed descent from the Comerfords of Danganmore and registered a

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The arms used by the Comerford families of Co Kilkenny and Co Wexford from at least the 17th centuryBy Patrick ComerfordThe earliest representations of Comerford coats-of-arms are found in the churchyard of Saint Mary’s, Callan. The tomb of Gerald Comerford of Castleinch, dated 1604, shows a bugle horn, stringed, between three pierced six-pointed mullets.This may be a minor variation on the arms

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1.1: Saint Edan’s Cathedral, Ferns: Bishop Edmund Comerford, who died in 1509, was the last pre-Reformation Bishop of Ferns (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2009)Patrick ComerfordEdmund Comerford, Bishop of Ferns, who died on Easter Day, 8 April 1509, was the last pre-Reformation Bishop of Ferns. His immediate successors – Nicholas Comyn (later Bishop of Waterford and Lismore), John Purcell and

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2.1: Saint Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny ... William Comerford was dean of the cathedral for 30 years from 1509 until 1539 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)Patrick ComerfordWilliam Comerford (ca. 1486-ca. 1539) was the Dean of Saint Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, for about thirty years from 1509 to 1539, holding office at the time of the Reformation and while the Reformation Parliament met in

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Patrick ComerfordThe Revd Dr Nicholas Comerford or Quemerford (ca 1541/1545-ca 1599) was a prominent Jesuit theologian from Waterford in the aftermath of the Reformation, and was the first of 16 members of the Comerford name who were Jesuits or members of the Society of Jesus in the half century between 1590 and 1640. He lived in Oxford, Waterford, Louvain and in Portugal and Spain, he spent some

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4.1: Gerald Comerford’s tomb, dated 1604 and showing his coat-of-arms, in the north aisle of Saint Mary’s Church, Callan, Co Kilkenny. (Photograph © Patrick Comerford, 2011)Patrick ComerfordThe Hon Gerald or Garret Comerford of Callan and Inchiholohan (Castleinch), Co Kilkenny, is perhaps the most prominent member of the Comerford family at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th

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5.1: A cope used by Bishop Patrick Comerford and now on display in Waterford Heritage MuseumPatrick ComerfordThe Right Revd Dr Patrick Comerford (1586-1652) was the first post-Reformation Roman Catholic Bishop appointed to the Dioceses of Waterford and Lismore (1629-1652).He was a staunch supporter of the policies of the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Rinucinni, during the Confederation of Kilkenny, and

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Nicholas Comberford’s image of the Christmas Islands in 1667 was reproduced on a postage stamp from the Christmas Islands in 1991Patrick ComerfordIntroductionNicholas Comberford is an important mapmaker from the 17th century and should also be regarded as a Kilkenny-born artist. But, while it has been increasingly easy to trace an identify his immediate family and his Irish family roots, it

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7.1: Callan, Co Kilkenny … Conleth Manning lists the Comerfords after the Butlers as the most important family in 17th century Callan, and names Edward Comerford “as the most prominent member of the family in the town”Patrick ComerfordEdward Comerford of Westcourt, Callan, Co Kilkenny, was the estate manager and one of the closest confidantes of both Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond, and his

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Barbados, a collection of photographs from Wikipedia … but it was no Caribbean holiday island for Nicholas Commerford and other slaves transported there in the 17th centuryPatrick ComerfordNicholas Commerford, who was sentenced to death in Kilkenny at the age of 12 in 1665 for burglary, was left awaiting execution in cruel conditions on death row for over two years before his pleas were

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Château d’Anglure ... it gave Joseph Comerford an estate and a titlePatrick ComerfordJoseph Comerford, Marquis d’Anglure, is one of the most enigmatic members of the family. His origins and place in the family tree have been obscured by his own obfuscation: the family tree he registered in Dublin was self-serving and vainglorious exercise, aimed at asserting a nobility that would underpin the

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An 18th century view of Saint Patrick’s Rock, Cashel … Edward Comerford was Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel from 1695 to 1710Patrick ComerfordEdward Comerford was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cashel in the immediate aftermath of the defeat of the Catholic Irish cause in the 1690s and the Treaty of Limerick. He lived under the protection of the Mathew family of Annfield and Thurles, Co

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Rathfarnham Castle: once the home of the Duke of Wharton, who married Maria Theresa ‘Comerford’ (Photograph © Patrick Comerford, 2008)Patrick ComerfordIntroductionThee tale of Philip Wharton, the rakish Duke of Wharton, whose titles included that of “second Earl of Rathfarnham,” and his wife, who at times was named as Maria Theresa Comerford, is fascinating and unusual. The widowed Duchess of

