The Higgins Name Although there are also Higgins of British origin in Ireland, the name is an ancient one, uigín meaning "knowledge". From the 13th to the 17th century there were eight Ó hUigín poets, including one who was a bishop. Following the submergence of the poets and bards the O Higgins changed to medicine and the sciences, where they excelled. One of the Meath O Higgins was an 18th-century Viceroy of Peru and his son, Bernardo O Higgins was the liberator of Chile and its first President.

A Brief History of Glenravel by The Glenravel Environmental Improvement Committee Glenravel is one of the lesser known Glens of Antrim, but it is the one with probably the most interesting past. Thousands of people pass through the area every year without knowing it, as the main road from Ballymena to Cushendall cuts right into the heart of it. Everyone who travels this road comes to the village of Martinstown, which is one of the three villages making up the Glenravel area. About two miles further up the road there is a turn-off on the left for the village of Newtowncrommelin, the second of the three. And finally, but by no means least, instead of taking the road to the left but continuing onwards to the rest of the Glens you will come upon the village of Cargan, formerly known as Fishertown, a link to the industrial past of Glenravel. Glenravel, at one stage in the mid to late 1800's, was the hub of the mining industry in Co. Antrim. Large deposits of iron ore were found in the area, which were fairly easily mined. An attempt by Nicholas Crommelin to smelt it with peat in the 1830's failed, though his blast furnace still stands to this day on the edge of the village of Newtowncrommelin. The mining really did not begin in earnest until James Fisher, from Barrow-in-Furness came to the area. With the establishment of his mining company, and several others, there was an influx of people to the three villages from other parts of Ireland and Scotland. The ore had to be transported to the coast for shipment to England. At the beginning this was undertaken by horse and cart but was a very slow process, so a unique development occurred, the building of a wire tramway. This ran from just outside Cargan to the top of Parkmore and worked on a pulley system, whereby full buckets of ore ran down one side with the empty ones returning. The wire tramway was sabotaged by the carters as they had lost out on work. There was still the difficulty of transporting the iron ore, so a narrow gauge railway was built, the remnants of which can be seen as you drive along the road today. The last iron ore mine closed in 1933, as the ore was of too poor quality to compete with the ores being imported from abroad. This, however was not the end of the mining industry, because with the start of the Second World War there was a shortage of aluminium for planes etc. Bauxite, which is the aluminium ore, was to be found beside the iron ore deposits, so some of the mines were reopened. In all it was estimated that the Glenravel mines provided some 60,000 tonnes of aluminium for the war effort. The last mine closed in 1945, but if you look closely enough as you come into Glenravel it is still possible to see the scars of the mining industry on the surrounding mountains.

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Alexander Higgins and his wife Mary Alexander Higgins married a woman named Mary. Two different sources in the McAteer family history indicate that the Higgins family was from Glenravel in County Antrim in what is now Northern Ireland. Glenravel is only a few miles as the crow flies over the top of the mountain above the house where Elizabeth McAteer was born at Killougagh in Cushendall. Unfortunately, there is a gap of several years in the parish records for that area and the record of the marriage of Alexander and Mary and the baptisms of children, have not yet been found. There are still Higgins living in Glenravel, however, and further research may yet unearth a connection. The proximity of the family homelands suggest that John Edward Higgins and Elizabeth McAteer may have been acquainted before they emigrated to America. Elizabeth's name has not yet been found on a passenger list, but oral history says that she came to Somerville, Massachusetts after John had emigrated there. Their known children were: John Edward Higgins, born on Sunday, 5 March 1843 in County Antrim, Ireland, immigrated on Friday, 19 May 1865 to New York City, naturalized on Tuesday, 3 October 1876 in Boston, died due to phthisis on Friday, 3 October 1902 in Somerville, buried in Holy Cross cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth MacIntyre (aged 30) on Sunday, 4 October 1868 in Cambridge. See The Higgins Family of Somerville for their children. James Higgins, born in about 1848 in Ireland, immigrated to America and lived with his brother John and family, first on Medford Street and later at 12 Warwick Place, in Somerville. James Higgins' unidentified body was found 9 May 1891 on a salt marsh to the West of Cochrane's chemical works in Somerville. He was buried by the Somerville Police dept. on about 16 May, later exhumed, identified and reburied, on about 23 May 1891 in Holy Cross cemetery in Malden. No cause of death was recorded on the death certificate. His occupation was listed as laborer and he had never married. The age given on the death certificate is 43 yrs. 2 mos. and 4 days. Was this measured from, when they found the body, or when they think he died? If he had an unused return train ticket in his pocket, it's possible he died on the night he disappeared. The significant thing about the date of birth is that this would make it March of 1848, which is the same date as his brother Alexander. This means they could be twins if the dates are correct. These dates may not be correct. The 1870 census says James is 28 and Alec is 26. Alexander Higgins, Jr., born in about March 1848 in Ireland, immigrated to America and was living with his brothers John and James in Somerville in 1870. He later moved out on his own, staying in Somerville and worked as a coachman and hosteler. He was living at 506 Main St. in Boston when he died due to an abscess in the ear on Saturday, 7 October 1882. He never married. He is buried in Holy Cross cemetery in Malden, but there is no stone on his grave. Immigration to America John Edward Higgins arrived in the port of New York on board the Excelsior, a sailing ship of 999 tons on Thursday, 18 May 1865 and came ashore the following day. The ship took 42 days to cover the 3,043 miles from Liverpool, having departed on 7 April 1865 under the command of Captain George L. Pendleton with some 600 souls on board. Of these, six would die enroute, all but one of them infants; three from dysentery, one each from measles, croup and scrofula. There was also one child born the day before the ship reached America. John Higgins had a berth in the deck house, a long cabin on the main deck where men traveling singly were segregated from the family accommodations in steerage. When the Excelsior arrived in New York it would have tied up at the South Street docks (where the South Street Seaport Museum is now located) on the East River. Passengers were then transported by steamer to Castle Garden for processing. Castle Garden was an enormous circular building with a completely open interior and a skylit cupola. Connected to the foot of Manhattan by a long pier, shuttle steamers came alongside to disembark immigrants and other arrivals. Adjacent to the pier of Castle Graden was a terminal from which you could board trains or steamers to other ports. It's possible that John Higgins may have gone by boat to Fall River, Massachusetts and thence to Boston by train.

