A special Brian O Higgins commemoration event will take place in Kilskyre next Saturday afternoon, May 7th, between 3 and 5 pm. 

Brian who was to emerge as one of the leading Irish literary and political figures in the first half of the last century was born in Glen na Mona, Boltown, a picturesque, boggy, wooded area, where the parishes of Kilskyre and Kells meet in 1882.

It was quite obvious from a very early age that Brian O Higgins had an exceptional ability to write. Not for him though the written material of comtemporaries like Yeats or the song writer Percy French who had strong  Anglo Irish tendencies within their work.

The Kilskyre man was very much an Irish nationalist and these nationalist views remained unwavering, by word and action, throughout his entire life 

Brian O Higgins was a founder member of Kilskyre Hurling Club in 1904 and while work took hm to Dublin, he became very active in the Gaelic League.

He saw action in the GPO during the 1916 Rising and for this involvement was imprisoned in Stafford Gaol and Frongoch in Wales.

While in prison the Kilskyre native was elected, unopposed, as the first Sinn Fein TD for West Clare and subsequently was to serve in the First Dail.

O Higgins was among those who  rejected the Treaty and while again elected unopposed in 1922 he was interned in The Curragh by the Free State Government during 1923, at one stage going on a hunger strike for 24 days. 

Released from The Curragh in 1924, O Higgins gave the Wolfe Tone Oration at Bodenstown that same year. He turned down offers to join the newly formed Fianna Fail party and remained as a lead figure with Sinn Fein until an election defeat in 1927, subsequently resigning from the party in 1934.

Brian O Higgins was equally well known in the publishing world and as always his works centred around Irish history and folklore. He produced his first Wolfe Tone Annual in 1932 and this much read publication existed until 1962.

Brian O Higgins parted this life in 1963 and in 1974 the playing field in Kilskyre was officially opened and titled the Brian O Higgins Memorial Park. A meeting of Meath and Offaly footballers marked the occasion. 

Brian has quite a number of reatives still living in Kilskyre parish and one of these, grandnephew Jody Devine was part of the great Meath All Ireland winning teams of 1996 and 99.

Saturdays events will commence with a procession from the local community hall to Brian O Higgins Memorial Park. Included will be a piper, trooping of the Tricolour with representatives of the O Higgins clan in attendance.

The Proclamation will be read and a memorial unveiled. Local juveniles will play an exhibition match, followed by traditional music and dance.

An event well worth attending.

 

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