Henry Comerford was a merchant in Galway, a ship owner, a wealthy landowner & magistrate. He and his wife Margaret had at least 12 children but presumably only two had survived by 1861.
Will of Henry Comerford. 1862. Principal registry, Court of Probate
In the name of God amen This is the last Will and Testament of me Henry Comerford of Galway Esquire I give devise and bequeath to my daughter Mary Blake Forster the lands of Ballykeale also the lands of Lettermullen also the lands of Bishops Quarter also the lands of Dooras/purchased from Baron De Basterot with their several denominations for her life with remainder to her two eldest sons in equal shares and to their heirs with remainder to any other sons of the said Mary Blake Forster with remainder to the daughters of the said Mary Blake Forster as tenants in common I give devise and bequeath to my daughter Henrietta Daly the Town and lands of Kinvara and all the Estates purchased by me formerly belonging to Mr Gregory also the lands of Dangan also the lands of Derreen also the lands of Cahermahoon also the lands of Cahernagoul and also the lands of Douras as held by Mr Clancy with their several denominations for her life with remainder to her two eldest sons in equal shares and to their heirs with remainder to any other sons of the said Henrietta Daly with remainder to the daughters of the said Henrietta Daly as tenants in common I give devise and bequeath unto my brother Isaac Comerford the lands houses and premises in the County of the Town of Galway I give and devise to my brother Isaac Comerford and to his heirs all the lands and premises heretofore mentioned except the Lands and Premises in the County of the Town of Galway for a term of three hundred years in trust to raise and pay off any mortgages and other charges affecting the said lands in the proportion of one third of said charges to be payable out of the Lands heretofore devised to my daughter Mary Blake Forster and two thirds of the said charges to be payable out of the Lands heretofore devised to my daughter Henrietta Daly I give devise and bequeath out of my personal property the sum of one Hundred pounds sterling to each of my nieces Eliza and Bridget Flanagan on their marriage and provided said marriage be with the consent of my brother Isaac Comerford I give and bequeath all my personal property of every description to my two daughters Mary Blake Forster and Henrietta Daly share and share alike subject to the payment of my debts and Legacies and also to the payment of my said mortgages I wish and direct that the sons of my said daughters should adopt the name of Comerford I hereby appoint my brother Isaac Comerford my sole executor of this my Will with power to him to appoint an Executor to succeed him by his Will and if he should fail to do so with power to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Galway for the time being to appoint an Executor In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this Third day of September one thousand eight hundred and sixty one
Signed by the above named Testator His Henry x Comerford Mark
In the presence of us present at the same time who have hereunto signed our names as Witnesses thereto in the presence of the said Testator and in the presence of each other The words with remainder to the daughters of the said Henrietta Daly being interlined between the 17th and 18th lines of the first page hereof and the words Except the lands and premises in the county of the Town of Galway between the 22nd and 23rd lines of said first page and an erasure in the 30th line of said first page
Grok 4.5
See new posts
Henry Comerford was a merchant in Galway, a ship owner, a wealthy landowner & magistrate. He and his wife Margaret had at least 12 children but presumably only two had survived by 1861.
