What's in a name? Well, last names are like a map that charts our ancestor's path throughout history. When you start searching names, you discover many things. Today, I'm going to show you some things I found out about the McGuire name.

 

McGuire is considered to be an Irish name. Lots of people will argue that if it's spelled "McGuire" it's Irish, but if it's spelled "Maguire" it's Scottish. Our relatives say that when they came to America they started spelling it with the "Mc," but in Ireland it was "Ma." Other's say that names were spelled according to how people pronounced them, and the spelling depended upon both literacy and hearing. Lots of people mistakenly spell McGuire as McQuire, because the "c" makes the "G" sound like a "Q."

 

Some historical background indicates the name McGuire, or Maguire stems from the Magi of Eire...who were the priests of ancient Ireland. A slightly different rendition of the name pops up throughout ancient Europe. Like Magyar, the former name of Hungary, the Ural Mountains and ancient Ur, entirely known as Mugheir, or more correctly "Mugayyar."

 

If you recall stories about the Old Testament's Babylon, you recognize Ur, of the Chaldees, as the great city where Abraham once lived. Not only is the correct spelling similar to Maguire, but it was religiously significant also. It isn't difficult to imagine the Magi missionaries emigrating from ancient Babylon, through the Ural Mountains and Magyar (Hungary), to Eire (Ireland).

 

An old Irish book (Irish Wisdom) claims that Eire was the religious center of pre-Roman Europe. A more recent publication "The Queen's Crowning" proves it by detailing the traditions, ancestry and symbolism surrounding the Coronation ceremony of the Irish, Scots and British Kings spanning thousands of years.

 

The great climax of the Coronation is an oak chair, beneath which rests "Jacob's Stone," the sacred palladium of his race. Known as the "Lia Fail," or Stone of Destiny, it was first used a Tara, Ireland to crown the Irish Kings, and later moved to Scone, where the Scottish Kings were crowned. Edward I brought it to Westminster and had it placed beneath the oak Coronation Chair made by Walter in 1297.

 

This concludes my story about the name "McGuire." As you can see, names have a lot of history attached to them. What began as a simple search for a name developed into a journey to the Magi's of ancient Babylon, Ireland, Scotland and the ceremonial traditions of Britain's royalty.