An escutcheon with three birds is inserted between the descender of the letter M, with Fabric Made in Ireland subscribed to this, and the entire design enclosed in an oval shape.

The company traces its origins to 1866, when the founder, John Magee (1849–1901), began traveling between local markets trading in cottage industry woven goods produced by Donegal fishermen and farmers.

This operation was expanded in 1945 to produce ready-to-wear garments, a growing market, in contrast to the declining bespoke trade which the company had traditionally supplied.

In 1966, Temple also established a large factory in Donegal Town manufacturing ready-to-wear men's clothes which at its peak employed approximately 300 people.

[1] The company employed its own cutting and sewing staff to make branded garments in Donegal until 2007, when it terminated in-house clothing production.

[9] As of 2022, the Magee 1866 retail brand stocks a limited range of finished products made in Ireland, including sweaters, shawls, linen shirts, notebooks, candles and throw blankets, in addition to the fabric that the company continues to manufacture in Donegal.

[4] In 2015, Donegal Bay Group purchased Robert Noble, a Scottish weaver owned by Moorbrook, Ltd., and whose sister mark, Replin, was sold to AW Hainsworth.

[11][1] A media controversy erupted in 2020 when a lesbian woman planning to be fitted for a men's suit for a same-sex marriage made an appointment at the Magee Arnotts shop in Dublin.