Niall O'Higgin (; fl. 1414) was an Irish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. Niall was a member of the

Ó hUiginn Ó hUiginn is the surname of a Gaels, Gaelic-Irish people, Irish family of soldiers, poets, and historians located in Connacht. Originally part of the southern Uí Néill based in the Irish midlands, they moved west into Connacht. They were espec ...

family of

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

, but resided in what is now

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

. He participated in a famous incident recounted in the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

, ''sub anno'' 1414: * '' John Stanley, the Deputy of the King of England, arrived in Ireland, a man who gave neither mercy nor protection to clergy, laity, or men of science, but subjected as many of them as he came upon to cold, hardship, and famine. It was he who plundered Niall, the son of Hugh O'Higgin, at Uisneach, in Meath. Henry Dalton, however, plundered James Tuite and the King's people, and gave the O'Higgins out of the preys then acquired a cow for each and every cow taken from them, and afterwards escorted them to Connaught. The O'Higgins, with Niall, then satirized John Stanley, who lived after this satire but five weeks, for he died of the virulence of the lampoons. This was the second poetical miracle performed by this Niall O'Higgin, the first being the discomfiture of the Clann-Conway the night they plundered Niall at Cladann; and the second, the death of John Stanley.''

External links

* http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100005D/ {{DEFAULTSORT:O'Higgin, Niall Writers from County Westmeath 15th-century Irish poets Irish male poets