Maol Muire Ó hÚigínn

Maol Muire Ó hÚigínn, also Maol Muire Ó Huiginn (Anglicised: Miler O'Higgin; died 1590 at Antwerp), was an Irish Catholic clergyman. A Franciscan, he was appointed Archbishop of Tuam by the Holy See on 24 March 1586, and died in office.[1][2]

Styles of
Maol Muire Ó hÚigínn
Reference styleThe Most Reverend
Spoken styleYour Grace or Archbishop

Ó hÚigínn was a son of Mathghamhain mac Maol Ó hÚigínn of Dougharane, Leyeny, County Sligo, a descendant of Tadgh Óg Ó hÚigínn (died 1448).[2] His brother was the poet Tadhg Dall Ó hÚigínn.[2] Little is known of Ó hÚigínn's early life, but Tadhg Dall was fostered at Tír Conaill with the ruling Uí Domnaill family, and Maol Muire may have gone there with his brother. According to McGettigan,[2] "A later source states that in his youth Maol Muire was an accomplished poet and harpist and also something of a philosopher."

Ó hÚigínn was educated on the continent, where he took degrees in canon law, civil law and theology.[2] This high standard of education led to his consecration as Archbishop of Tuam in April 1586. He left for Rome sometime prior to 1590, possibly as a result of the severity of the rule of Richard Bingham.[2] He was on his way back from Rome when he died at the episcopal palace at Antwerp on 5 August 1590, and was buried in the Cathedral of Our Lady within the city.[2]

Some of Ó hÚigínn's poems are extant. One, on the uncertainty of life, begins its twelve verses: A fhir threbas in tulaig, (English: 'O man that ploughest the hillside'). Another, in praise of Ireland, is one hundred and thirty-six verses long. Its first line is: A fhir theidh go fiodh funnidh, (‘O man who goest to the land of sunset’).[3] Several other of his poems on religious subjects survive. Ó hÚigínn's poems were still known by poets and historians, and continued to be copied in manuscripts well into the 19th century.[2]

References
  1. Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 443. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
  2. McGettigan, Darren (October 2009). "Ó hUigínn, Maol Muire". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. doi:10.3318/dib.006386.v1.
  3. Moore, Norman (1895). "O'Higgins". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 42. Smith, Elder & Co. p. 68. DNB42.djvu – via Wikisource.

Further reading


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