Will of Henry Comerford. 1862. Principal registry, Court of Probate:
In the name of God amen, This is the last Will and Testament of me Henry Comerford of Galway Esquire I give devise and bequeath to my daughter Mary Blake Forster the lands of Ballykeale also the lands of Lettermullen also the lands of Bishops Quarter also the lands of Dooras/purchased from Baron De Basterot with their several denominations for her life with remainder to her two eldest sons in equal shares and to their heirs with remainder to any other sons of the said Mary Blake Forster with remainder to the daughters of the said Mary Blake Forster as tenants in common I give devise and bequeath to my daughter Henrietta Daly the Town and lands of Kinvara and all the Estates purchased by me formerly belonging to Mr Gregory also the lands of Dangan also the lands of Derreen also the lands of Cahermahoon also the lands of Cahernagoul and also the lands of Douras as held by Mr Clancy with their several denominations for her life with remainder to her two eldest sons in equal shares and to their heirs with remainder to any other sons of the said Henrietta Daly with remainder to the daughters of the said Henrietta Daly as tenants in common
I give devise and bequeath unto my brother Isaac Comerford the lands houses and premises in the County of the Town of Galway I give and devise to my brother Isaac Comerford and to his heirs all the lands and premises heretofore mentioned except the Lands and Premises in the County of the Town of Galway for a term of three hundred years in trust to raise and pay off any mortgages and other charges affecting the said lands in the proportion of one third of said charges to be payable out of the Lands heretofore devised to my daughter Mary Blake Forster and two thirds of the said charges to be payable out of the Lands heretofore devised to my daughter Henrietta Daly
I give devise and bequeath out of my personal property the sum of one Hundred pounds sterling to each of my nieces Eliza and Bridget Flanagan on their marriage and provided said marriage be with the consent of my brother Isaac Comerford
I give and bequeath all my personal property of every description to my two daughters Mary Blake Forster and Henrietta Daly share and share alike subject to the payment of my debts and Legacies and also to the payment of my said mortgages I wish and direct that the sons of my said daughters should adopt the name of Comerford
I hereby appoint my brother Isaac Comerford my sole executor of this my Will with power to him to appoint an Executor to succeed him by his Will and if he should fail to do so with power to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Galway for the time being to appoint an Executor
In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this Third day of September one thousand eight hundred and sixty one
Signed by the above named Testator His Henry x Comerford Mark. In the presence of us present at the same time who have hereunto signed our names as Witnesses thereto in the presence of the said Testator and in the presence of each other. The words with remainder to the daughters of the said Henrietta Daly being interlined between the 17th and 18th lines of the first page hereof and the words Except the lands and premises in the county of the Town of Galway between the 22nd and 23rd lines of said first page and an erasure in the 30th line of said first page
Will of Henry Comerford which suggests he made a lot of money in his lifetime but I have no details as such except the coffin ship St John that sank, can you elaborate
Thought for 1m 3s
Henry Comerford (c. 1795/1796–6 September 1861) was a prosperous Galway merchant, shipowner, magistrate (JP), and major landowner whose wealth derived primarily from trade (including corn and timber), shipping (notably emigrant voyages), and opportunistic post-Famine land purchases via the Encumbered Estates Court. He lived at Merchant’s Road in Galway and Ballykeale (or Ballykeel) House near Kilfenora, Co. Clare. He and his wife Margaret (née McDonagh; she died in 1851) had at least 12 children, but only two daughters survived to inherit under his 1861 will: Mary (who married Captain Francis Blake Forster in 1846) and Henrietta (who married into the Daly family).
patrickcomerford.com He was admitted a Freeman of Galway in 1832 (described then as a merchant of Merchant’s Road), served on the Galway Grand Jury, was a prominent magistrate, and subscribed to the Galway Famine Relief Fund. In July 1849, at the height of the Famine, he offered land attached to Ballykeale Workhouse rent-free to the Ennistymon Poor Law Union.
patrickcomerford.com Mercantile and shipping business.
Comerford and his brother Isaac were established as prosperous merchants in Galway by the 1830s–1840s. Contemporary references identify him as a corn merchant during the Famine years. He also operated as a timber merchant, with a timber yard recorded in Galway around 1855; in 1858 he chartered the vessel Phoenix to sail to Quebec, load a cargo of timber, and deliver it to Galway (this led to a legal dispute over freight involving mortgages on the ship).
ie.vlex.com As a shipowner he participated in Galway’s port trade, which included commodities and the lucrative (if often tragic) emigrant passenger traffic during and after the Great Famine. The best-documented vessel is the brig St. John (about 200 tons), which he owned. It sailed from Galway on 7 September 1849 bound for Boston under Captain Martin Oliver (of Bohermore, Galway), with first mate Henry Comerford (believed to be the owner’s nephew) and a crew of about nine, plus roughly 100 passengers—mostly famine emigrants from Ennistymon, Lahinch, Kilfenora (Co. Clare), Galway city, and Connemara.
