Maguire

also McGuire, Mag Uidhir, Maguier

Of Lough Erne, the lake-kingdom of Fermanagh.

Origin: Ulster, Ireland
Motto: Justi Ut Sidera Fulgent
Famous bearer: Cuconnacht Maguire (1565–1608), last lord of Fermanagh, of the Flight of the Earls
Register: Irish family

Territory of Maguire

CoreHistoric reach

The seat of Maguire

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Maguire community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Maguire has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Maguire clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

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Motto

Justi Ut Sidera Fulgent

“The just shall shine as the stars”

What does the Maguire name mean?

The history of Maguire

The Mag Uidhir kings of Fermanagh held the lakes country from around 1300, Donn Carrach Mag Uidhir was the first formally inaugurated chief in 1302, to the surrender of Cuconnacht Maguire's son in 1607. Their fortified seats were strung along the upper and lower Lough Erne: Enniskillen Castle on the river between the two lakes, Devenish island monastery at the Lower Erne, and Crannóg fortifications on the lake islands at MacGann and Cleenish. The name 'Fermanagh' itself, Fear Manach, 'men of Manach', long predates the Maguires; they took it as their kingdom's name.

Cuconnacht Mag Uidhir, Cú Connacht Óg Maguire (1565–1608), was the chief who fought beside Hugh O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell through the Nine Years' War, who was at the disaster of Kinsale, and who sailed with the Earls from Lough Swilly in September 1607. He died in Genoa within a year of the Flight, en route to Rome. The Plantation of Ulster of 1610 settled Fermanagh principally with English undertakers, by contrast with neighbouring Tyrone and Donegal which got mostly Lowland Scots, and the Maguires dispersed.

John Edward Maguire (1815–1872), founder of the Cork Examiner; Sir Thomas Maguire of Sandymount, the Irish Catholic philosopher; the McGuire Sisters, the American singing trio of the 1950s, the surname is among the most distinctively Ulster of the great Irish surnames, and Fermanagh remains today the densest Maguire county on the island by a clear margin.

Champions of the Maguire name

The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.

Tobey Maguire
The Santa Monica-born American actor whose performances in The Cider House Rules (1999), Wonder Boys (2000) and Seabiscuit (2003) established him as the leading younger character actor of his generation before the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy (2002, 2004, 2007) carried the Marvel superhero film into the dominant Hollywood form of the modern century.

Notable bearers of the Maguire name

Cuconnacht Maguire (1565–1608), last lord of Fermanagh, of the Flight of the Earls
John Edward Maguire (1815–1872), founder of the Cork Examiner
Sir Toby Maguire, actor (b. 1975, of distant Maguire descent)
Hugh "the Hospitable" Maguire (d. 1600), chief of Fermanagh, killed at Coll's Crossroads

Stories of Maguire

Hugh the Hospitable at Coll's Crossroads
1600
On the morning of the first of March 1600, on a bog-crossing at Coll's Crossroads near Mallow in north County Cork, Hugh the Hospitable Maguire, then about thirty-five years old, the chief of Fermanagh and the Maguire warrior of the Nine Years' War, met in single combat the English Marshal of Munster Sir Warham St Leger and killed him with a horse-pistol-shot to the chest. St Leger, in the same exchange, hit Maguire with a pistol-shot to the head; both men were dead within minutes. Maguire had been on a twelve-hundred-mile cavalry-raid from the Fermanagh lake-country south through Roscommon, Tipperary and Limerick to engage the English Munster garrison-force in the rear of Sir George Carew's Munster campaign of the spring of 1600. The Coll's Crossroads action was the furthest-south military penetration by the Ulster confederacy in the whole of the Nine Years' War (1593–1603); the Maguire-St-Leger mutual kill is, by every careful judgment of Irish-historiography of the period (Hiram Morgan, John McGurk), the most-romanticised single-combat death of the Tudor wars in Ireland.
Read the story →

Frequently asked

What does the surname Maguire mean?

