Edward McGuires Ancestry - pt 2

Enniskillen Castle - Home of the Maguires

While the exact lineage of Edward is not proven, his Uncle John Sigismund's connection to the house of Lurg was documented.

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

Edward McGuire's Ancestry pt 1

By The original uploader was
Peter Geymayer at German Wikipedia -
Meyers Konversationslexikon, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12112298

John Sigismund Maguire was a Knight of the Imperial Military Order of Maria Theresa. It was awarded to the General (of Kerry) for his capture of Dresden in 1758. (A Military History of Ireland)

There is much confusion as to the ancestry of Edward Maguire, especially if you read the many online family trees.  I believe it should be possible to sort this out, but at this point it has not been done.

One clue we have is the family tradition that Edward was on his way to Austria to join the army thanks to his Uncle John Sigismund Maguire.  The following sketch of General Macguire would tend to corroborate the connection, giving Co. Kerry as his home as does the Military History of Ireland.

History of the Irish Brigades in the Service of France

John Cornelius O'Callaghan - Dublin 1854

The Kerry connection puts the lie to some of the online trees that have Edward's father and even Edward born in Fermanagh.   With the prevalence of the names Constantine (Cuconnaught) and John in the Maguire family I think that researcher's have grabbed at possible records and put them together as gospel. What does seem likely is that the incorrect connections are probably relatives.

Conjecture names Edward's father, the brother of John above, as Constantine Maguire, born abt 1661. He married Julia McElligot (1663-   ) abt 1706.  Many of the online trees state that Constantine died in Virginia in 1750.  I have not seen any documentation proving that fact and in truth it seems very unlikely.  Constantine married Julia McElligot (1663-   ) abt 1706. The online trees attribute four sons to them, no actual facts have been shown to prove facts about Constantine and his family.

• Thomas
• James
• John 1715  - 1750 Virginia m.  Catherine Mary McGuire (1722 - ) - again all the Ancestry trees are copied from each other, show and many show his son as his father.  
• Edward 1717  

Constantine and John Sigismund Maguire were most likely the sons of James McGuire was born abt 1620  in Fermanagh, Ireland.  James married Cecelia (McNamara) Reagh (1623-1665). Supposedly, James settled near Tralee, McElligott, Kerry after political/religious disturbances in 1641. Again, this is all conjecture at this point, I have found no proof  of any of it.

The story as told here is related in William G Stannard's, The McGuire Family in Virginia: With notices of its Irish Ancestry and some connected Virtinia Families (Richmond VA: Old Dominion Press, 1926).  The problem is that many genealogies of the 1920 era were somewhat created, so without further corroboration, we can only be sure of the descendancy from Edward himself.  That is well documented.

The Maguires of Fermanagh by John O'Donovan
Ball of the Wild Geese - St Patricks Day in Hapsburg Austria 1766
Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography Vol IV pg 343-352