|
 MacGUIRE
is a distinguished Gaelic or [K]eltic family. According to 'The Origin Of
Clan Maguire' by Miss Ivy Rooney, the Maguire clan is said to have
originated in the middle of Ireland in the County of Westmeath, in the
province of Leinster and to have moved from there to the county of
Fermanagh in the province of Ulster, modern day Northern Ireland. (source:
Kathleen
Neil Maguire Bulletin 1996 p.11)
The
name is derived from the Irish Gaelic, Mag-Uidhir (Mag, Mac - son of &
Uidhir - Dun colored, sallow). You can hear the actual pronunciation in
Irish of the name at the PBS site Irish
in America - Maguire.
Uidhir
is the possessive form of the proper name of Odhar & an interesting
fact about that name is that it was in common use at the time of our
progenitor because people are prone to name their children after hero's,
Odhar being the name sake of a "hero-saint" who was St.
Patrick's servant & chariot-driver, who reputedly saved his master's
life by taking his place when his life was sought by pagans in about 452
A.D.
(For
more information on this please consult The
Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XI and do a search on the page for the
name of Odhran.
Today,
the Maguire surname is approximately 39th place of the most common
surnames in Ireland, but it definitely holds first place in the County of
Fermanagh! The majority of those who use the spelling Maguire are chiefly
associated with County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland, and those who use
the spelling MacGuire or McGuire usually originated from Mayo or
Roscommon. Other various spellings of this surname are; MacGiver, MacGuier,
MacGuiver, MacGuire, MacGwire, Macquer, Macquire, Maguier, Maguir, Maguyre,
Magwire, McGuire, McQuire.
On looking up your website I thought that I
should point out that our tartan is Scottish not Irish as I am recorded
with the Lord Lyon as the first Scottish Maguire. I have attached a
picture of the tartan so that it may be seen in real form rather than on
print so that your potential customers may get a better idea of what the
tartan looks like, I have also attached the Scottish crest that can be
worn by any Scottish Maguire I do hope that this may be of help to you
as any time that we wear the kilt people always remark on how nice the
tartan is, thank you once again for your good work in setting this up
for us. Would be kind enough to let us know if this gets through to
you.
Kind regards
Frank Mcguire
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