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12.1: The Comerford family is recalled on the 1798 memorial in Ballinakill, Co Laois (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2008)Patrick ComerfordA Comerford from Ballinakill, Co Laois, is said to have been a hero during the 1798 Rising. A monument erected in the Square in the centre of Ballinakill over 100 years ago in 1898 bears the inscription: “This monument is erected by the Ballinkill ’98 Club to

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John Comerford (1770-1832), a self-portrait of the Kilkenny-born artistPatrick ComerfordJohn Comerford was one of the most interesting and prolific miniaturists in Ireland, and miniatures by him may be seen today in the National Gallery, Dublin, in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, at Kenwood House in London, and at occasional exhibitions organised in association with private

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14.1: James Comerford (ca 1720-1808), of The Butterslip, Kilkenny, married Anne Langton in 1754 (from a portrait miniature by John Comerford)Patrick ComerfordJames Comerford (ca 1720-1808), of The Langton House, The Butterslip, Kilkenny, was one of the principals in the partnership of Comerford and Murray, which loaded the first and only boat to navigate the Kilkenny Canal from the tidewater to

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Patrick ComerfordLong before the days of Ned Kelly, when desperate criminals roamed the unconquered Australian bushland, George Comerford, a notorious escaped convict, and his companion, Joseph Dignum, may well have been the first bushrangers in the Australian colony of Victoria, which was still part of New South Wales in the 1830s. Comerford has been described as “disloyal, deceitful and

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16.1: Bishop Michael Comerford (1831-1895)Patrick ComerfordThe Right Revd Michael Comerford (1831-1895) was Coadjutor Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin at the end of the 19th century, and a prominent archaeologist and historian. He remains unchallenged as the historian of the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, but he was also a founding member of both the Ossory Archaeological Society and the Co

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17.1: A Latin and French prayer-book once owned by James Comerford and which he had bound shortly before his death in 1881Patrick ComerfordJames Comerford (1807-1881) was a Victorian book collector, antiquarian and notary living in London whose heraldic bookplates, with the motto So Ho Ho Dea Ne, are much sought-after collectors’ items.James Comerford was born in Holborn in 1807. He may have been

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James Comerford … Victorian stucco artist and architect, he designed The Irish House on the corner of Winetavern Street and Wood Quay, Dublin (Comerford Family Collection)Patrick Comerford… Now let me not omit the Plastering ArtWhich of the Building Trades a Branch and partSo near akin they brothers each may callWho smoothly finish the unpolished wall– Henry Nelson, 1727IntroductionOne of the

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19.1: Stephen Edward Comerford (1867-1921)Patrick ComerfordI never knew either of my grandfathers, nor did I have Comerford first cousins. Family traditions were handed on by a widowed and a maiden aunt, two half-sisters who lived in my grandmother’s house in Terenure in southside Dublin. But I was an adult before I first saw a photograph of my paternal grandfather, Stephen Edward Comerford. He

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20:1, The Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins (1827-1906) … The Prisoner of Zenda was written in his vicaragePatrick ComerfordThe Revd Edwards Comerford Hawkins (1827-1906), was a journalists’ parson and a writer with a strong Irish background, linking him to the Comerford families of Co Wexford and Cork city. His fame as a Victorian writer and journalist has vanished in the century since his death,

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Máire Comerford (1893-1982) journalist and republican activistPatrick ComerfordMáire Comerford (1893-1982) was a prominent Irish republican activist and journalist from Co Wexford who witnessed the principal events in the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War in 1916-1923. She remained a committed supporter of Republican causes until her death in her ninetieth year, and at her death she was

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-12466579685899863732009-06-27T21:34:00.003+01:002011-06-08T21:44:07.319+01:00

Judge James Comerford, chairman of the New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, being interviewed by Jack McCarthy on Fifth Avenue, 17 March 1988. Photograph by Peter Dolan. Archives of Irish America, New York UniversityPatrick ComerfordJudge James J. Comerford of Manhattan was a Criminal Court judge in New York chaired the New York City Saint Patrick’s Day parade for 19 years, and was Grand

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The grave of Princess Kathleeen Comerford Scherbatow, and her husband, Prince Alexis Scherbatow, at the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Monastery in JordanvillePatrick ComerfordPrincess Kathleen Comerford Scherbatow was born Kathleen Comerford McLoughlin on 18 December 1914 in Briarcliff, New York. Her mother was Edwina Whitehouse (nee Comerford). Her father, the artist, Gregory Van Zandt

