The Annals of Ulster record the Gaelic Maguire Family in County Fermanagh from the late 13th century. The Maguires were Chieftains in Fermanagh until the close of the 16th century.

Control was centred at Lisnaskea, where chieftains were also inaugurated at SCIATH GABHRA (The Moate Fort), Cornashee. Probably to extend defences, a fortified stronghold was built in the 15th century by Hugh 'the Hospitable' Maguire at the important junction of Upper and Lower Lough Erne. Control of this point ensured control of the Erne and the Junior branch of the Maguires ruled Fermanagh from Enniskillen Castle throughout the 16th century.

Feuding with other Gaelic chieftains was common at this time. However, the Maguires retained ultimate control until finally were unable to withstand an amphibian assault by the Elizabethan army in 1594. Illustrated by the English soldier, John Thomas, a member of Captain Bingham's army, one can visualise how the assault must have appeared to the fortress defenders. ' Captaine Bingham's Campe' on the right, on the site of the West Battery, is locally called The Redoubt. On the left' The governer's battle' is on the site of the East Battery and is locally known as The Forthill.

Other events were also taking place at this period e.g. siege of Belleek Castle, and all contributed to paving the way for the establishment of the Plantation in County Fermanagh.

GAELIC ARMS -

Heraldry may have been in use by the Gaelic Irish by the end of the twelfth century. Our knowledge is derived almost entirely from seals. Aodh Reamhar O'Neill, King of Ulster who died in 1325, used a seal from which apparently the later arms of O'Neill evolved.
While Gaelic chiefs at first assumed arms without reference to any authority, voluntary registration of these arms in Dublin in the sixteenth century was doubtless related to acceptance of English rule, albeit seldom wholehearted or long lasting.

The tradition of the Irish establishing themselves abroad permanently began before the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 and the subsequent flight of the Earls. A second great wave of emigration followed the Siege of Limerick in 1690 and thousands took up armed service in, e.g, France and Spain. Arms and attested pedigrees were necessary at that time, as proof of gentility for anyone seeking a commission in a European army. While members of certain Gaelic families may have had genealogies extending for many generations, their ancestors may never have attached importance to the use of arms. The tradition, of the Irish abroad seeking grants for arms from home, continues to the present.

MAGUIRE ARMS -

It is unlikely that The Maguires registered arms prior to the seventeenth century.

ARMS ASSOCIATED WITH DEVENISH ISLAND -

Devenish Island lower graveyard, contains the grave of one "Thomas Maguire, who died May ye 25th, 1772. Aged 74 years", on which are recorded " Maguire Arms". McKenna (1897) defines the arms thus - "Upon waves of sea an ancient three-mast galley, sails set and flags flotant; in vase a fish, facing all to the sinster; over the shield a royal crown, surrounded by the crest; upon a wreath a stag couchant; mantling pendant from the wreath".

The inclusion of the three-masted galley has given rise to possible associations with Philip (The Maguire, 1365-1395), who in the fourteenth century is reputed to have maintained mastery over the waters of Lough Erne with a very large fleet of vessels.

Much research remains to be done in this area.

 

-"Upon waves of sea an ancient three-mast galley, sails set and flags flotant; in vase a fish, facing all to the sinster; over the shield a royal crown, surrounded by the crest; upon a wreath a stag couchant; mantling pendant from the wreath".