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My great great grandfather was Laurence  Ryan(b1799 in Castlecomer-d 1873 in Waterford) and I have been working to find out about my geat great grandmother Margaret Comerford (- died ~1853 in Castlecomer). They lived on Barrack Street in Castlecomer after they were married in Feb 1835. One of Laurence Ryan and Margaret Comerford's children was James J Ryan (born in 1848 in Castlecomer and died in Philadelphia Pa 1929). I have a lot of information about James J Ryan, through many sources, including first hand information from my Aunt and my Dad who both knew him.

 

 While trying to research Comerfords I found though a newspaper article about a will that mentioned James J Ryan and what it said were cosuins of his named Comerford living in Brooklyn, NY. Castlecomer was mentioned in the article also. I then researched starting with the newspaper article and I learned who these Brooklyn cousins were. There were multiple people mentioned in the article and my research revealed that they were children of  James Comerford and Margaret Mulally. I found that many of them were buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn. I wrote to the Brooklyn Archdiocesean Cemeteries and found that their parents were James Comerford and Margaret Mulally. Some of the children I have not been able to track and I am not sure if they came to the US. In particular I would like to know if Edmund Comerford stayed in Ireland and married there and had a family there. Can anyone help me ? Can you give me ideas as to how I might find out the answer.

The above information is in a tree on Ancestry called Comerford. My Ancestry username is Margaret_Gillis. 

 

I would appreciate any help you might be able to me to find Edmund Comerford and any decendents he might have.

Thanks!

Marge Gillis

 

Marge

Sunday 6th Jan 2019, 01:11AM

Message Board Replies

  • Marge:

    Welcome to Ireland Reaching Out!

    I located the record below on the subscription site Roots Ireland. I also searched the free site www.irishgenealogy.ie  for civil marriages up to 1900 for an Edmund/Edmond/Edward Comerford. There were four Edward Comerford marriages but none showed his father to be James.  I aslo looked at death records and found an 1881 record for a 31 year old bachelor Edward Comerford in Castlecomer. The informant was his sister Mary Burke  https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/deaths_retu…;  No idea if this would be the 1851 Edward or not.

    Let me know if you have any questions.

    Roger McDonnell

    Name:Edmund ComerfordDate of Birth:
    Date of Baptism:03-Feb-1851Address:ComerParish/District:CASTLECOMERGender:MaleCountyCo. Kilkenny
    Denomination:Roman Catholic
    Father:James ComerfordMother:Margaret MulallyOccupation:
    Sponsor 1 /
    Informant 1:Thomas Kambridge Sponsor 2 /
    Informant 2:Ellen Ryan 

    Castlemore Roscommon, IrelandXO Volunteer ☘

    Tuesday 8th Jan 2019, 08:27PM

  • Hello Marge.

    My Great great Grandgathr was James Comerford who came to Australia in 1840 James would have been born around 1819 He claimed his parents to be Edmund Comerford and Margaret nee Reardon or Riordan.

    James first son was named Edward or Edmund Comerford second Son James Laurence Comerford I was told he was from Castlecomer. This is all I know  from the ships Record and his death certificate. I wonder if there is a Connecteing here to those you have posted.

    Kind Regards

    Laraine Dillon 

    Australia 

    Email Lmcd44@bigpond.com

     

    \

    Monday 31st Aug 2020, 01:39AM

  • I live across the road from what was once Comerfords butchers shop , They only dealt in Mutton , I went to school with Patrick who sadly passed about 12 years ago , James Ryan I believe became Sir James or was known as that here anyway . Willie.

    Bottler

    Sunday 13th Mar 2022, 07:39AM

  • That is awesome to hear! WHen I found these Comerfords who resided in Brooklyn and when I looked at their census records I learned that they had a grocery store at 317 Columbia and many of them lived over the grocery store. I started out my Comerford research with an 1895  newspaper article as I said above and learned a lot about the family but of course there are still mysteries.  I uploaded the newspaper file that got me started.

    If you read the article, see https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/172052486/patrick-j-comerford. This Patrick Comerford's son Patrick is the person who died in 1895. Here are more of the people who are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery Brooklyn NY. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173258032/margaret-hughes
    Notice that James Ryan is mentioned as well as his sister Ellen Ryan Ashman, her married name is misspelled in the article. I know a lot about James J Ryan and that he was called Sir James. I believe that title came to him as a result of him being named a Papal Knight of St Gregory by the pope. His home was occupied by his niece Margaret Cochrane (Margaret was my aunt, her sister Ellen Cochrane Hughes Gillis was my grandmother). I also uploaded a photo of his home in Philadelphia which I visited many times until my Aunt Margaret died in 1960.
    I uploaded a photo of James J Ryan in Edinburgh (I believe) in 1922, on a trip to Europe with his nieces. They did visit Castlecomer on that trip.

    All of this is in my Gillis Family Tree on Ancestry. The Comerford data is in my Comerford tree also in Ancestry.
    If you can tell me anything more about the Comerford family, I would appreciate it!
    If you prefer to contact me directly, my email is margegillis@yahoo.com

    Marge

    Marge

    Monday 14th Mar 2022, 06:06PM

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