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McCormack Name Study

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Surnames/tags: McCormack McCormick McCormack_Name_Study
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Contents

How to Join

Please contact the project leader Mike McCormack or leave a comment at the foot of the page. If you have any questions, just ask. Thanks!

Participants

  • Alicia McCormack - Adding profiles for Roscommon McCormacks, working on unsourced McCormack profiles, writing biographies for McCormack profiles

Tom McCormack

+Anna McCormack

Surname Variants

  • McCormack
  • MacCormack
  • MacCormac
  • McCormac
  • McCormick

also see below for related names;

Categories

Add the category McCormack_Name_Study to your McCormack profiles to link them to the project. There are sub categories available by location.

Goals

This is a One Name Study to collect together in one place everything about the surname McCormack and its variants. The hope is that other researchers like you will join our study to help make it a valuable reference point for people studying lines that cross or intersect.

We want to create an accurate family tree for McCormacks worldwide. We want to add every McCormack that can be found to Wiki Tree, and give them detailed biographies, a full list of sources and as extensive a family tree as possible.

There are many ways you can help our one name study. We need as many participants and helpers as possible to document as many McCormacks as we can. We want this to be an organized, efficient and fun project. You can decide what you want to do to help this project to preserve a wealth of historical information for the future.

Projects

You are welcome to get involved in and contribute to any of the following wiki tree projects around the McCormack surname. If you have a new idea for a project, add it in below with a short description and feel free to get started straight away!

Profiles

This project is all about improving the existing McCormack profiles here on wiki tree and making them look as pretty as possible! You can undertake one or more of the following tasks to achieve this goal. Feel free to work on improving a profile with another person as well by sharing the work.

  • McCormack Sources: The focus of this sub project is to research each individual McCormack profile and add a list of comprehensible, well referenced sources with links provided. A good place to start is by this list to McCormack Unsourced profiles but you can also do this by adding new sources to already sourced profiles.

- Alicia McCormack

  • McCormack Biographies: What looks really good in a profile is a detailed biography that tells the story of the person's life with sources cited. In the McCormack profiles you come across, you can add a biography or improve and flesh out an existing one.

- Alicia McCormack

  • McCormack Pictures: Pictures always add a bit of colour to a profile, particularly background pictures. Look for pictures to add to a profile, even if not a picture of the person, the place they lived or something that represented them.

Connectors

The purpose of this project is to connect the unconnected. Research a McCormack profile, add their first degree relatives and expand their family tree until they are connected to the global wiki tree. It is a lot of work but worth it! When you are adding profiles, make sure that you or someone from the Profiles Project is adding sources.

Here is a list of McCormack Unconnected profiles.

Duplicates

There should only be one profile per McCormack so an important job is for there to be people to keep on eye out for duplicates, review them and merge them if needed to keep our McCormack family tree as accurate as possible.

Finding Famous McCormacks

In this project, we will be finding and adding profiles for famous McCormacks who made their mark on the world. Link profiles for them in the "Famous McCormack" section below. The same jobs apply to this project such as sourcing, writing biographies and connecting profiles. Don't forget to add the Notables Project category and sticker.

More and More McCormacks

This project is about finding McCormacks in various sets of records, adding their profiles to wiki tree and continuing to work on them in the Profiles Project. If you can add other sources to them other the record you found them, that would be great also.

  • Ireland 1901/1911 Census: Create profiles for the McCormack families appearing on these Irish census records. This can be broken down into more sub projects with each county in Ireland. You might like to research the McCormack census records for a specific county.

- Alicia McCormack: Roscommon

  • British Censuses: Create profiles for the McCormack families appearing on the census records for England, Scotland and Wales. This can be broken down into more sub project by county. You might like to research McCormack records for a specific county. Many of these people will likely be of Irish descent so see if you can trace them back to their place of origin in Ireland and connect them to our existing profiles.
  • United States Censuses: Create profiles for the McCormack families appearing on the various United States census records. This can be broken down into more sub projects by state. You might like to research McCormack records for a specific state. Many of these people will likely be of Irish descent so see if you can trace them back to their place of origin in Ireland and connect them to our existing profiles.
  • Immigration Records: Search through immigration records and see if you can use the information provided to connect this person to an existing profile or add a new one. Watch out for duplicates here especially.


Surname Origins

Motto: "Sine Timore", 'Without Fear'.

