Magherastephana is a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. To its south-west lies

Upper Lough Erne Lough Erne ( , ) is the name of two connected lakes in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is the second-biggest lake system in Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the fourth biggest in Ireland. The lakes are widened sections of the River Erne, ...

, and it is bordered by five other baronies: Tirkennedy to the west; Knockninny to the south-west; and Coole to the south; Clankelly to the south-east; and

Clogher Clogher () is a village and civil parish in the border area of south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Blackwater, 5.8 miles from the border crossing to County Monaghan. It stands on the townlands of Clogher Demesne ...

to the north-west.

History

The barony of Magherastephana is first recorded in 1520 in the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

, as ''Machaire Stefanach'', and in

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

in 1530 as ''(an) Machaire Steabhanach''. The origins of the name however are unknown. Irish scholar John O'Donovan alleged that it was named after a ''Steafán'' (Stephen) who was the son of ''Odhar'', the progenitor of the Maguires, and a figure from the 10th century. The problem however is that the name Stephen didn't arrive into Ireland until the 12th century when the Normans brought it in with them, and in which case came in the form of ''Estievne'', which became Gaelicised as ''Stiabhna'', ''Sdíomnha'', ''Stiana'', ''Steimhín'' and ''Sleimhne''. The modern Irish forms of ''Steafán'' and ''Stiofán'' are much later borrowings from English. If ''Machaire Steafánach'' involved the Norman name Fitzstephan, which is gaelicised as ''Mac Steafáin'', the proper form would be ''Machaire na Steafánach'', however ''Steafánach'' appears to have the function of an adjective. The closest parallels to other gaelicised Norman names in baronies would be ''Bharóideach'' ( Barretts) and ''Choistealach'' ( Costello). The MacCaffery ( ga, Mac Gafraidh) sept of the Clan Maguire were centered at Ballymacaffry within this barony. They would become one of the five most powerful families in Fermanagh by 1580.

List of main settlements

Brookeborough Brookeborough (; Irish language, Irish: ''Achadh Lon'', meaning 'Field of the Blackbirds') is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, at the westerly foot of Slieve Beagh. It lies about eleven miles east of Enniskillen, just off the A4 r ...

Lisnaskea Lisnaskea () is the second-biggest settlement in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated mainly in the townland of Lisoneill, with some areas in the townland of Castle Balfour Demesne, both in the civil parish of Aghalurcher and th ...

Maguiresbridge Maguiresbridge is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The village is named after the bridge over the Colebrooke River, first built by the local Maguire family about 1760. The village is 8 miles from Enniskillen and 3 miles fr ...

List of civil parishes

Below is a list of civil parishes in Magherastephana: * Aghalurcher (split with barony of

) *Aghavea * Derrybrusk (also partly in barony of Tirkennedy)

References

{{coord missing, County Fermanagh