Joseph Maguire Record

This a vinyl recording of Joseph Maguire singing Macnamara From Mayo (on the A Side) and My Father's Cabin (on the B side). Joe Maguire was a singer, who was born in Sydara, Ballinamallard in County Fermanagh in 1899. Growing up he decided he didn't want to work on the family farm and instead he learned to read and play the violin. After spending a year in Dublin, he emigrated to America in 1923, where he worked hard to build up a restaurant on Broadway in New York. His home in NYC became a meeting place for Irish exiles. During his life Maguire returned many times to Ireland and kept up his links with Fermanagh - his story is indicative of the many Irish people who have emigrated from these shores over the years and have become known as the Irish diaspora, spreading Irish culture and tradition around the world. I have performed many of his songs myself with the University of the Third Age in Enniskillen. Contributed by Cahal McKeown at the AHOW event at Enniskillen Library.