clarelibraries.ie After a relatively good crossing, the ship approached the Massachusetts coast in early October. On 7 October 1849 a fierce north-easterly gale and storm drove it onto Grampus Ledge (near Minot’s Ledge/Cohasset). Both anchors dragged; the masts were cut away as a last resort, but the vessel was smashed on the rocks, broke up rapidly, and sank. Nearly 100 people died (accounts vary slightly around 90–99 or more lost out of the total complement); about 45–46 bodies were recovered. Survivors included the captain (pulled aboard by the first mate after the jolly-boat was swamped), the first mate Henry Comerford, several crew, and a small number of passengers who reached shore exhausted. The disaster was one of the notable “coffin ship” tragedies of the Famine exodus; Henry David Thoreau later described the aftermath (bodies, funerals, and the scene on the beach) in writing that appeared in Putnam’s Magazine and Cape Cod. A Celtic cross memorial was later erected (1914) in Cohasset Central Cemetery. Captain Oliver and young Henry Comerford returned to Galway.
clarelibraries.ie No detailed records of other vessels owned by him are as prominent, but his shipping activities formed part of the broader Galway mercantile trade that underpinned his capital.
Land acquisitions and wealth
His mercantile success enabled large-scale land speculation amid the economic upheaval of the Famine and the Encumbered Estates Court (which facilitated sales of debt-burdened properties). In 1845 he offered £40,000 for the O’Neill estate at Bunowen (barony of Ballynahinch, Co. Galway); the offer was refused. In the 1850s he paid over £35,000 for roughly 4,440 acres in Co. Galway. This included substantial holdings from Sir William Gregory at Kinvara (around £23,000 for a large portion), the de Basterot estate at Doorus/Duras, and parts of estates belonging to J. Lambert and J. Browne. In 1857 he specifically acquired the Kinvara properties (Tolls and Customs of Kinvara, Delamaine Lodge, Town Parks, Fair Green, gatehouse, animal pound, etc.—about 331–333 acres) through the Encumbered Estates Court.
landedestates.ie He also held or acquired lands in the parishes of Kilcummin and Killannin (barony of Moycullen), Dawros (Kilmoylan, barony of Clare), and in Co. Clare (Drumcreehy and Kilfenora, including Ballykeale House, which came into his possession around 1839, linked to his marriage). At Griffith’s Valuation (mid-1850s) Count de Basterot leased Doorus House/demesne from him, and he leased a mill (and associated property) at Rineen to Daniel O’Dea. He raised a Dublin bank loan secured against expected higher rents.
patrickcomerford.com After taking possession he substantially increased rents (doubled or trebled in places). Contemporary and later local accounts (including by Monsignor Jerome Fahy and parish priest Fr. Francis Arthur) describe this as leading to widespread hardship, loss of tenant security, and the ruin of over a thousand homesteads in the Kinvara parish within about 20 years; the area was characterised as one of the most wretched. His brother Isaac (a draper/shopkeeper in Kinvara and also a magistrate) later continued aspects of the management but was adjudged bankrupt by 1866.
patrickcomerford.com By the time of the 1876 Return of Proprietors, the representatives of Henry Comerford held over 2,000 acres in Co. Galway. His 1861 will (signed with his mark on 3 September 1861, shortly before his death at Ballykeale House; proved in the Principal Registry) devised specific lands to daughter Mary Blake Forster (Ballykeale, Lettermullen, Bishops Quarter, Dooras/purchased from Baron de Basterot, etc.) for life with remainders to her sons (and further remainders), and to daughter Henrietta Daly (Kinvara and associated Gregory estates, Dangan, Derreen, Cahermahoon, Cahernagoul, Douras as held by Mr Clancy, etc.) on similar terms.
willcalendars.nationalarchives.ie In short, Comerford built substantial wealth as a Galway merchant dealing in corn, timber, and shipping (including the high-risk emigrant trade exemplified by the St. John), then leveraged that capital into large landholdings during the post-Famine sales. The same commercial success that funded his estates also tied him to one of the era’s notable maritime tragedies and to controversial landlord practices that left a lasting negative local reputation in Kinvara and surrounding areas. Detailed ledgers of his day-to-day trading profits are not readily available in secondary sources, but the scale of his land purchases (tens of thousands of pounds in the 1840s–1850s) and the properties listed in his will demonstrate the level of fortune he accumulated.