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-88557044444461024602009-06-25T21:42:00.002+01:002011-06-07T22:17:11.477+01:00

Joe Comerford ... Irish film-maker best-known for his independent moviesPatrick ComerfordThe Irish film-maker Joe Comerford is best known for independent movies such as Down the Corner (1978), Traveller (1981), Reefer and the Model (1988) and High Boot Benny (1993). He is a son of the late Alexander (‘Sandy’) Comerford of Malahide, Co Dublin, and is descended from the Comerford family of Rathdrum

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Patrick ComerfordAndy Comerford (right) played hurling with O’Loughlin Gaels and Kilkenny in the 1990s and 2000s, has won a number of All-Ireland medals at different levels, and was the captain of the winning Kilkenny team in the All-Ireland Hurling Final in 2002. He is an older brother of another Kilkenny hurler, Martin Comerford (see Comerford Profiles 26: Martin Comerford, Kilkenny hurler).

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-66248662162482359972009-06-23T22:30:00.004+01:002011-06-07T22:14:39.137+01:00

Martin Comerford … scored the crucial goal in Kilkenny’s All Ireland hurling victory in 2009Patrick ComerfordMartin Comerford played on the Kilkenny senior hurling team from 2002 to 2010, and played a crucial goal in Kilkenny’s victory in the 2009 All-Ireland hurling final.Martin Comerford was born on 9 November 1978 in Kilkenny. His older brother, Andy Comerford, has also played on the Kilkenny

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First Lady Michelle Obama with Chef Cristeta Comerford in the White HousePatrick ComerfordThe White House chef Cristeta Comerford (née Pasia), who joined the White House staff in Washington DC in 1995, was appointed the White House Executive Chef in 2005, and has continued in that post with the election of President Barak Obama. She is the first woman to hold this post and the first White House

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-45901097046414511812009-06-21T19:19:00.001+01:002011-06-07T22:08:00.234+01:00

Jane Comerford ... Australian singer who sang for Germany in the Eurovision song contest in Greece in 2006Patrick ComerfordJane Comerford, the Australian singer and songwriter who has been a contestant in the Eurovision Song contest was born in Australia on 1 January 1959 in Newcastle in New South Wales. Today she is a singer, songwriter, lecturer and vocal coach working in Germany. Education and

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-2905577900057642102009-06-20T20:28:00.011+01:002010-12-12T22:59:11.858Z

Paddy Comerford ... Cork Person of the Year in 2004Patrick ComerfordThe career of the Cork performer Paddy Comerford (1930-2010) and the characters he has created have provided the material of legendary stories. “Uncle Peter” is a character of palsied crabbiness who is based on a habitué of Dunlea’s pub in Cork.His O’Casey-like pathos is matched with a quirky mystification at the way things have

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The Comerford in Wilkes-Barre proudly boasted in 1938 that it was Pennsylvania’s finest theatrePatrick ComerfordIntroductionMichael E. Comerford was a key player in the movie industry in the United States in the 1920s and the 1930s. He was the President and General Manager of the Comerford Theaters, Inc., one of the first cinema chains in Pennsylvania. His company once owned and operated 78

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Jim Comerford ... Australian trade union activist and labour historian (Photograph: Sydney Morning Herald)Patrick ComerfordThe Australian trade unionist Jim Comerford was a veteran of the great Australian lockout of 1929-1930, and published his memoirs when he was in his 90s.Jim Comerford was born in Scotland in 1913, and he emigrated his family to Australia when he was only nine in 1922. Jim

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Ashlee Comerford ... prize-winning artist born in St John’s, NewfoundlandPatrick ComerfordThe Colorado-based artist Ashlee Comerford was born in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, in 1983. She showed early promise as an artist with her illustrations adorning school yearbooks and earning top honours in school art fairs. However, a passion for figure skating delayed her art career: Ashlee skated

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-30255154428558061492009-06-19T10:00:00.002+01:002010-08-23T22:30:37.325+01:00

Chris Comerford … played a controversial role in GreencorePatrick ComerfordChris Comerford, who was the managing director of the Irish Sugar Company from 1984 at a pivotal time, and played a controversial role in Greencore, the first state company privatisation in Ireland, that continued to overshadow his career into the 21st century.Chris Comerford is originally from Kilmoganny, Co Kilkenny, and