Meaning:"son of Cormac'"

Region of origin:Ireland, Scotland

Meaning of the Symbols and Colours on the Coat of Arms :

  • White - Peace and Sincerity
  • Azure/Blue - Loyalty and Truth
  • Red - Military Fortitude and Magnanimity
  • The Fess- Military Belt or Girdle of honour
  • Indented line- Fire
  • Eagle - Power and Strength


Related names- Cormack, MacCormack, McCormack, McCormick, MacCormick, Cormac, Cormach, Cormich, Cormiche McCormick (or McCormack) is a family name (surname) that originated in Ireland and Scotland. Spelling variations: Cormack, MacCormack, McCormack, Cormack, MacCormack, McCormack, McCormick, MacCormick, Cormac, Cormach, Cormich, Cormiche McCormick, MacCormick, Cormac, Cormach, Cormich and Cormiche. It comes from the first name of the original bearer. A person whose father was named Cormac would identify as Mc (i.e. "son of") Cormac; the combination was continued as the family name by subsequent generations.

Cormac is translated literally as "Charioteer, Warrior, Brewer". The name was a very popular choice of names by parents in medieval times: this was due to the influences of the Saint of the same name. Saint Cormac was the first Bishop of Cashel an important diocese in the south of Ireland. Cashel was also the King of Munster and responsible for a famous book of Psalms, the Cashel Psalter, he died in battle in AD 908. In those days the McCormack was the name of a powerful Sept (Clan or Family) in the county of Longford. Another possible origin is that is comes from "corb" meaning raven, so translate to "Ravenson".

In 1659 Cormac was a principal name of Kildare, O'Cormack a principal name of Cork and also found in Limerick, while McCormack was a principal name in Down also found in Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Roscommon.

The 1890 index shows McCormick as the preferred spelling in the Ulster counties of Antrim and Down. McCormack is favored in Dublin, Mayo, Roscommon and Limerick. The shortened form of Cormack is found in Kilkenny and Tipperary in much smaller numbers.

McCormacks in Ireland

Origins

Nearly all of the Irish clans descend from Milesius, king of modern day Spain, through his three sons Heremon, Ir or Heber. Milesius received a mysterious prophecy about conquering the land across the sea but died before he could fulfill it. The responsibility was undertaken by his eight sons.

The sons sailed across the sea along with their sons and soldiers to take Ireland. Five of them were killed upon reaching the shore in a bloody battle with the Tuatha de Danann. However they won the battle and the remaining sons- Heremon, Heber and Amergin along with the sons of Ir, went on to conquer the island. Milesian genealogies claim they began their rule if Ireland in 1699 BC.

The McCormacks descend from Heber, who was later killed by his brother Heremon in an argument over territory. The ancient Homeland of the McCormack family was the kingdom of Munster where they would thrive for centuries.

Notable members of the clan included Nathi, a brother of Felim. He was the King of Munster in the mid sixth century. Cormac Mac Cuilennáin (836-908 AD), the bishop king of Munster, write the famous Sanas Cormaic (Cormac's Glossary). It was the first linguistic dictionary in a non-classical language in Europe. It is full of etymologies and explanations for more than 1, 400 words. TheCormacks, along with the O'Connors, McKeoghs, McGowans and O'Mores, were also of the line of Roderick (Rory) the Great, the red haired high king of Ireland.

The line of Milesius ruled Ireland for nearly 3, 000 years. It was far from a unified land with lots of rivalry and conflict between the clans. The island came under the power of King Henry II in 1171 after the Cambro-Norman invasion. He landed on an island near Waterford with a large, ready to take the lands the Normans had conquered. Many of the Normans barkns submitted to him in return for keeping their lands. He also rallied the support if several Gaelic chieftains, who were tired if the constant warfare.

After the invasion of Henry II, many English and Scottish settlers came to live in Ireland. At the time Ireland was made up of the lands of the Norman barons, the suffering chieftains such as the McCormacks and the Pale- an area including Dublin completely controlled by the Crown. The chieftains soon realized their land had been taken and they were under the oppression of the king. Their ancient way of life was gone.

Before the invasion of the Normans, Ireland had a relatively small population. There was no need for surnames. The Normans settled in Ireland and intermarried, introducing their surnames into the mix. As the population increased, there were too many people with the same forename. Each of the clans adopted a surname, taken from the forename of a notable ancestor with the prefix "Mac" (son of) or "O" (descendant of) added. The McCormacks took their name from Cormaic, son of Cabhsan, a chieftain of the clan.

In 1576, 1598 and 1600, MacCormicks are recorded as leading gentry in County Cork and one, of Muskerry, was influential enough to raise a large force to assist Desmond in the Elizabethan wars. The Annals of the Four Masters record the deaths of several prominent MacCormicks of County Fermanagh; the last of these died in 1431.

