Hugh Maguire (Lord of Fermanagh)
| Hugh Maguire (Aodh Mag Uidhir) |
|
|---|---|
| Lord of Fermanagh | |
| Reign | 1589-1600 |
| Predecessor | Cú Connacht Óg (Sr.) |
| Successor | Cú Connacht Óg (Jr.) |
| Born | ? Fermanagh, Ireland |
| Died | 18 February 1600 County Cork, Ireland |
| Consort | A daughter of Hugh O'Neill (Identity unknown) |
| House | Maguire Dynasty |
| Father | Cú Connacht Óg Mag Uidhir |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Aodh Mag Uidhir, anglicised as Hugh Maguire (died 1600) was the Lord of Fermanagh in Ireland during the reign of Elizabeth I and leader of the ancient Maguire clan; he died fighting crown authority during the Nine Years War.
Maguire's country was in the southern part of the province of Ulster, a terrain difficult of access as it was covered with forest, lakes and rivers. The crown authorities made sporadic attempts to subdue the clan, and in 1586 Maguire surrendered to the English and was pardoned in return for an agreement to pay 500 beeves to the crown, of which 200 were appropriated by the lord deputy, Sir John Perrot as his perquisite for proposing to make Maguire a captain of the country; this proposal was not carried through, even though Maguire had lodged three pledges for his loyalty in Dublin Castle.
In 1587 Maguire, along with Art O'Neill's forces, attacked and plundered a party of Scots which had invaded Down; on their return towards the river Erne, Maguire attacked O'Neill's men and killed and wounded many of them. In 1588 he was in league with Sir Brian O'Rourke, the Burkes and the Spanish following the wreckage of the Spanish Armada on the north and west coasts of Ireland. Thereafter, he was implicated in the plot of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, to murder Con MacShane O'Neill, who petitioned the lord deputy, Sir William Fitzwilliam for protection.
In 1589 Maguire succeeded his father and inherited lands in Fermanagh with a retreat in the islands of Lough Erne which he considered impregnable. He retorted to Fitzwilliam's demand that he allow the queen's writ to run in his country: "Your sheriff shall be welcome but let me know his eric [ie. honour price] that if my people should cut his head off I may levy it upon the country". His argument was that he had already paid 300 beeves to Fitzwilliam to keep the sheriff out. Nevertheless, Captain Willis was made sheriff in command of 100 men, and disaffected members of the clan were encouraged to defy Maguire. In 1590 Maguire drove the sheriff and his men into a church and besieged them there, whereupon Tyrone intervened to save the besieged from death. Fitzwilliam then invaded the country, proclaimed Maguire a traitor, and took Enniskillen.
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