Skip to content
Maguire Heritage
Mag Uidhir · Fir Manach · Loch Éirne

Lords of the Lakelands

Preserving the lineage of the Maguires of Fermanagh — the chiefs who ruled from the islands and shores of Lough Erne for more than three centuries.

Explore the biographies
Our purpose

Preserving the Lineage

The Maguire coat of arms: a mounted knight with raised sword on a green shield, with helm, plumes and the motto Justitia et fortitudo invincibilia sunt
Justitia et fortitudo invincibilia sunt“Justice and fortitude are invincible” — the motto of the Maguire arms.

From their inauguration at Sciath Ghabhra to the castle at Enniskillen, the Maguires shaped Fermanagh’s story. We keep that story within reach of their descendants.

The Society researches, records and shares the history of the Maguire clan — publishing biographies of notable ancestors, running genealogy workshops, and helping Maguires around the world trace their own line back to the lakelands.

About the Society
The lordship of Fermanagh

Three centuries on the Erne

  1. 1264 Donn Carrach First of the Maguire kings of Fermanagh.
  2. 1400s Enniskillen Castle Hugh “the Hospitable” raises the first castle on the Erne crossing.
  3. 1490s Annals of Ulster Compiled on Belle Isle, in the heart of Maguire country.
  4. 1594 Ford of the Biscuits Hugh Maguire’s victory opens the Nine Years’ War.
  5. 1600 Fall of Hugh The lord of Fermanagh is killed in Munster.
  6. 1607 Flight of the Earls Cú Chonnacht Maguire sails for the Continent with Tyrone and Tyrconnell.
Maguire country

A kingdom of water and islands

Fermanagh’s lordship was held together by Lough Erne. Its places still carry the family’s memory.

  1. Enniskillen CastleSeat of the Maguires on the river crossing.
  2. Devenish IslandMonastic island and round tower of Lower Lough Erne.
  3. Belle IsleWhere the Annals of Ulster were written.
  4. Sciath Ghabhra, LisnaskeaInauguration place of the Maguire chiefs.
IEnniskillen IIDevenish IIIBelle Isle IVLisnaskea Lower Lough Erne Upper Lough Erne ILLUSTRATIVE · NOT TO SCALE N
From the Society

Latest updates

Biographies
d. 1303

Donn Carrach Maguire

Founder of the Maguire kingship of Fermanagh.

Store
Every purchase supports our work

Store

Maguire merchandise that helps fund the Society’s research.

Biographies

Chiefs of the name

All biographies →

Is your family a Maguire line?

Join a genealogy workshop or send us your family’s story. We help descendants connect their records to Fermanagh.

Contact the Society See workshops