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Maps of Glenravel and Ireland

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Higgins Birth Records for Glenravel (Skerry)
Name	Date of Birth	Father	Mother	Townland
Alexander Higgins	12 November 1889	Bernard	Mary Anne McQuillan	Ballsallagh
Alexander Higgins	13 April 1866	Patrick	Ellen McAuley
Alexander Higgins	24 June 1838	John	Mary O'Loan	Drumagrove
Anne Higgins	12 October 1877	Patrick	Letitia McDonald	Lignamonagh
Anne Higgins	17 July 1827
Anne Higgins	26 August 1832	John	Mary Alone	Drumagrove
Anne Jane Higgins	23 August 1867	Bernard	Jane McShane
Bernard Higgins	16 April 1871	Bernard	Jane McShane
Bernard Higgins	17 December 1880	Patrick	Letitia McDonnell	Lignamonagh
Bernard Higgins	26 February 1854	Patrick	Rose McAuley
Bernard Higgins	27 December 1885	Hugh	Susan McAteer	Craigfad
Brigid Higgins	18 August 1897	Bernard	Marianne McQuillan	Ballsallagh
Catherine Higgins	12 October 1851	Bernard	Margaret McKendry
Catherine Higgins	14 March 1830
Catherine Higgins	18 June 1838	James	Jane Duffin	Lignamonagh
Catherine Higgins	19 November 1871	Daniel	Elizabeth O'Boyle
Catherine Higgins	20 April 1885	Bernard	Catherine O'Boyle	Ballsallagh
Catherine Higgins	25 July 1873	Patrick	Letitia McDonnell
Catherine Higgins	28 January 1833	James	Jane Duffin	Lignamonagh
Catherine Higgins	7 November 1853	Bernard	Susan McKendry
Charles James Higgins	21 August 1889	Hugh	Susanna McAteer	Craigfad
Daniel Higgins	17 July 1836	John	Mary McMullan	Lignamonagh
Daniel Higgins	19 June 1891	Hugh	Susan McAteer	Craigfad
Daniel Higgins	3 November 1881	Daniel	Elizabeth O'Boyle	Lignamonagh
Elizabeth Higgins	28 February 1869	Bernard	Jane McShane
Ellen Higgins	15 November 1868	Daniel	Elizabeth Boyle
Ellen Higgins	23 February 1896	Bernard	Marianne McQuillan	Ballsallagh
Esther Higgins	2 March 1834	James	Jane Duffin	Lagnamanny
Francis Higgins	19 June 1851	Michael	Margaret Nickle
Francis Higgins	3 January 1891	Bernard	Marianne McQuillan	Cargin
Henry Higgins (twin)	28 July 1890	John	Mary Scullin	Drumagrove
Hugh Higgins	19 March 1879	Patrick	Letitia McDonnell	Lignamonagh
Hugh Higgins	25 November 1895	Hugh	Susan McAteer	Craigfad
James Higgins	16 July 1871	Patrick	Ellen McAuley
James Higgins	26 May 1894	Bernard	Marianne McQuillan	Ballsallagh
James Higgins	8 October 1883	Daniel	Elizabeth O'Boyle	Lignamonagh
James Higgins	9 February 1832
Jane Higgins	10 March 1841	James	Jane Duffin	Lignamonagh
Jane Higgins	14 October 1836	James	Jane Duffin	Lignamonagh
Jane Higgins	16 December 1887	Hugh	Susanna McAteer	Tullykittagh
Jane Higgins	17 April 1853	John	Mary O'Loan
Jane Higgins	21 October 1849	John	Mary O'Loan	Drumagrove
Jane Higgins	31 March 1872	Patrick	Letitia McDonnell
John Higgins	1 April 1841	Charles	Elizabeth O'Donnell	Eglish
