Maginass History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Early Origins of the Maginass family

Early History of the Maginass family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Maginass research. Another 140 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1539, 1543, 1584, 1640, 1703, 1759, 1797, 1798 and 1868 are included under the topic Early Maginass History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Maginass Spelling Variations

Irish names were rarely spelled with much consistency during the Middle Ages. As the many spelling variations of the name Maginass dating from that time attests: Genis, Guinness, Magennis, Guinnessy, McGuinness and many more.

Early Notables of the Maginass family

Prominent amongst the family at this time was Hugo Magennis (d. 1640) who was the Franciscan Bishop of Down and Connor; the second Viscount Iveagh, Brian Magennis who was killed in action in 1703; Richard and Richard the...
Another 38 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Maginass Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Maginass family

Ireland, as an English-controlled colony in the 19th century, suffered the loss of hundreds of thousands of its native people. The system of land ownership often did not sufficiently provide for the tenants who farmed the land. This was most clearly evidenced in the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s. Previous years of great demand for grain products and livestock had run the land down. Many landowners foreseeing an upcoming crisis often removed families from the land or forced them to rely on pitifully small plots where only a subsistence living could be made. When the famines of 1845, 46, and 48 hit, many had nothing. Disease and starvation became widespread and families boarded ships for elsewhere any way they could. Those who went to America were instrumental in developing the industrial power known today: many Irish were employed in hard labor positions in factories and in building the bridges, canals, roads, and railways necessary for a strong industrial nation. Research of early immigration and passenger lists has shown that many bearers of the name Maginass: John Guinnessy, who settled in New York in 1849; William Guinnes who settled in Barbados in 1663; Pat and Mary Guinnessy who settled in Quebec with their ten children in 1849..