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-52954363144492874852009-06-19T09:30:00.010+01:002011-07-21T13:14:28.843+01:00

Surgeon-Colonel Henry Comerford (1844-1905) ... mentioned in despatches for his role in the defence of Pretoria during the First Boer WarPatrick Comerford Colonel Henry Comerford, MD (1844-1905):Colonel Henry Comerford (1844-1905) of the Royal Army Medical Corps played key roles in both the Zulu War and the first Boer War in South Africa. Henry Comerford was born in Galway on 8 February 1844,

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-4002800003041988572009-06-19T09:15:00.004+01:002011-01-12T16:19:31.395Z

The Helles Memorial in Gallipoli includes the names of Private Albert Comerford and Private John ComerfordPatrick ComerfordThe names of the war dead from the Comerford, Commerford and Cumberford families, and who are recoded on memorials and graves by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, are:Albert Comerford: United Kingdom; Private, Royal Fusiliers, 2nd Bn. Age, 29. Date of death: 5 June 1915

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Patrick ComerfordA number of Comerfords have been active missionaries, working with the Presentation Sisters, the Spiritans, the Columbans, the Jesuits, the Vincentians, Canadian Anglicans, the Southern Baptists and other mission agencies and organisations in a dozen or more countries on five continents, including Angola, Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Kenya, Korea, Mauritius, Mexico,

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-62196830370759453262009-06-19T08:45:00.001+01:002011-03-21T16:03:12.942Z

Dr Joseph Comerford ... irrigation expert murdered in Kisangani in 2000Patrick ComerfordDr Joseph Comerford, a British-born aid worker who has been described as one of the leading UN irrigation experts, was found dead in a hotel room in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday 18 August 2000. His body was found days after he arrived in the eastern town of Kisangani with a Dutch colleague. Dr

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Coolgreany House, near Castlewarren, Co Kilkenny, built in 1653, and said to have been the home of Richard Comerford and his son William Comerford Patrick ComerfordAccording to the late Pierce Comerford (1944-2010), right,Coolgreaney House, near Castlewarren, Co Kilkenny was built in 1653 and has been home to his branch of the Comerford family for eight generations. Coolgreaney House sits in a

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-79359828243348095592009-06-19T08:25:00.005+01:002011-09-21T21:28:36.872+01:00

Marie Comerford ... died of a broken heart on the anniversary of the murder of her son Johnathan BallPatrick ComerfordMarie Comerford was the mother of Johnathan Ball, a three-year-old boy who was murdered by the IRA bomb planted in a litter bin in the town centre of Warrington in 1993. In March 2009, she “died of a broken heart” at the age of 53, 16 years to the day after her child was

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-10634737638041744762009-06-19T08:20:00.001+01:002011-09-21T21:36:14.064+01:00

James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormond (by Michael Dahl) ... he used the pseudonym James Comerford or Comersfort as a Jacobite exile in FrancePatrick ComerfordJames Butler (1665-1745), an Irish statesman and soldier, was the son of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory, and his wife, Emilia von Nassau, Countess of Ossory, and grandson of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond. Through his grandfather, the 1st Duke

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Quemerford Road, Islington, London, in the snowPatrick ComerfordThe stories of Quemerford in Wiltshire and Comberford in Staffordshire and how their names became family names should also take account of the places the have also given their name to, the places that have been named after these families, and placenames that have been confused at times with the Comerford and other spellings and

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Comerford signs on pubs and shops tell their own storiesPatrick ComerfordRecently, while I was travelling between Wexford and Dublin, I took a detour from the new motorway and followed the old road into Gorey in enthusaistic hope. I wanted to take a photograph of George Comerford’s butcher shop, which had stood at the north end of the Main Street for generations. Sadly, the shop now longer stands

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Château d’Anglure ... did the desire to acquire a title inspire Joseph Comerford’s extraordinary pedigree?Patrick ComerfordIn 1724, Joseph Comerford of Clonmel, Dublin and Anglure [see 9: Joseph Comerford (d. 1729), Marquis d’Anglure], registered a pedigree with the Ulster King of Arms, William Hawkins, claiming descent from the Comberfords of Comberford, Staffordshire, and providing a

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Patrick Comerford in Comberford villagePatrick ComerfordIntroductionThe stories of Comberford Hall and the Comberford family have been intertwined for generations and centuries. This is the story of a Staffordshire country house, and the family that took its name from Comberford, which lies on the banks of the River Tame between the small cathedral city of Lichfield and the market town of

