Recorded as Prendervall, Prendeville, Prenderville, Prendiville, as well as the associated and more popular Prenergast, Prendergast, and others, this is a locational surname. Whilst it can be found in rare pockets in parts of the British Isles, and especially County Kerry, Ireland, it is ultimately of pre 10th century Flemish origins. It seems that a village called Brontegeest, existed in the province of Flanders, and this name was taken by Flemish settlers to Normandy. The name with Prendergast, was brought to England by followers of Duke William of Normandy in the famous Conquest of 1066. Later they were granted lands at Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, and at what became Prenegast, in the county of Berwickshire, Scotland. Later in 1169 the name was taken to Ireland with Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, who conquered that country in the following year. MacLysaghts History of Irish Surnames, gives no details except to say that the Prendevilles have been recorded in Kerry since the 13th century. The surviving church register recordings of Ireland show that the Prendervilles were and are, centered on the town of Castle Island, Kerry, and almost every recording is from that place. Sadly most early records were lost in 1922, when the IRA destroyed the Public Records Office in Dublin during the Civil War of 1922 - 1924. From surviving recordings we have those of Hannah Prendivill, baptised at Killarney, County Kerry, on June 25th 1786, Gerald Prendeville who married Joan Downey at Currow, County Kerry, on January 27th 1818, and James Prendeville, a witness at All Souls, St Marylebone, city of London, on March 2nd 1845. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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