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The surname Cumerfert was first found in Kent, England before making its way to Ireland. The name has become almost nonexistent in England. There are Domesday references to the surname in Kent. 1
Later, just over a century later the name moved to Oxfordshire, and Staffordshire, where there is a village of Comerford. In the year 1210, soon after the invasion of Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, in 1172, the Comerfords were granted land in Kilkenny and Wexford, in Ireland. The family is listed as 'New Settlers' who joined Strongbow and got large grants of land in the County of Wexford.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cumerfert research. Another 80 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1542, 1558, 1562, 1575, 1585, 1586, 1599, 1604, 1625, 1652, 1762 and 1832 are included under the topic Early Cumerfert History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Church officials and medieval scribes often spelled early surnames as they sounded. This practice often resulted in many spelling variations of even a single name. Early versions of the name Cumerfert included: Comerford, Comfort, Comport, Comberford, Cummerford, Cumerford, Commerford, Cumfort, Cumport, Comfurt, Compart, Cumberford and many more.
Notable amongst the family up to this time was Dr. Nicholas Quemerfod, Comberford, Comerford (c.1542-1599) of Waterford, religious scholar and lecturer, who was the first of sixteen Jesuits of the name. Born in Waterford, he took the degree of B.A. at Oxford in 1562, after he had spent at least four years in that university. "After completing his degree by determination he returned to Ireland, was ordained priest, and obtained some ecclesiastical preferment from which he was ejected on account of his...
Another 82 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cumerfert Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Ireland went through one of the most devastating periods in its history with the arrival of the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s. Many also lost their lives from typhus, fever and dysentery. And poverty was the general rule as tenant farmers were often evicted because they could not pay the high rents. Emigration to North America gave hundreds of families a chance at a life where work, freedom, and land ownership were all possible. For those who made the long journey, it meant hope and survival. The Irish emigration to British North America and the United States opened up the gates of industry, commerce, education and the arts. Early immigration and passenger lists have shown many Irish people bearing the name Cumerfert: James Comerford, who settled in America in 1764; Frederic Comerford settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1804; followed by John in 1828; Kehone in 1871.