From Mag Uidhir, son of Odhar, 'the dun-coloured one'. The Maguires (more correctly, Mag Uidhir kings of Fermanagh) descend from Odhar, a 13th-century lord of the kindred of Lurg, north of Lough Erne. The senior Mag Uidhir line ruled Fermanagh from 1302 to 1603, a tighter, more discrete kingdom than most Gaelic lordships, focused around the lakes and well-defended by the Erne waterway. The Mag Uidhir kings of Fermanagh held the lakes country from around 1300, Donn Carrach Mag Uidhir was the first formally inaugurated chief in 1302, to the surrender of Cuconnacht Maguire's son in 1607.

Where does the Maguire family come from?

The Maguire family is rooted in Ulster, in Ireland. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Fermanagh. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.

Where did the Maguire family historically hold territory?

At its greatest historical extent, the Maguire name has been concentrated in Cavan, Monaghan and Tyrone. The atlas page distinguishes the core territory of the name from this wider historical reach with hatched silhouettes on the map.

Is Maguire a Ireland surname?

Yes, Maguire is a Ireland surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is Ireland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.

How old is the Maguire surname?

The Mag Uidhir kings of Fermanagh held the lakes country from around 1300, Donn Carrach Mag Uidhir was the first formally inaugurated chief in 1302, to the surrender of Cuconnacht Maguire's son in 1607. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Maguire name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Maguire family known for?

Of Lough Erne, the lake-kingdom of Fermanagh. The Mag Uidhir kings of Fermanagh held the lakes country from around 1300, Donn Carrach Mag Uidhir was the first formally inaugurated chief in 1302, to the surrender of Cuconnacht Maguire's son in 1607.

What is the Maguire motto?

The motto of the Maguire family is "Justi Ut Sidera Fulgent", which translates as "The just shall shine as the stars". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.

What does "Justi Ut Sidera Fulgent" mean in English?

"Justi Ut Sidera Fulgent" is the motto of the Maguire family. In English it means "The just shall shine as the stars". The phrase is typically rendered in Latin, though some Highland families carry their motto in Gaelic and some Norman lines in Old French.

Who is the most famous Maguire?

The best-known bearer of the Maguire name is Cuconnacht Maguire (1565–1608), last lord of Fermanagh, of the Flight of the Earls. Other prominent figures of the family include John Edward Maguire (1815–1872), founder of the Cork Examiner, Sir Toby Maguire, actor (b. 1975, of distant Maguire descent) and Hugh "the Hospitable" Maguire (d. 1600), chief of Fermanagh, killed at Coll's Crossroads.

Who are some famous Maguires?

Notable bearers of the Maguire name include Cuconnacht Maguire (1565–1608), last lord of Fermanagh, of the Flight of the Earls, John Edward Maguire (1815–1872), founder of the Cork Examiner, Sir Toby Maguire, actor (b. 1975, of distant Maguire descent) and Hugh "the Hospitable" Maguire (d. 1600), chief of Fermanagh, killed at Coll's Crossroads. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.

What stories are told about the Maguire family?

The Maguire family is associated with Hugh the Hospitable at Coll's Crossroads. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.

What is the story of Hugh the Hospitable at Coll's Crossroads?

On the morning of the first of March 1600, on a bog-crossing at Coll's Crossroads near Mallow in north County Cork, Hugh the Hospitable Maguire, then about thirty-five years old, the chief of Fermanagh and the Maguire warrior of the Nine Years' War, met in single combat the English Marshal of Munster Sir Warham St Leger and killed him with a horse-pistol-shot to the chest. St Leger, in the same exchange, hit Maguire with a pistol-shot to the head; both men were dead within minutes. The event is dated to 1600.

Is McGuire the same family as Maguire?

Yes. McGuire is a historical spelling variant of the Maguire name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Mag Uidhir the same family as Maguire?

Yes. Mag Uidhir is a historical spelling variant of the Maguire name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Is Maguier the same family as Maguire?

Yes. Maguier is a historical spelling variant of the Maguire name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.

Where is the Maguire surname found today?

Ireland is the primary historical home of the Maguire surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Ireland origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Maguire family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Maguire family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Ireland so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Maguire family today?

The seat for the head of the Maguire family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.