As usual when I've tried to trace my McGuire line, I seem to come up somewhat empty handed. I can find Charles and Sarah (McGrath) McGuire living in New York City in 1870 right where I expect them to be. They are in Greenwich Village. That's the best I can offer on my McGuire side right now except that I think I found Charles in 1850 New York City too. The only other clue that I have about locating the origins of Charles McGuire, my great great grandfather, is that my own grandfather, Frank McGuire, indicated that he was from County Fermanagh.
In my quest to find my McGuire's, I have found that County Fermanagh is known as Maguire's Country and is a fairly common name of origin for the area. So, to say that your family name is from a certain part of Ireland can still be pretty meaningless if you haven't actually pinpointed your exact family line. Besides, it would appear that McGuire and Maguire a interchangeable. I have not been able to find any information about the different spellings of this surname except that there are at least two and they are pretty much all descendant from the same line.
It might be helpful to prove McGuire or Maguire ancestry via DNA. I have considered this. How confusing would it be though when I tell the DNA researchers that I'm a Maguire too. On my father's side, I am a McGuire from New York City and County Fermanagh. On my mother's side, I am a Maguire from Termonfeckin, Louth, Ireland going back to the 1600s. "What?" You might ask? I thought the Maguire's were from Maguire's Country in County Fermanagh. Well, they were but it was so long ago that no one can really trace it. DNA is probably the best bet. My results would probably be confusing as I stated before. Let me not forget to mention that the Maguire's of Termonfeckin also wrote their surname as McGuire for a while.
I have asked the question in various forums and message boards whether anyone has research about the two most common variations of the Maguire (McGuire) name but no one really has a good answer. My own family tree muddies the research for sure. I'm either the best candidate for McGuire/Maguire DNA testing or the worst. Who really knows what they are looking for when it comes to DNA research. I question if the researchers truly know what they are in search of too.
Pinpointing my McGuire's has proven challenging. Finding my Maguire's in Ireland has proven to be rather coincidentally easy since the descendants live next door to another of my family line even today. While my other Termonfeckin family tree is very well traced and complete, the best I've gotten out of my Maguire side are just a few key points. The Maguire's went by McGuire for a time and they were definitely in the Temonfeckin area before my other family line, the Flanagan's, placing them there in the 1600s. My best bet at proving this is still to come. In the meantime, I might just need to see about those Maguire's (McGuire's) in Fermanagh.
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