Bishop Maginn is named after the former Auxiliary Bishop of Albany Edward Joseph Maginn. Two former high schools operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, Vincentian Institute (VI) and Cardinal McCloskey High School, were merged in 1977, creating Bishop Maginn High School in the former McCloskey building. Declining enrollments and an aging Vincentian building made it necessary for the Diocese to use the newer McCloskey building for the new school. The first graduating class from Bishop Maginn was the Class of 1978. Formerly rivals, the students from both VI and McCloskey accepted each other in a harmonious display of unity, adopting an enthusiastic spirit for the new school. Each of the former schools' mascots, VI's lion and McCloskey's cardinal, were also merged to create the Maginn Griffin. The coat of arms for the new created school contains the line 'Veni Lumen Cordium', which in Latin means 'Come light of the heart'.