Distribution

McCormack Households in Griffiths Valuation

Antrim: 134

Armagh: 46

Belfast city:11

Carlow: 10

Cavan: 49

Clare: 36

Cork: 6

Cork city: 10

Derry: 43

Donegal: 105

Down: 96

Dublin: 36

Dublin city: 12

Fermanagh: 34

Galway: 39

Kerry: 10

Kildare: 4

Kilkenny: 7

Laois: 20

Leitrim: 16

Limerick: 35

Limerick city: 8

Longford: 69

Louth: 38

Mayo: 34

Meath: 55

Monaghan: 35

Offaly: 30

Roscommon: 60

Sligo: 44

Tipperary: 50

Tyrone: 93

Waterford: 5

Westmeath: 40

Wexford: 2

Wicklow: 1


McCormacks in Scotland

The Plantations begun during the reign of Henry VIII from 1491 to 1547, continued by his successors Mary I, Elizabeth I and James I. There was another planation led by Cromwell in 1649. Irish Earls rebelled but were defeated time after time, particularly at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601. In 1607, the O'Neills and O'Donnells left Ireland from Lough Swilly in Donegal accompanied by ninety followers, known as the "Flight of the Earls".

Land was confiscated from numerous Gaelic chieftains and given to English settlers- but also Scots, from the highlands and lowlands of Scotland.

The McCormacks in Scotland were a sept of some of the mighty Scottish clans MacLean of Duart, MacLaine of Lochbuie and Buchanan. The McCormacks may have come from the island of Mull (thirty miles from Northern Ireland) of Scotland and many of them were planted in Ulster (where the majority of McCormacks are found today. It is theorized that the McCormacks leaving Scotland for Ireland could have been returning to the homes of their ancestors. Many of the clans of Scotland, including the MacLeans, descended from Irish immigrants who had gone in the fifth century to found the kingdom of Dalriada.

The Scottish McCormacks have a long and illustrious history in Scotland.

In January 880, the monks of Iona recorded the death Fedorach MacCormaic, their abbot.

Gilchrist mac Cormaic was the bishop of Dunkeld(modern day Argyllshire and Perthshire), and believed to be the progenitor of Clan MacMillan (MacMillan translates loosely to "son of the tonsured one"- referring to the way in which priest's head were tonsured or shaved). He witnessed a deed in the Book of Deer in 1132.

In the 1500s, chieftain "McLean of Duart" evicted his cousin "Maclaine of Lochbuie" from the island of Mull. Maclaine went to County Antrim and appealed to the Earl of Antrim, McDonnell. The Earl gave him twelve men, all besting the surname McCormick/McCormack. They aided Maclaine in recovering Moy Castle, his former homestead. In gratitude, Maclaine carved "McCormick is welcome here" in Gaelic into the stone lintel over the doorway of his castle. Irish Immigration Between the 18th and 20th centuries,

" Irish Immigration- Ancient links between both countries • Many Irish came from the 1700s to work seasonally on the land in the south west of Scotland. High rents and terrible poverty in Ireland drove many away from Ireland. • Many willing to work for wages even lower than the Highlanders • Many willing to do dirty, dangerous and low work no one else would do (e.g sugar work in Greenock) • Many worked as navies on the canals (1700s) and railways (1800s) • Many were skilled textile workers with experience in eth linen trade; worked in places like Paisley, Lanark, Glasgow and Dundee.

By 1841, about 125,000 of Irish birth in Scotland.

By 1851, 19% of Dundee and 18% of Glasgow was of Irish origin; after 1850, many went to America instead. The Irish influence • Native Scots resented the Irish and accused them of dragging wages down (true). • Many Irish did huge amount of work in Scottish industry; the railways; canal building •

By 1880, the Irish were becoming influential in the trade union movement; helping to push up wages. • This was no help to the bad housing shortage In Scotland • Led to even greater religious intolerance; Catholics from Southern Ireland and protestants from Northern Ireland hated each other; the Scots joined in to this hatred. Glasgow soon divided. Protestant Orange marches caused much street violence; football became a focus for this anger.

