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| Enniskillen Castle - Home of the Maguires |
There is little doubt that the family was involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and that Edward's grandfather was relocated to the area around Ardfert because of that involvement.
The rebellion began as an attempt to seize control of the English administration by surprise in order to force concessions for the Catholics. Conor Maguire and Hugh Oge MacMahon were to seize Dublin Castle and Phelim O'Neill and Rory O'Moore were to take control of Derry and other northern towns. Unfortunately, Owen O'Connolly revealed the plot to authorities before the 23 Oct 1641 attempt and Maguire and MacMahon were arrested.
While the plan failed, the uprising continued. Known as the Irish Confederate Wars, the fighting pitted Irish Catholics against English and Scots settlers. Additionally many Catholic families either did not participate, or fought on the side of the English.
At the time in Fermanagh, there were two prominent related Maguire families:
The Irish Maguires were the family of Cuchonnacht II the 14th Prince who died in 1589. His son, Hugh Aodh Mag Uidhir was Lord of Fermanagh during the reign of Elizabeth I. He died in 1600 while fighting the English in the 9 year war (1595-1603). His son Cuchonnacht III, the 16th Prince, fled to Genoa where he died in 1608. Portions of this family settled in Tempo, some remained loyal to the British in the 1641 rebellion, others fought on the side of the rebels.
The English Maguires were the House of Lurg. Conor Roe (Cornelius) Maguire was knighted by Elizabeth on 15 May 1585. He was considered a traitor by his Catholic relatives. Bryan (Sir Bernard Maguire became the first Lord of Enniskillen in 1627. He married a sister of General Owen O'Neil and died in 1633. His son Lord Conor Maguire was born in 1616 and executed by the English for his part in the Uprising in 1645. His son Conor inherited the title and died wihout issue. Rory Magwire of Hassets towne (Barony of Lurge) was considered an arch rebell. He died in 1648. His son Rory became the 5th Lord of Enniskillen.
It is this second family that Edward is most likely connected to, most likely as a descendant of a younger son of either the first Conor, or of Bryan. The 1641 depositions are full of references to Rory Maguire. Stories by English settlers of being evicted from their homes and left naked on the road are common. There are a few mentions of James, is one or more the supposed grandfather of Edward? The first names brother Rory and Bryan.
"James ô Gallogher of Dresternen in the Countie of Fermanagh yeoman a protestant sworne & examined saith That in the begining of the Rebellion vizt the xxiiijth of October 1641 Hee this Deponent at Dresterman aforesaid was forceibly deprivd robbd or otherwise dispojld of his beastes Cattle & Mares Corne howsehold goodes apparrell and debts of the value & to his losse of fowr score < a > Powndes ster By and by the meanes of Brian Maguire of the Monntaines nore Callohill in the same County gent his 2 brothers James Maguire & Rory Maguire his brother & their servantes souldjers and partakers whose names he knows not: And quickly thereupon this deponent with his wiffe & their children fled away for saffety of their lives to the howse of one Mr Dennis Sherriden a minister whoe dwelleth at drumcore in the County of Cavan: Where he this deponent & they (amongst a great number of other English) were harboured & pr savd from the rage & fury of the malicious & Cruell irish Rebells vntill about a month nere & then they came thence with the English army
Signum predicti Jacobi Gallogher
Jur 4o Augusti 1643
Joh Watson
Edw Pigott"
A second document names James of Knocknynny, gent with a brother Cahill and a third names James oge Maguire of Ballykilcome gent along with a long list of Maguires including Rory the son of Bryan.
Read More
- Princes of Fermanagh
- The 1641 Depositions and the Irish Rebellion edited by Annaleigh Margey, Eamon Darcy, Elaine Murphy 2015
- 1641 Depositions - Images and Translations - Trinity College
- History of Ireland - 1641 The Irish Uprising
- Irish Rebellion of 1641
- The Plantation of Ulster - The Story of County Fermanagh
- The 1641 Rising and English Civil War
- The Greater Story of the Maguires
- The History of Enniskillen
Hello. I've been conducting a fair amount of DNA research into this very topic, as the McGuires of Ballycroy, Mayo, from whom I descend, share a lot of DNA with the McElligotts of Kerry who are also ancestors of Edward. As there's a lot of pedigree collapse and endogamy in the McGuire/Maguire line, distant matches are seeming to show up where you wouldn't normally expect them.
ReplyDeleteI appear to have quite a few tiny matches with descendants of the Mervyn family - we know Lady Deborah Mervyn, Rory Maguire's wife, lived on the Blennerhassett estate in Lurg - and I even have some apparent links with the Dannetts, near ancestors of Lady Deborah, who go back even further. Some matches with descendants of Deborah's brother Audley would help even more.
Now, I can't rule out the possibility that these matches are just statistical noises since they're at the 8cM-9cM range, and perhaps all I have are a few coincidences to peruse, but they're pointing to the possibility at least that the McGuires you mention are descended from Rory.
By the way: I get quite a few matches with descendants of John (father of Lt James Felix McGuire), whom I believe was Edward's brother.
There are further historical Ballycroy/Rory links to take into account, as Rory's grand-daughter Eleanor married Col. Manus O'Donnell of Mayo. I did read somewhere that Rory's daughter-in-law, Mary O'Reilly Maguire (married at different points to Rory Óg and Hugh Maguire of Tempo) may have died in Castleisland, Kerry, not far from where James Maguire, Edward's grandfather, was born, but we'd need documentary evidence to support this.
Hard documentary paper trails would put the matter to bed, but they simply might no longer exist. If indeed Edward (and my Ballycroy line) are descended from Rory, there are very probably thousands of us out there by now.
-Richard McGuire
I should just add that I imagine the line of succession could work like this: Rory (1619-1648) > Rory Óg (Abt. 1648-1708) > James Maguire (married to Julia McElligott, likely the daughter of Col. Roger McElligott; 1666-1718) > his children, including Constantine (1692, married to Cecilia MacNamara Reagh, daughter of Cathal McNamara Reagh. John (born 1715) and Edward (born abt. 1720), and maybe my Ballycroy ancestor.
ReplyDeleteJames Felix is the son of John (born 1715); another John, married to a Rachel Burns, is the son of his brother Edward. Would that make sense? Of all the applications made by descendants of Edward, there's one that features dates that make sense. -R