 Henry MacCormac was born in Carnan, County Armagh, Ireland, in 1800.His father, John MacCormac (d. 1811), was a wealthy linen merchant and his mother, Mary Ann Hall, (1766–1846), was the daughter of Colonel Joseph Hall, a prosperous distiller who lived at "Hall Place" in Lurgan.Henry MacCormac's paternal grandfather was Cornelius MacCormac, R.N., who was a high-ranking officer in the Royal Navy according to the MacCormac family records.