Earliest Recorded McCormack Immigrants

[1]

  • Dennis McCormack, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1654
  • Neal McCormack whose name appears in Kings County, Virginia Court records in May 1708
  • Duncan McCormack, who immigrated to Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1749
  • Lawrence McCormack, aged 40, landed in Tennessee in 1812
  • James McCormack, a labourer aged 30 departing from Belfast, came to St John, New Brunswick, Canada on "John & Mary" in 1833
  • Catherine McCormack, aged 25 departing from Belfast, landed in St John, New Brunswick, on the "John & Mary" in 1833
  • Henry McCormack, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pa in 1836
  • Elenor McCormack came to Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1840
  • Philip McCormack, aged 23, landed in Mobile County, Ala in 1843
  • Thomas McCormack, aged 26, arrived in Mobile County, Ala in 1843
  • Mary McCormack, aged 26, arrived in New York, NY in 1847
  • John McCormack, aged 64 departing from Liverpool, arrived at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec, Canada, on the "Erin's Queen". He died there in July 1847
  • Mrs Catherine McCormack, aged 25 departing from Liverpool, arrived at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec, Canada on the "Champion" but died there in August 1847
  • Bridget McCormack, landed in Adelaide, Australia, on the "Inconstant" in 1849
  • Mary McCormack, a convict from Warwick, came on the "Anna Maria" on 4 October 1851 to Van Diemen's Land in Australia
  • John McCormack, aged 37, arrived in South Australia, in 1852, on the "Phoebe Dunbar"
  • Patrick McCormack, aged 38, came to South Australia in 1853 on the "Neptune"
  • Elly McCormack, a farm servant aged 34, arrived in South Australia in 1854 on the "Sir Thomas Gresham"
  • John McCormack, aged 24, arrived in Wellington, New Zealand on the "Seringapatam" in 1856
  • James McCormack, aged 21, came to Wellington on the "Woodlark" in 1874
  • Kate McCormack, a cook aged 31, landed in Wellington in 1878 on the "Rakaia"

Famous McCormacks

  • Anne McCormac (1702-1782) : Born in Cork, this woman became a famous pirate in the Caribbean and married well-known Jack Bonny
  • Henry MacCormac (1800-1886) : Irish physician who advocated open-air theory
  • William MacCormac (1836-1901) : British surgeon and President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
  • Arthur McCormack (1865-1936) : English businessman associated with Wolseley Motors
  • Henry MacCormac (1879-1950) : Irish dermatologist and physician
  • John McCormack (1884-1945) : Irish Operatic singer
  • Franklyn MacCormack (1906-1971) : US Radio Personality
  • James McCormack (1910-1975) : Director of Military Applications of US Atomic Energy Commission
  • Michael McCormack (1930-2013) : American NFL football player and coach. He was added to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984
  • Sir Richard MacCormac (1938-2014) : English architect and founder of MPJ Architects

Member's Interests/Lines

of Elphin, Roscommon, Ireland

Ireland

Isle of Arran, Buteshire, Scotland

States

Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland . John McCormick was married to Ann McGrain.

Joseph McCormack was born in Co. Tyrone about 1802 and immigrated to Canada in 1822, married in Fredericton, NB and later moved to Grand Falls, NB to farm. I do not have any information (yet) on his parents, siblings, what town/village he was born in, or what port and ship he left on to go to Canada.

Genealogy Assistance

Do you have any mysteries, brick walls or unanswered questions in your McCormack family history, or are you unsure where to start researching? Tell us about it here. One of our members may be able to help!

  • I (Peter McCormack) want to know where my McCormack line originates from. I've gone back to the 1800s in Lancashire, with John McCormack , where all leads die. I'm looking for family and ancestors to this line of McCormacks.
  • My brick wall is Alexander McCormick, born 1791 in Ireland. He was a leaseholder in County Monaghan who married Margaret Martin. Alexander and his descendants made their way to Canada and settled in the Ottawa area. He or his ancestor may have been a Scot who went to Ulster or he may be one of the few Irish-born, originally catholic leaseholders. His descendants were protestant but that may have a convenient conversion. We have all been agnostic and opportunistic since. - Stuart McCormick

DNA

Resources

  1. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.houseofnames.com/mccormack-family-crest


Books/Family Histories:

  • Gray, Iain (2014). The Origins of the McCormick Family and their Place in History. Scotland: Lang Syne. p5-32
  • Kahn, Edythe T. (1991). James McCormick, his ancestry and descendants, 1570 to 1991. La Salle: E.T. Kahn
  • McCormack, Patrick (1998). The Cormack/McCormack family from Tipperary to New South Wales. Queanbeyan: Patrick M. McCormack
  • McCormick, Andrew (1897). Scoth-Irish in Ireland and in America, as shown in sketches of the pioneer Scotch-Irish families McCormick, Stevenson, McKenzie, and Bell. New Orleans.

