Celts Represented at the 2007 Hereditary Society Community Annual Reception
 Submitted by Celts Members Mr. & Mrs. Jack Paul Bess, Jr.

 Two members of the Noble Society of Celts (Celts) Class of 2007 represented the presence of the Celts at the 2007 Hereditary Society Community of the United States of America’s (HSC) Annual Reception.  This event was held at The Washington Club in Washington, DC on the evening of April 11th. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Paul Bess, Jr. accepted the HSC’s generous invitation to attend this “meeting of the minds”.  The decision was made to solely represent the Celts donning no other insignia.
 Representatives of a vast array of lineal societies from as far away as Alberta, Canada comprised those in attendance.  This appeared to be an annual event for most of them as some had been attending this occasion for over 15 years.  The fellowship of the evening began at the door, where all arrivals were greeted by the hostess, Ms. Eleanor Warrene Beasley Smallwood Niebell.        
 The reception followed where the evening’s guests enjoying refreshments and hors d’oeuvres and informal socializing.  A classical concerto which provided a brilliant atmosphere was produced by  The St. Charles String Quartet.  This wonderful time was spent introducing the purpose and ideas of the Celts to members of many different societies.  The Celts’ insignia was of interest to many attendees that were met and others actually approached specifically to inquire about the insignia. 

The formal four-course dinner began at 7:30 PM in the President’s Ballroom The guest speaker for the evening was professional genealogist and author, Mr. Douglas Richardson.

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A Tradition of Public Service: The O’Higgins of Ireland

By Dr. James O’Higgins-Norman FRSA, MGSI, Dublin City University

Hereditary Poets to the Princes of Connacht

The O’Higgins claim descent from Uigín  a grandson of Niall of Tara, the 4th century High King of Ireland (MacLysaght, 1998) and founder of the Uí Neill of Meath. It is not known when members of this family first became filí or poets to the princes of Ireland but we know from the Annals of the Four Masters and a number of other Gaelic texts that the sept continued to produce a succession of celebrated poets until the fall of the Gaelic order in the 17^{th century (MacDermot, 1989). The academic James Carney explains that in Gaelic society poetry was so closely woven into the fabric of political Gaeldom that without it Gaelic society could not continue to exist (1967:5). Trained in special bardic schools these poets were scribes as well as Ollamhs with responsibility for maintaining the genealogy of the ruling family as well as to provide orations in favour of their prince or against their prince’s enemies. Carney argued that an Ollamh was many things to his king or prince but he most significantly was the shadow of a high-ranking pagan priest or druid (1967:8). Consequently, those who served as file were extremely important and in social order ranked only second in seniority to a king or prince.}

By the 12th century, the O’Higgins had moved westward into Connacht and were located in the southern region of County Sligo. Here, as a result of their service particularly in the Houses of O’Conor, MacDermott, McDonagh and O’Doherty they acquired many estates and lands including those in the Barony of Leyney at Dooghorne and Kilmacteige and in the Barony of Tirerill at Ballynary. The Annals of the Four Masters tell us that in 1416 Sir John Stanley, the Deputy of the King of England, arrived in Ireland and plundered Niall Mór, the son of Hugh O’Higgins, at Uisneach, near modern day Mullingar in County Westmeath. However, after this the O’Higgins made lampoons on John Stanley and he lived only five weeks till he died from the venom of the lampoons (Book IV). The Annals continue to tell us that this is only one of two "miracles" which were worked for Niall O’Higgins, the freezing to death of the Clan-Conway being the first. Such was the fear of the poetic power of an O’Higgins some did what they could to limit its effects. In one incident the O’Hara’s of Cashel Carragh in Leyney were so afraid of a satire waged at them by Teige Dall O’Higgins that they "cut out the tongue that could inflict such exquisite pain" and Teige died as a result of the attack (Hyde, 1980).

From Summerhill to Santiago

As with many other noble Gaelic families the O’Higgins suffered under English rule in Ireland. Most significantly, by the end of the Cromwellian re-settlement in 1654 the O’Higgins had disappeared from their traditional seats in Sligo. We know that the O’Higgins Lords of Ballynary, a territory on the eastern shore of Lough Arrow, had their lands confiscated and given to Sir John King, who’s seat was in the nearby town of Boyle. While the family remained in the area of Ballynary initially, by about 1721 they had moved to Summerhill in Co. Meath where a relative had become the local parish priest. Keeping the memory of their Gaelic nobility alive, they settled as tenant farmers on lands belonging to the new English landlords.

Although the family’s fortunes had taken a turn for the worse under English rule, it would be a mistake to think that this was to bring about an end to the tradition of members of the O’Higgins family serving in senior positions of government and leadership. Ambrose O’Higgins of Ballynary and later of Summerhill, Co. Meath, having had a brief education in Ireland before he left for Spain from where he went to South America. By 1766 he had developed a year round postal service between the Atlantic and Chile. In 1780 he was appointed Commandant-General of the Spanish army in Chile. His highest titles were attained in 1787 as Governor and Captain-General of Chile, and in September of 1795 as Viceroy of Peru. He was also granted the titles of Barón de Ballinar by King Carlos III of Spain and Marquis de Osorno by his successor King Carols IV. Among his most important achievements was the abolition in 1789 of the cruel 'encomienda' system, whereby landowners kept indigenous labourers in conditions close to slavery.

Ambrose was the father of Don Bernardo O’Higgins who became the first Head of State of Chile in 1817 (Sepúlveda, 2006). There is no doubt that Bernardo was probably more successful as a general than as a President of Chile and after six years as President of Chile "problems with the aristocracy, the church, the Carrerians and the virtual bankruptcy of the government" and with civil war pending, O'Higgins resigned from government in January 1823 and departed from Chile for Ireland with his family where he planned to start a new life. However, he never made it further then Peru where he died in 1842.

In the Service of Freedom

Of course the fact that those who remained in Ireland where reduced to work as tenant farmers on estates which were by now under the firm grip of the English does not mean that they gave up their desire to re-establish Gaelic independence from the English. The oral tradition is that the O’Higgins first settled in an area known locally as the Rath-oor when they came to Summerhill in 1721. However, about 1795 a number of tenant families were forced out of their homes because of their support for the United Irishmen who were gathering for an uprising against the English. It seems that the O’Higgins family who had lost their own lands in Ballynary and moved to Summerhill with nothing but the dignity of their traditional Gaelic title were once again to suffer for Ireland. The family were allowed to settle again in a cabin on the edge of the Bomford family estate at Ardrums in Summerhill where the Royal Canal was being built. Once again, during 1916-1921 the family made its contribution to the fight for Irish freedom when Mary Higgins (nee P