Marking the anniversaries of James Comerford (1775-1825) from Bunclody, a witness to the events in the 1798 Rising

James Comerford (1775-1825) … believed to be a miniature portrait by John Comerford of my great-great-grandfather (Comerford Family Collection)

Patrick Comerford

I have been writing in recent weeks and months about key anniversaries this year in the history of the Comerford and Comberford families, including the tercentenary of the Comberford plaque, erected by Joseph Comerford in Saint Editha’s Church (1 April 2025); the tercentenary of the formal issuing in Spain of the death certificate of Major-General John Comerford on 18 May 1725; and the possible anniversary of Nicholas Comberford's map that named the Bay or Mexico or Gulf of Mexico in the mid-17th century.

I should also have noted that this year marks the 200th anniversary of the death in 1825 and the 250th anniversary of the birth in 1775 of my great-great-grandfather, James Comerford (1775-1825), of Ballyminane, Newtownbarry (Bunclody), Co Wexford.

When I was growing up, two aunts who lived in my grandmother’s house in Terenure reminded me on many occasions that I would grow up being able to say my grandfather could say his grandfather witnessed the events in 1798 in the Killanne and Bunclody areas of north-west Co Wexford.

They said he had seen the executions on Wexford Bridge, and had subsequently hidden by the banks of the Slaney near Bunclody to save his own life before the Rising came to end. When I was in my early 40s, I was presented with a hollowed walking stick with a blade that was said to be his during that eventful and revolutionary era.

I was told too that his portrait had been painted by the Kilkenny-born miniaturist John Comerford, who had also painted James’s uncle and aunt, James Comerford (1720-1809) and Anne (Langton) Comerford when he was their guest at the Butterslip in Kilkenny. However, many of the stories I was told about James, although part of oral tradition in the family, were without documentary support or evidence that could be verified in primary sources.

James Comerford, my grandfather’s grandfather, was born ca 1775, a son of Edmond Comerford (1722-1788), who in turn was a son of William Comerford of Langton House, The Butterslip, Kilkenny. Edmund may have moved to the Newtownbarry (Bunclody) area in north Co Wexford through connections with his aunt, Margaret O’Neal (ca 1705-1763), and other members of the Comerford family living in the area.

James Comerford, my grandfather’s grandfather, may have been named after Edmond Comerford’s brother, James Comerford of the Butterslip, Kilkenny.

By the 1790s, James Comerford was employed by Thomas Bates of Lermount or Lyrmount House, at Askinvillar, near Killanne, Co Wexford. James knew many of the local people in the Killanne and Kiltealy who were active in the 1798 Rising.

After the 1798 Rising, as James Cummerford, he was called as a witness in the trial of three rebels from the Killanne and Kiltealy area in Newtownbarry (Bunclody) on 5 November 1798. The evidence at the court martial stated that James knew the prisoners and had frequently seen them associating with the rebels, armed with firearms.

James Comerford, whose portrait was painted by the Kilkenny-born miniaturist John Comerford around 1808 [see Comerford Profiles 13: John Comerford (1770-1832), artist],was 50 when died on 6 November 1825. He is buried in the Church of Ireland churchyard at Saint Colman’s Church, Templeshanbo, Co Wexford with his father Edmond, his son Richard and his brother Thomas.

The grave of James Comerford (1775-1825) in Templeshanbo, where he is buried with his father, Edmond Comerford, and his son Richard Comerford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

James Comerford was the father of:

1, Richard Comerford (ca 1796-1848), of Newtownbarry.
2, Robert Comerford (ca 1806-1864), of Wexford and Newtownbarry.
3, Michael Comerford (ca 1808-1868), of Ryland Lower, Newtownbarry, who is buried in Saint Colman’s Church of Ireland churchyard, Templeshanbo.
4, James Comerford (ca 1817-1902), of Wexford and Dublin, my great-grandfather.
5, Catherine, who married Philip Murphy of Mullawn, Kiltealy. In 1868, she erected a gravestone in Templeshanbo for her brother Michael and her uncle Thomas Comerford.
6?, Ellen, who married Michael Rowe in Saint Aidan’s, Enniscorthy on 24 September 1847. They first lived in Enniscorthy and later in Newtownbarry.

The brothers Richard, Robert and later James Comerford, my great-grandfather, worked throughout Co Wexford on the Gothic Revival churches built in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s by the Wexford-born architect Richard Pierce and the English architect, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. These churches included Saint Aidan’s Cathedral, Enniscorthy, Saint Peter’s College, Wexford, and Wexford’s twin churches in Rowe Street and Bride Street.

My great-great grandfather James Comerford was a first cousin and a contemporary of James Comerford (ca 1788/1789-1859) of Clohamon and Newtownbarry (Bunclody), Co Wexford, and Brown Street, Carlow. He was born ca 1788, the first son of John Comerford (1760-1823) of Clonmullen and Newtownbarry.

This James Comerford moved to Carlow, where he was a pawnbroker at 11 Brown Street, Carlow, in 1842. He also owned property close to the Methodist Church in Charlotte Street, Carlow. He died in Carlow on 2 November 1859, and was buried beside his son John J Comerford (1827-1854) at Saint Aidan’s Cathedral, Enniscorthy.

Another son, the Right Revd Michael Comerford (1831-1895), was Coadjutor Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin. An archaeologist and historian of repute, he was a co-founder of the Ossory Archaeological Society and author of the definitive history of the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin.

This James Comerford had another interesting link with the 1798 Rising: his eldest sister Eleanor (1783-1841) married James Whitty (1775-1863) of Tomgarrow, a first cousin of the rebel priest Father John Murphy of Boolavogue (1753-1798).

Kyle Glebe in Oulart Village … James Comerford was killed here on 27 May 1798; his widow Elizabeth and their children were then taken to Castle Annesley and on to Wexford Town (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

These two James Comerfords, first cousins, were namesakes and contemporaries of James Comerford (ca 1763-1798), one of the first people killed during the 1798 Rising in Co Wexford. This James Comerford was one of the four Protestants killed in the attack on Kyle Glebe in Oulart Village, along with Samuel Judd, Thomas Earl and Joseph Aston after the Rector of Kilmuckridge, the Revd Robert Burrowes, was murdered in front of the house prior to the Battle of Oulart Hill on Sunday 27 May 1798.

In his narrative of the 1798 Rising in Co Wexford, Sir Richard Musgrave indicates that James Comerford was a parishioner of Robert Burrowes, although the local historian, Brian Cleary from Oulart, states he was also a Yeoman.

James Comerford’s widow Elizabeth and their five children, who were at Kyle Glebe that morning, survived those horrifying events. They were probably taken with the Burrowes family to Castle Annesley, the home of the Clifford family in Kilmuckridge – Sally Clifford was a niece of Robert Burrowes.

From Castle Annesley in Kilmuckridge, it appears, the Comerford and Burrowes family were taken to Wexford town.

The ruins of Castle Annesley, behind a farmyard between Kilmuckridge and Castle Annesley (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)