Organizations/Groups

Websites:





Collaboration
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  • Private Messages: Contact the Profile Managers privately: One Name Studies WikiTree and Mike McCormack. (Best when privacy is an issue.)
  • Public Comments: Login to post. (Best for messages specifically directed to those editing this profile. Limit 20 per day.)


Comments: 16

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Hi,

I would like to participate. My ancestor Joseph McCormack was born in Co. Tyrone about 1802 and immigrated to Canada in 1822, married in Fredericton, NB and later moved to Grand Falls, NB to farm. I do not have any information (yet) on his parents, siblings, what town/village he was born in, or what port and ship he left on to go to Canada.

posted by Mark McCormick
I'd like to participate. I haven't researched too much of my father's line but I have a cousin who I've invited to join WikiTree who has researched our families. (he's not a McCormack but he has some of us on the tree...)
posted by Tom McCormack
Tom

I have added you to the name study

Mike

posted by Mike McCormack Mr
I will participate, thanks. (McCormacks from Dublin linked to Webbs and Lallys. (But I don't see how to make the connection to your project...)
posted by Anna McCormack Ms
edited by Anna McCormack Ms
Hi Anna,

I saw your message on G2G and added you to the list of participants. I've sent you a message explaining how to add categories/labels to your McCormack profiles to link then to the name study page. You can then find all McCormack profiles in that category when you click into it.

posted by Alicia McCormack
I'd like to join the one name study. My brick wall is Alexander McCormick, born 1791 in Ireland. He was a leaseholder in County Monaghan who married Margaret Martin. Alexander and his descendants made their way to Canada and settled in the Ottawa area.
posted by Stuart McCormick
Hi my name is valarie and I would like to join your group. Im doing research on my McCormick family, and starting to hit road blocks and hoping joining the group it will help. My grandma is a McCormick and I dont know much of her family like i would love.
posted by Valarie Burt
Valerie I have added you to our watch list.Can you tell me who you are looking for and I will try to add to out list

Mike McCormack

posted by Mike McCormack Mr
Hello, my name is Jeff Ford and I am a McCormack genealogist/family historian/researcher. I would like to join your group, I am primarily researching County Kilkenny at the moment. My great-great-grandfather, Michael McCormack and his family left Kilkenny in Oct 1853. The only thing that I know about Michael's family is his father, Patrick. Unfortunately, I have NO other information on Patrick or the rest of Michael's presumptive family. I have Y-DNA tested a (male) descendant of Michael and our haplogroup type is R-DC9.
posted by Jeff Ford
Hi Jeff,

Welcome to the McCormack One Name Study! I will add you to our members list. I will take a look at your tree to see if I can help in any way with your research. I'll add your line in under Member's Interests and Lines also. Perhaps to help out with our study you would like to add and research profiles of McCormacks from the Kilkenny 1901 and 1911 censuses or Griffith's Valuations? Hope you're having a good Christmas! If you have any questions just message us. Alicia

posted by Alicia McCormack
Hi, I'd like to join. I have a McCormack brickwall on my father's side in Manchester in the 1800s.
posted by Peter McCormack
I'd like to participate. My maternal grandfather is a McCormack. I'd like to research his line.

Bill

I'd like to join. I'm a McCormack from South-east Tipperary which is one of the hotspots of the name. I have already entered a few Cormacks from the 1901 census on wiki tree. I have also had my Y chromosome sequenced and it clusters with Mahers and Carrolls which are typical Tipperary names.
posted by James Mccormack
Interested in James McCormack, born 1809 in Ulster to Scottish parents. Had at least one brother. Parents died when James was "but a child". James and brother emigrated "when still young men under age". Landed in NYC. Brother went "west"; James went to Harper's Ferry WV, then to Bedford Co. VA by 1833. Married Louisa Payne there in 1843. Became citizen in 1846. Changed spelling to -ick after 1850. Moved to Indiana in 1852. Died and buried in Starke Co. IN in 1886.
posted by Greg McCormick
William S McCormick b ~1824 New York, USA

Lived in Peoria, IL ~1850-~1865 Lived in Hardin, MO ~1866 until his death 12 July, 1887 My Y-DNA R-M269 FTDNA indicates Antrium, Ireland <More??> not sure if this is the place to put this info. Looking for ancestors in NY and Ireland/Scotland.

posted by Charles McCormick II
I'd like to participate. My McCormacks descend from Captain James Edward.
posted by Sharon McCormack