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The Comberford plaque in the Comberford Chapel in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth, dated 1725, claims strong ties of kinship between the Comberford family of Comberford and the Comerford family in Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2007)By Patrick ComerfordThe Comerford family in Ireland claimed kinship with the Comberford family of Staffordshire from, perhaps, the early 17th century, if not

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-80230179649386454122009-06-15T21:06:00.011+01:002011-09-28T21:38:14.636+01:00

The effigy in the Comberford Chapel, Tamworth, said to represent William Comberford who died in 1349. (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2007)Patrick ComerfordThe Comberford family which takes its name from Comberford was in possession of the estate in south-east Staffordshire from the late 11th or early 12th century. The first person to use the name Comberford appears at the end of the 11th century

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Lichfield Cathedral, where Henry Comberford was Precentor (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, August 2007)Patrick ComerfordJudge William Comberford MP died on 11 June 1472 [see Comberford 3: The early Comberford family], [1] and no member of his family attained similar importance in south Staffordshire for a century, until the Comberford family began to increase in prosperity and in influence, due in

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5.1: The Moat House in Tamworth became the principal residence of the Comberford family from 1591 onwards (Photograph © Patrick Comerford, February 2011) 5: Recusants, royal guests and civil war Patrick ComerfordThe wealth inherited by the Comerford family through the marriage of Thomas Comberford of Comberford and Dorothy Beaumont of Wednesbury [see Comberford 4, http://

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The Comberford Chapel in Saint Editha’s Church, Tamworth: the plaque beneath the window says the family was “brought low” by the political unrest in 17th century England (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)Patrick ComerfordThe political changes brought about by the English Civil War put an end to the new-found prosperity and confidence of the Comberford family. The career of Colonel William

Patrick Comerfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00558394038241172440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6243571335120465594.post-11146498085111555472009-06-11T10:49:00.015+01:002011-10-05T22:37:25.966+01:00

Bradley Hall, Staffordshire, home of the Quaker Comberfords in the 17th centuryPatrick ComerfordAccording to one tradition among the Comerfords in Ireland, the branch of the Comberford family that became associated with Bradley in Staffordshire also intermarried with the Comerford family of Co Kilkenny, and their descendants in Ireland included the Comerford families of Danganmore, Co Kilkenny,

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8.1: Patrick Comerford at Comberford Hall in October 2008By Patrick Comerford The history of Comberford Hall is intimately entwined the history of the Comberford family until the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century.The 15th-century, half-timbered Comberford Hall, built in 1439 by William Comberford, MP, was still standing in the late 18th century, but Shaw noted in 1798

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9.1: The Moat House ... a Jacobean gem in the heart of Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, February 2011)Patrick ComerfordThe Moat House in Lichfield Street, Tamworth, which was one of the homes of the Comberford family of Comberford, is a handsome Tudor Mansion of dark-red brick with mullioned windows and fine chimneys that has been described by one local historian as ‘Tamworth’s

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Wednesbury Manor ... the remains of the manor house seen in an old postcard in 1892Patrick ComerfordThe heraldic family trees on the ceiling of the Long Gallery in the Moat House, Tamworth [See Comberford 5: Recusants, royal guests and civil war], illustrate the importance William Comberford and his family attached to their descent from the Beaumont family, through which they inherited their

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11.1: The Comberford arms allowed at the Visitation of Staffordshire in 1662 show gules, a talbot passant argent (red, a white walking dog), and can still be seen on the ceiling of the grand gallery in the Moat House, Tamworth (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2007)Patrick ComerfordIn the late 16th century, Sampson Erdeswicke recorded the Comberford arms as gules, a talbot passant argent (11.2,

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12.1: Lichfield Cathedral: at the heart of Lichfield City and Lichfield District (Photograph © Patrick Comerford 2010) Patrick Comerford The Comberford family and the cathedral city of Lichfield have been intimately associated in my mind since I first stayed in Lichfield as I began to research the origins and story of the Comberford family. At the time, I still accepted the long-standing

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Welcome to the Comerford Family History blog. In time, I hope to post useful information for anyone interested in the history of the Comerford, Comberford and Quemerford families in Ireland (particularly Co Kilkenny, Co Wexford, Co Waterford, Co Carlow, the neighbouring areas, and their descendants) and in England (Staffordshire and Wiltshire), along with relevant photographs and web

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