Sam Maguire
Encyclopedia
Samuel Maguire (1879 - 6 February 1927), an Irish republican and Gaelic footballer, is chiefly remembered as the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

 of the Sam Maguire Cup
Sam Maguire Cup
The Sam Maguire Cup, often called The Sam , is the name of the cup that is awarded to winners of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland...

, given to the All-Ireland Senior Champions
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier competition in Gaelic football, is a series of games organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association and played during the summer and early autumn...

 of Gaelic football
Gaelic football
Gaelic football , commonly referred to as "football" or "Gaelic", or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...

.

Early life

He was born in the townland
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...

 of Mallabraca near the town of Dunmanway
Dunmanway
Dunmanway is a town in County Cork, in the southwest of Ireland. It is the geographical centre of the region known as West Cork. It is probably best known as the birthplace of Sam Maguire, an Irish Protestant republican, for whom the trophy of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is...

 in West Cork
West Cork
West Cork refers to a geographical area in south-west Ireland, lying within Ireland's largest county, County Cork. Traditionally a popular tourist destination, the area is seen as being distinct from the more populated northern or eastern parts of the county, as well as the more urban area of...

 and was a member of the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...



He had four brothers and two sisters. Willie was the eldest then Mary, Jack , Dick, Paul (who married a Roman Catholic and whose son became a Roman Catholic priest), Sam and Elizabeth. The Maguires farmed 200 acre (0.809372 km²) of land. He went to school in Dunmanway
Dunmanway
Dunmanway is a town in County Cork, in the southwest of Ireland. It is the geographical centre of the region known as West Cork. It is probably best known as the birthplace of Sam Maguire, an Irish Protestant republican, for whom the trophy of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is...

 and then to the national school in Ardfield. This is the same school Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...

 later attended. At the age of 20 Maguire passed the exams.

Professional life

He then took a job in the British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

 Civil Service
British Civil Service
Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government - the government of the United Kingdom, composed of a Cabinet of ministers chosen by the prime minister, as well as the devolved...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Maguire joined and captained the successful London Hibernians Ghaelic football team to several All-Ireland finals between 1900 and 1904.

In 1907 he went into the administration of the London GAA
London GAA
The London County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or London GAA is one of the county boards outside Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in London...

, becoming the Chairman of the London County Board and a regular delegate to the Annual Congress of the GAA. He later became a trustee of Croke Park
Croke Park
Croke Park in Dublin is the principal stadium and headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association , Ireland's biggest sporting organisation...

. Coincidentally, Vice-Chairman of the London County Board was Liam McCarthy
Liam McCarthy Cup
The MacCarthy Perpetual Challenge Cup is a trophy awarded annually by the Gaelic Athletic Association to the hurling team that wins the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.-The trophy:...

 who gave his name to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
The GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for the top hurling teams in Ireland....

 Cup.

He is also remembered in the political sphere for recruiting the nationalist leader Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...

 to the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Irish Republican Brotherhood
The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...

 in 1909. Sam worked for the Irish Republican Brotherhood in London until 1921. He returned to Dublin in 1921 and got a job in the newly established Irish
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...

 civil service, but because of his political opinions and his sympathies to the Anti-Treaty forces, he quickly clashed with his superiors and was dismissed.

Death

Cork-based Margaret Walsh, who has written Sam Maguire: The Enigmatic Man Behind Ireland's Most Prestigious Trophy, says that "what became of him was very sad". "In 1924, he was sacked and deprived of his pension. They (the Irish Government) gave him £100 and that was it. "In 1925, he came back to west Cork to live. He then developed TB and died in penury in 1927 aged 48. They say that he died of a broken heart and penniless," she says.

He is buried in the cemetery of Saint Mary's in Dunmanway. A Celtic cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...

 was raised over his grave with a simple inscription

Erected to the memory of Samuel Maguire, Mallabraca who died 6th February 1927 by the people of Dunmanway and his numerous friends throughout Ireland and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in recognition of his love for his country.



Dunmanway's Dohenys
Dohenys
Dohenys is the Gaelic football and Hurling Club in the town of Dunmanway, County Cork, Ireland. It won its only Cork Senior Club Football Championship in 1897....

 GAA club named their home pitch Sam Maguire Park in his honour, and the club's under-age teams compete under the moniker "Sam Maguires".
On September 15, 2002, a statue of Sam Maguire was unveiled as the centrepiece of a new €500,000 plaza in Dunmanway
Dunmanway
Dunmanway is a town in County Cork, in the southwest of Ireland. It is the geographical centre of the region known as West Cork. It is probably best known as the birthplace of Sam Maguire, an Irish Protestant republican, for whom the trophy of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship is...

's town centre.

Sam Maguire Cup

The Sam Maguire Cup was designed and presented to the Gaelic Athletic Association
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...

 in 1928 in his honour after his death in 1927. The cup cost £300 in 1928 (equivalent to €26,395 now). After it had been commissioned by the committee under the chairmanship of Dr Pat McCartan, the task of making the cup was given to Hopkins and Hopkins, a jewellers and watchmakers, of O'Connell Bridge, Dublin.
Although Hopkins and Hopkins were commissioned to make the original Sam Maguire Cup, this company did not have the facilities for such a big job. Instead, they outsourced the making of the cup to the silversmith Matthew J. Staunton of D’Olier Street , Dublin.

Kildare
Kildare GAA
For more information see Kildare Senior Club Football Championship or Kildare Senior Club Hurling Championship.The Kildare County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association , or Kildare GAA, is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Kildare...

 was the first county to win the Sam Maguire cup
Sam Maguire Cup
The Sam Maguire Cup, often called The Sam , is the name of the cup that is awarded to winners of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the premier "knockout" competition in the game of Gaelic football played in Ireland...

 after defeating Cavan
County Cavan
County Cavan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Cavan. Cavan County Council is the local authority for the county...

 2-6 to 2-5 in 1928. The cup was replaced in 1988, Meath
Meath GAA
The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for Meath inter-county teams.- Pre-1960s :...

 being the first recipient of "Sam Óg" after a defeat of Cork.
Kerry were the 2009 holders of the Sam Maguire Cup, following their defeat of Cork (0-16 to 1-9) whilst the Sam Maguire has finally gone home to Co. Cork in 2010, beating Co. Down 0-16 to 0-15. And after a 16 year long wait, Dublin brought Sam back to the shores of the Liffey on the 18th of September, 2011. Dublin defeated Kerry 1-12 to 1-11.
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