My g-g-grandmother was Mary Maguire born on February 14, 1824 in Ireland. Mary Maguire's mother was Bridget Kerwin; Mary Maguire's father was Bernard Maguire; both of Ireland.
Bernard and Bridget Maguire emigrated from Ireland to Quebec and brought with them the following children:
Mary born 2/14/1824
Susan born 9/18/1828
James born 4/23/1833
John born 4/28/1834
Thomas born 4/6/1835
Anne born 2/13/1839
Philip born 1/14/1841
Patrick (date unknown)
Mary emigrated to Canada and married John Dunn on November 21, 1844 in St. Sylvestre, Quebec, Canada. They had my great-grandmother, Margaret, in December 1860 and a son, James, on December 8, 1845. After John Dunn's death, Margaret and her mother, Mary, moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Mary Maguire's second marriage was to John O'Neill and Margaret married my great-grandfather, William Hugh Monaghan. William Hugh Monahan, my Great-Grandfather, was born on November 8, 1855 in Portland, ME. He married Margaret Dunn on July 15, 1884 in Boston, Massachusetts.
McGuire is an Irish patronymic name, Anglicized from the Gaelic Mag Uidhir, which means "son of Odhar" whose name meant 'sallow.' St. Odhar was the charioteer of St. Patrick. Variations are McGwire, McGwir, McGuiver, McGuier, Maguire , and Maguier. The name Maguire comes from the Irish Mag Uidhir meaning dun coloured.
The Maguires were the leading sept in Fermanagh and staunch allies of the earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell. It's said that the warrior wives of the Maguires and the other northern clans goaded Mabel Bagenal, the English wife of Hugh O'Neill and so played a part in the destruction of the marriage. In the 1590s, between 1590 and 1595 the Maguires skirmished with sir Richard Bingham's English settlers in Connaught. Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone pretended to mediate between them and the settlers but was secretly advising them to bide their time until English armed forces deteriorated in Ireland. The settlements continued to expand into Maguire country and all along the border counties though.
In 1593 Red Hugh O'Donnell escaped from Dublin castle and made his way back to Ulster where he allied himself with The Maguires and O'Donnells. In 1594, The Maguires broke through the Gap of the Erne, overran the plain of Roscommon and routed Bingham's forces. In 1595 they and the O'Donnells broke through the English garrison line that stretched from Newry to Lough Erne, surrounding Fort Monaghan in the process. The fort was eventually relieved but the relieving forces were badly mauled when they left the fort.
The Maguires and their Scots gallowglasses were prominant in the battle of the Yellow Ford, one of the greatest militery defeats suffered by the British. They also featured in Maurice Walsh's 'Blackcock's Feather' a novel about the nine years war in Ulster. Hugh Maguire was killed along with Warham St. Leger at the battle of Carrigrohane near Cork in 1600.
John Francis Maguire (1815-1872) was a journalist and politician. He was born in Cork. He was called to the bar in 1843 and in 1841 had founded the Cork Examiner in support of Daniel O'Connell. He was an MP for Dungannon from 1852 to 1865 and in 1865 was also MP for Cork, the year he died. He supported nationalist policies on the land question, disestablishment and reform of the Poor Law when he was in parliament. He made three visits to Pope Pius 1X in Rome and published a book on the pontificate which prompted the pope to name him Knight Commander of St. Gregory. He was Lord Mayor of Cork four times, published at least six books, among them 'The Irish In America' which was written after a six month trip to America and Canada. He died in Dublin on November 1st 1872 and was buried in Cork.
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