McManus Maguire of County Fermanagh, Ulster, Ireland:
A Y-DNA and Historical Analysis

Phil McManus, Oregon, USA

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Background of the clan

This clan hails from a prominent family that has lived in the Fermanagh region for centuries under one name or another. Migrating from around the River Liffey in Dublin in latter part of the 300’s AD, the hUi Criomthann family had their main residency around Clogher in County Tyrone. The more prominent branch of the clan, that of the Sil nDaimine gave rise to most of the families found in this area. As the branches waxed and waned in power through the centuries we find ourselves further dividing and refining this clan.

At the beginning of the 1100’s the most chief of these related tribes was the Tealluidhir, a branch of the Clan Luaghan which had taken up residence in the Kinawley area of Fermanagh. This was the seed that gave rise to the Maguires. The Maguires, in the late 1200’s made a bid for power and took by force the whole Fermanagh region and moved their seat of power near Aghalurcher and modern Lisnaskea. By controlling the ways in and out of the area, both land and water, they effectively set themselves up to holding sway over the people and wealth of the region.

In the late 1300’s there were several major clan divisions of the Maguires as the tribe became increasingly larger and more powerful. One of these divisions, or sept, was the descendants of one man, Manus Maguire. It was his line, who based their power over Upper Lough Erne while paying homage to the Maguires, that became Mac Maghnusa and later McManus.

Historical Documentation

The Annals of Ulster, or more correctly, the Annals of Senat, is a product of compilation by Cathal Óg MacManus, a prominent cleric, and his scribes. It is by-and-large a history of the diocese of Clogher with bits and pieces of related and/or interesting events thrown in for good mix. We were lucky to have him do the compilation because if one looks closely, he put in the birth and deaths of his own family and cousins, even of the female members. This is rare as you usually see only the deeds and deaths of the nobles and notables in most other annals but Cathal had taken the care to record his own family for posterity. In addition to Cathal’s texts we have the O’Clery Book of Genealogies and MacFirbis’ Book of Genealogies to assist us in our research. Accordingly we have an almost complete recording of the family down to the late 1500’s, which even records a subdivision of the MacManuses named MacBriens.

From that time to the mid-1700’s the genealogical picture becomes less clear as the Irish lost their hold on former power and wealth. The best lands were given to the English and Scottish while the families became subservient to the new landowners. It was from this time that the McManuses became tenant farmers of these new landlord, took up refuge with more powerful families, such as the O’Neils in County Antrim, or moved to other areas of Ireland to become obscure or eventually disappear from view altogether.

To find the familiar names today we have to look not to the noble writings of the clerics and others but to those records more representative of the less powerful - rent rolls, pardons for offenses to the crown, tax lists, and other governmental documents.

This break in the recorded history is usually the stumbling block for most genealogists - professional and casual alike. Migration from Ireland has also confused the picture presented to the family researchers who are not sure of their origins in Ireland. The McManus/MacManus name has multiple origins and the most knowledgeable researchers sometimes become lost trying to make heads or tails of the fragments that have been left of their family history. Other than creating a time machine or finding that four hundred year old Irish Methuselah, we have, thus, limited access to unlocking the history of our name through the old records. However, we do have a silent witness that has been with us from time immemorial – our genetic fingerprint which is concealed in our own DNA. Our chromosomes have recently become a gift to family history researchers because they have answers which are not always present in the document record available to us.

Enter the Chromosome

Our own chromosomes are basic records of ourselves that we pass down from generation to generation, if somewhat imperfectly. The parts of the story that hardly change, that of the male Y-DNA, provides evidence and clues to our origins and how closely or not we relate to the next person. By testing the Y-DNA of a group of similar named males and comparing the numerical result between them, we can possibly group them into families, or branches of a family. Calculating the closeness of their results through a comparison is an easy process which can be understood by even the novice family history researcher. There are limits to everything but this is a powerful tool which must be utilised by any serious family history researcher.

For this to work well, we need to look at groups of individuals both related by surname or by historical family affinity (branches of clans). The broader based the group, the more telling results. Metaphorically speaking, this is like a jigsaw puzzle where one piece tells us very little about the whole picture but as we add the pieces (more individual Y-DNA testers) the picture becomes much clearer and we are able to link individuals into family groups and origins.

A Disturbed Genetic Population

Unlike the McManus O’Conors whose historical origins are in the more socially isolated west of Ireland, the McManus Maguire lived in a more social and historically dynamic region where a mix of Y-DNA from different genetic backgrounds has developed. This presents a problem of complexity for the researcher. Fermanagh has always been an area that was open to influxes of new people and, accordingly, became a more prosperous regional domicile. This complexity can benefit from the unravelling effects of Y-DNA analysis.

Conclusions

The first group of results from this study showed a strong and somewhat close relationship between a number of the McManuses to the Maguires. Especially those Maguires in the Trinity College, Dublin early testing and those who participated in later tests. Some of the Maguires had well documented pedigrees and could show their relationship in the larger picture. This made it easy to determine with confidence an ancestral result (modal haplotype) and, therefore, a basis for identifying the McManus Maguire Y-DNA profile. The more recent results are showing small subdivisions within this group, as well as other possible and surprising origins for McManuses. This may be where the answer lies to where the surname of McManus in Ulster was adopted. Answers will become much clearer as the volume of testers increases in the future.