Ó hUige

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

Ó hUIGE, Ó hUIGÍN, Ó UIGINN—I—O Higgin, O Higgen, O'Higgins, Higgins, Higgens; 'descendant of Uige' (knowledge, skill, ingenuity); the name of a branch of the southern Ui Neill, in the present Co. Westmeath, and one of the most distinguished literary families in Ireland. The Four Masters mention no fewer than eleven poets and professors of poetry of the name. A branch of the family settled in Co. Sligo, where they acquired large estates in the parishes of Achonry and Kilmacteige which they retained down to the Cromwellian confiscations. The name is now common in most parts of Ireland. Ó hUige is still in use in East Cork. Ó hUiginn probably represents an older form *Ó hUigeann, anglicised O'Higgan, O'Higan; while Ó hUigín is a dialectical variant.

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