An tUasal Caoimhín Ó hUigín, T.D.
Kevin O'Higgins, T.D.
Kevin O'Higgins (1892-1927) was born in Stradbally, Co. Laois in 1892,
son of Thomas Francis Higgins, and was educated at Clongowes Wood College and at
University
College Dublin, receiving a B.A. in 1915 and a LL.B. in 1919 having studies
for a short time for the priesthood at Maynooth and Carlow Colleges.
O'Higgins joined the Irish Volunteers in 1915. When the Easter Rising broke in 1916 he was at home in Laois and left immediately upon hearing the news with the intention of joining the Rebels. However he was stopped in Athy because young men were no longer allowed enter the capital. He was imprisoned in 1918 as part of the German Plot arrests. During his time in prison, he was elected as an MP for Queen's County, now Laois, at the 1918 Westminster Election. In 1919, he sat as a Sinn Féin TD in Dáil Éireann and was appointed Assistant Minister for Local Government, under William T. Cosgrave. He took his place when Cosgrave was imprisoned in 1920. He proved himself to be one of the ablest politicians in the new parliament. O'Higgins never took a military part in the War of Independence and remained in a political role throughout the conflict.
He was strongly in favour of the Anglo-Irish Treaty which was signed in London in December 1921 and paved the way for the establishment of the Irish Free State the following year. After the deaths of Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins in August of 1922, William T. Cosgrave led the government, first as Chairman of the Provisional Government, and, from December, as President of the Executive Council. O'Higgins became Minister for Home Affairs (renamed Minister for Justice in 1924) and Vice-President, positions he held until his death. In 1923, they formed Cumann na nGaedheal, the precursor to Fine Gael. His uncle, Timonthy Healy, became the State's first Governor-General after independence.
As Minister for Justice, he again proved to be very able, and brought stability to a country that had been in a state of unrest since 1916. He took a hard line during the Civil War, and, somewhat reluctantly, he signed the death warrant of Rory O'Connor, who was his best man at his wedding. He suffered in more ways than that during the war, his own father having been murdered in retaliation. It is considered by some that it was this approach that helped bring the war to an end. He defended his stance taken during this time at subsequent political rallies. Speaking in Sligo in March 1926 he said: "I stand by those 77 executions and 777 more if they become necessary."
In 1923, he established the Garda Síochána as an unarmed police force, remarkable for a country in such circumstances. He also diffused the crisis of the Army Mutiny in 1925, agreeing to give pensions to many retired members of the armed forces. As Cosgrave was ill during this time he was head of the Government.
At the Imperial Conference of 1926 he achieved the Balfour Act, which paved the way considerably for the further independence of the Dominions and lessened the extent of the British Empire. All members of the Commonwealth were to be considered co-equal and, as such, the King became sovereign of each country, including the Irish Free State, in its own right. O'Higgins also had plans for re-establishing the Kingdom of Ireland, which would have unified the country under one sovereign but still allowed for separate governing Parliaments. Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to put these into effect. O'Higgins has been critizised for his stance on the role of women in society and particularly for introducing legislation that effectively banned women from sitting on any jury in the courts.
O'Higgins was shot on his way to Mass at his home in Booterstown on 10 July 1927 by three members of the IRA, Timothy Coughlin, Bill Gannon and Archie Doyle. He forgave his killers as he died, having been seen by his neighbour and Ministerial colleague, Eoin MacNeill. He was given a state funeral and the cortège streched for 3 miles. His death precipitated the Electoral Amendment Act, which in turn led to the entry into the Dáil of Fianna Fáil, the party founded in 1926 by Éamon de Valera and others after they resigned from Sinn Féin. Arguably the Cumann na nGaedheal Government never recovered from his death as it left a considerable vacuum due to the absence of his considerable presence, tenacity and energy from the regime.
Further info on Kevin O'Higgins T.D. http://multitext.ucc.ie/viewgallery/1284