John Higgins	1 October 1883	Hugh	Susanna McAteer	Craigfad
John Higgins	10 May 1834	John	McMullan	Legnamanny
John Higgins	18 January 1852	Patrick	Ellen McAuley
John Higgins	20 August 1841	John	Mary O'Loan	Drumagrove
John Higgins	21 November 1880	John	Catherine O'Loan	Lignamonagh
John Higgins	24 April 1892	Bernard	Mary Ann McQuillan	Ballsallagh
John Higgins	29 June 1854	Michael	Margaret Nickle
Joseph Higgins (twin)	28 July 1890	John	Mary Scullin	Drumagrove
Letitia Higgins	17 July 1882	Patrick	Letitia McDonald	Lignamonagh
Margaret Higgins	18 July 1830
Margaret Higgins	21 March 1896	John	Mary Scullion	Drumagrove
Margaret Higgins	9 March 1838	Michael	Margaret Nichol	Drumagrove
Margaret Teresa Higgins	21 April 1880	Daniel	Elizabeth O'Boyle	Tullykittagh
Marianne Higgins	31 January 1836	Michael	Margaret Nichol	Drumagrove
Mary Anne Higgins	21 May 1890	Thomas	Margaret McAteer	Cargin
Mary Anne Higgins	29 June 1869	Patrick	Mary Higgins	Newtown Cromelin
Mary Catherine Higgins	27 February 1887	John	Mary Scullion	Drumagrove
Mary Higgins	1 March 1828
Mary Higgins	10 October 1893	Hugh	Susan McAteer	Craigfad
Mary Higgins	19 October 1828
Mary Higgins	2 July 1854	Bernard	McKendry
Mary Higgins	27 March 1866	Daniel	Elizabeth O'Boyle
Mary Higgins	3 April 1864	Patrick	Ellen McAuley
Mary Higgins	5 April 1888	Bernard	Mary Anne McQuillan	Ballsallagh
Mary Higgins	6 October 1838	John	Mary McMullan	Lignamonagh
Patrick Higgins	1 February 1878	Daniel	Elizabeth O'Boyle
Patrick Higgins	1 November 1835	John	Mary O'Loan	Drumagrove
Patrick Higgins	16 March 1892	Thomas	Margaret McAteer	Cargin
Patrick Higgins	21 November 1827
Patrick Higgins	24 November 1829
Patrick Higgins	8 July 1855	Patrick	Ellen McAuley
Patrick Joseph Higgins	13 March 1887	Bernard	Mary Ann McQuillan	Ballsallagh
Rachel Higgins	14 October 1868	Patrick	Ellen McAuley
Rodger Higgins	30 November 1849	Bernard	Margaret McKendry	Craigfad
Rose Higgins	15 June 1831
Rose Higgins	7 May 1841	Michael	Margaret McNichol	Drumnageragh
Roseanne Higgins	13 October 1872	Bernard	Jane McShane
Teresa Higgins	4 June 1865	Bernard	Jane McShane
Matilda O'Raw	7 June 1868	Pat	Rose Higgins

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Links to Other Pages Mention of Higgins in Newspaper Reports Mention of Higgins in McAteer Letters Higgins Family Genealogy Forum Higgins Genealogy Glenravel Environment Improvement Committee Glenravel Environmental Improvement Association Scenes in, under and around Glenravel The Mining Heritage Society of Ireland The Glens of Antrim Historical Society A Song of Glenravel Alex Higgins and other Musicians at Johnny Joe's in Cushendall Ordnance Survey Memoirs of County Antrim The Irish Ancestral Research Association Higgins Researchers on the Net