O'Higgins family
| O'Higgins Ó hUigin |
|
|---|---|
 Arms of The O'Higgins, Lords of Ballynary |
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| Country | Kingdom of Connacht |
| Parent house | Southern Uí Néill |
| Titles |
Kingdom of Connacht Kingdom of Spain Jacobite Peerage Royal House of Georgia
|
| Current head | Karl Aiden O'Higgins |
Kingdom of Connacht
Kingdom of Spain
Jacobite Peerage
Royal House of Georgia
O'Higgins (Irish: Ó hUiginn) is an Irish noble family descended from Shean Duff O'Higgins (fl. 1600 C.E.), Gaelic Baron of Ballynary, who was married to a daughter of the royal family of O'Conor at Ballintuber Castle in Connacht. Shean Duff O'Higgins himself claimed descent from King Niall of Tara (d. 450 C.E.). Historically, many of their ancestors were poets and scholars who enjoyed the patronage of several chiefly families including O'Conor Don, , O'Doherty, O'Gara, and MacDonagh.
O'Higgins are counted among the Gaelic nobility as a sept of the royal house of O'Neill. Members of this family were further ennobled in 1724 by James III (pretender to the throne of England and Ireland) during his in exile in France, and again in 1795 and 1796 by Charles IV of Spain.
Earlier scholars traced the origin of the name from the word "knowledge" in Irish, possible linked to the family's early prominence as bards to the Gaelic Kings. However, more recent scholars have identified that "uigin" refers to a Norse seafarer or Viking. In Gaelic times the prefix Uí before a name was used to signify descent from a grandson, this family are said to have descended from the grandson of Uiginn who lived in the 11th century or possibly from a previous Uiginn who was a grandson of King Niall of Tara. In modern times the surname has often been translated from Irish into "Higgins" in English although members the more senior branches of the family continue to use "O'Higgins".
The O'Higgins family originated in the Kingdom of Meath and Brega which equate to the modern Irish counties of Meath and Westmeath. As a sept of the Southern Uí Néill their roots in these areas can be traced at least to the 5th century and possibly even earlier. By the 12th century the senior branch of the family had migrated into the Kingdom of Connacht where they settled and were granted large estates by the O'Conors in Sligo at Dooghorne and Monteige in the Barony of Luighne under the protection of the O'Hara Chiefs and at Ballynary in the Barony of Tir-Errill under the protection of the MacDonagh Chiefs.
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