# Prendergast (surname)

Prendergast is a British and Irish surname.

## Etymology

This toponymic surname may derive from prender from a Germanic word for fire or conflagration (cf. brand) where the b became p due to fortition and gast (cf. geest) from a Germanic word for wasteland or dry and infertile land meaning the location could have been a burn-beat area. Others think the name is a Saxonized form of Bryn y Gest from the Welsh bryn meaning hill and gest a lenition of cest which means belly or swelling or a deep glen between two mountains having but one opening. It could also lessly come from Pren-dwr-gwest, the inn by the tree near the water. The right etymology is probably Pen-dre-gast. The suffix ast (cf. gast) is of Welsh origin like the names of the cromlech chamber tomb of Penllech yr Ast (the chief slab of the bitch) or Llech-yr-ast (Bitch's stone), in Llangoedmor, Cardiganshire or Gwâl y Filiast (Lair of the Greyhound Bitch) or Carn Nant-yr-ast or Llety'r Filiast or Twlc y Filiast. Alternatively, the name may come from a lost Flemish settlement near Ghent, known as Brontegeest. Pembrokeshire had a significant Flemish population by the twelfth century.

## People with the name

* Catherine Prendergast, American scholar and intellectual historian
* Charles Prendergast (1863–1948), Canadian-American artist
* Declan Prendergast (born 1981) Irish hurler
* Edmond Francis Prendergast (1843–1918), Irish-born Roman Catholic prelate and Archbishop of Philadelphia, who gave his name to Archbishop Prendergast High School in Philadelphia, U.S.
* Frank Prendergast (1933–2015), Irish politician
* George Prendergast (1854–1937), Australian politician, 28th Premier of Victoria
* George C. Prendergast (born 1961), American oncologist and biomedical scientist
* Guy Prendergast (British Army officer) (1905–1986), British Army brigadier and Saharan explorer
* Harry Prendergast (1834–1913), British Army general, recipient of the Victoria Cross
* Ian Prendergast (born 1980), Australian rules footballer
* James Prendergast (disambiguation)
* John Prendergast (disambiguation)
* Kathleen Prendergast (1910–1954), Australian paleontologist and physician
* Kerry Prendergast (born 1953), New Zealand politician
* Kieran Prendergast (born 1942), British diplomat and former Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at the United Nations
* Mark Prendergast, Scottish 21st century actor
* Mark Prendergast (hurler) (born 1978), Irish hurler
* Mark Prendergast, guitarist for the Irish band Kodaline
* Maurice Prendergast (1858–1924), American painter
* Maurice de Prendergast (fl. 1169–1174), Norman knight
* Mick Prendergast (1950–2010), English footballer
* Mike Prendergast (rugby union) (born 1977), Irish rugby union footballer
* Mike Prendergast (baseball) (1888–1967), American Major League Baseball pitcher
* Orla Prendergast (born 2002), Irish woman cricketer
* Paddy Prendergast (racehorse trainer) (1910–1980), Irish trainer
* Paddy Prendergast (hurler) (born 1958), Irish hurler
* Patrick Prendergast (academic), Provost of Trinity College, Dublin
* Patrick Prendergast (abbot) (c. 1741–1829), last Abbot of Cong and guardian of the Cross of Cong
* Patrick Eugene Prendergast (1868–1894), American assassin of Chicago Mayor Carter Harrison Sr.
* Paudie Prendergast (born 1960), Irish hurler
* Peter Prendergast (artist) (1946–2007), Welsh artist
* Peter Prendergast (hurler) (fl. 1947–1952), Irish hurler
* Peter Prendergast (referee) (born 1963), Jamaican football referee
* Robert Prendergast (1864–1946), British admiral
* Séamus Prendergast (born 1980), Irish hurler
* Sharon Marley Prendergast (born 1964), Jamaican singer, dancer and curator, adopted daughter of Bob Marley
* Shaun Prendergast (born 1958) British actor, playwright, screenwriter and novelist
* Segismundo Moret y Prendergast (1833–1913), Spanish politician, President of the Council of Ministers
* Terrence Prendergast (born 1944), Archbishop of Ottawa
* Tessa Prendergast (1928–2001), Jamaican actress, fashion designer, businesswoman and socialite
* Thomas Prendergast (disambiguation)
* Tom Prendergast (Laois footballer) (fl. 1976–1987), Irish Gaelic football player
* William A. Prendergast (1867–1954), American businessman and politician

## Variants

Variants of Prendergast include: Pender, Pendergast, Prandergast, Brandergast, Pendergrass, Penders, Pendy, Pinder, Pinders, Pindy, Prender, Prendergrast, Prendergest, Prindergast, Pendergist and the (Gaelicised) de Priondargás.

## In Britain

The surname may be connected to one or more of three places in Britain: Prendergast, now a suburb of Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales; Prendergast, near Solva, also in Pembrokeshire, and; Prenderguest, near Ayton, Berwickshire, Scotland.

## In Ireland

In Ireland, Prendergast is regarded as a Hiberno-Norman name and is usually derived from a 12th-century Cambro-Norman knight, Maurice de Prendergast, who was born in Pembrokeshire and came to Ireland with the Earl of Pembroke, Richard "Strongbow" de Clare. Many of Maurice de Prendergast's immediate descendants lived in County Tipperary and southern Mayo. Some assumed the name Fitzmaurice at an early date and some of the Fitzmaurices were later known as MacMorris.