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 is one of those names associated with one county. The Maguires belong to Co. Fermanagh. The name first appears in the Annals in the year 956, but the predominance 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 from 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 in 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 (e.g., MacGee - Magee), the distinct prefix being retained in the western counties. Counting the two forms together, the name occupies the thirty-ninth place in the 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.

John Henry Maguire Sr.
BIRTH
29 Aug 1853
Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA
DEATH
23 Apr 1924 (aged 70)
Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA
BURIAL
Saint Francis Cemetery
Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island, USA
Add to Map
PLOT
Section 48?
MEMORIAL ID
148123931 · View Source

Death record from FamilySearch:
Rhode Island, Deaths and Burials
Name: John Henry Maguire
Gender: Male
Death Date: 23 Apr 1924
Death Place: Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Age: 70
Birth Date: 1854
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: Sarah Maguire
Father's Name: James Maguire
Mother's Name: Ann Ahearn

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additional info provided by Find A Grave member Barbara (46967230):
John McGuire 29 Aug 1853 Son James McGuire, Ann McGuire
Birth record Rhode Island

Sarah Theresa McSoley was born between 1855 and 1857 in Rhode Island, United States. At the time of her birth, her father, Patrick McSoley, was 29 years old, and her mother, Mary Anne Ahearn, was 25. Sarah had 14 children with John Henry Maguire Sr. Sarah passed away on December 19, 1932, in Providence, Rhode Island, at the age of 75 and was laid to rest in St. Francis Cemetery in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Death record from FamilySearch:
from Rhode Island, Deaths and Burials
Name: Sarah Theresa Maguire
Gender: Female
Death Date: 19 Dec 1932
Death Place: Providence, Rhode Island
Age: 69
Birth Date: 1863
Marital Status: Married
Spouse's Name: John H. Maguire
Father's Name: Patrick McSoley
Mother's Name: Mary Ahearn