MCMANUS: In Irish Mac Maghnuis. In two seperate cases it designated descent from a person called Maghnus. The first is descended from Maghnus (d. 1181) son of Turlough O'Connor King of Ireland and was seated in the parish of Kilronan, Co. Roscommon. The other a distinguished Fermanagh family, lived on the shores of Lough Erne. The isle of Belle Isle in that lake was formerly called Ballymacmanus. These are a branch of the Maguires. MacManus is one of the few names from which the prefix Mac has not been widely dropped. In some parts of Ulster it is disguised under the English form Moyne.
            The most famous of the sept in Irish history, Terence Bellew MacManus (1823-1860), hailed from Co. Fermanagh. He fought beside William Smith O'Brien at Balingarry and was sentenced to death and transported, but escaped and went to America. His Funeral in Dublin was the occasion of the greatest Fenian demonstration ever seen. From the Roscommon side comes Cathal Óg MacManus (1439-1498) dean of Lough Erne and vicar-general of the diocese of Clogher, who was responsible for the compilation of the Annals of Ulster. BACK