Maguire, John Henry

MacGuire, Maguire

These are spelling variants of the Irish Maguidhir. Uidhir is the genitive case of odhar meaning dun-coloured; mag is a form of mac used before vowels. This in one of those names definitely associated with one county. The Maguires belong to Co. Fermanagh. The name first appears in the Annals in the year 956, but the pre-dominance of the sept in Co. Fermanagh dates only from the fourteenth century; for the next three centuries their chief was one of the most important in Ulster. They were not entirely dispossessed by the Plantation of Ulster, but they suffered very severely by the Cromwellian and Williamite confiscations. Maguire, Baron of Enniskillen, had a regiment of infantry in James II's army in Ireland. After the final defeat the Maguires are found prominently among the Wild Geese in the service of France and Austria. Later Barons of Enniskillen were accepted as nobility at the Court of France until the title became extinct about 1795. Of the many prominent soldiers of the name in Ireland the most noteworthy was Hugh Maguire who commanded the cavalry at the battle of the Yellow Ford in 1598; There have been many other distinguished Maguires in Irish history, including the famous Bishop of Leighlin, Nicholas Maguire (1460-1512), and two fifteenth century bishops of Clogher, Cathal MacManus Maguire (1439-1498), historian, Conor Maguire (1616-1645), executed for his part in the 1641 Rising, the controversialist Father Tom Maguire (1792-1847), and Thomas Maguire (1831-1889), the first Catholic to be elected to a fellowship at Trinity College, Dublin. At the present day the great majority of those who use the spelling Maguire hail from Co. Fermanagh; the MacGuires are mostly Connacht men (Mayo and Roscommon). This usage is in common with other cases where the Mac has become absorbed (eg MacGee - Magee) the distinct prefix being retained in the western counties. Counting the two forms together the name occupies thirty-ninth place int he list of most numerous surnames in Ireland: it holds first place in Co. Fermanagh and is high in the adjoining county of Cavan. A hundred years ago O'Donovan found the direct descendants of the great Hugh Maguire, mentioned above, working as sailors in cross-channel coal ships.