GREAT characters, all of them. The best,” is how Miceál Higgins (1938 – 2020) signed off during one of our chats and in those two words, he inadvertently summed up himself.

The standard obituary toolkit seems so paltry to describe this kind-hearted character who left us with only the best memories. Born before ‘The Emergency’ years, Miceál grew up in Coshla in an era when, although it now sounds archaic, a £2 bonus posted to parents of pupils who passed the Gaeilge test when the school inspector called was a windfall.

The two local schools he attended were in a small pocket of the Gaeltacht. Between the classroom and later working in a relative’s pub in Carraroe, began a lifelong habit of calculating sums in Irish and his love of the Irish language.

He had a great gift of observing human nature, partly forged by his years spent in south Connemara. Always proud of his home area – his standard greeting at the annual show was ‘Welcome to the fields of Athenry’ – Miceál’s farm was available to all things equine, including Coshla Gymkhana.

“His passion and talent on the farm lay in horses,” said his son Kieran. Hunter hirelings for the local Galway Blazers, point-to-pointers, sport horses and Connemaras all fitted in on his farm. Miceál served as the Galway IFA representative on the Irish Horse Board, Irish Draught Horse Society Galway branch chairman and vice-president of the Connemara Pony Breeders Society council.

‘Anach Cuain’ was his party piece, mainly as a reminder of Annaghdown where Miceál met his future wife Evelyn and the couple also opened up their family home as Ronan B&B, named after their late son.

As a judge, from local to county shows, Clifden to Dublin and further afield in Europe, he was scrupulously fair. “You did us no favours today,” commented one exhibitor, not realising the irony of their words.

“I know that some don’t like me because I do what I want to do when I judge, but I wouldn’t be said nor led by anybody.

“You have to hold the standard,” was his policy. The 2007 All Ireland filly foal final at Moate, co-judged with David McCann and won by Derry Rothwell’s Greenhall Dot, was regarded by him as “a right one.”

He was immensely proud of Athenry Show, particularly when the committee won the best float award in the St Patrick’s Day parade in Galway in 1999. Members, dressed up in old-time regalia, included Noel Doherty who had a goose, wrapped in an Odlums flour bag, perched carefully on the handlebars of his bike.

The Irish Shows Association dinner dance was an annual outing to meet his many friends. As recently as last November, he attended the Mullingar gathering, accompanied by his trusty chauffeur and loyal friend, Tommy Whelan.

The Royal Highland Show was another annual pilgrimage and Miceál continued to confound and astound us with his energy, fitting in a visit to Badminton Horse Trials last year with son Kieran and his family.

He loved to travel. One of the first households in the locality to own a car, it was rarely parked in the yard. Albany, his good Actinium show horse of the 1990s, was named after the Western Australian city that Miceál, Evelyn and their daughter Ethna, his constant companion and carer in latter years, visited on their first trip.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, making a presentation to Micéal Higgins at Clifden in 2017 to mark his contribution to the show \ Susan Finnerty

A man of many gifts

Blessed with an astonishing brain, gift for storytelling and love of history – it was often remarked what a great schoolteacher he could have been – he was an exceptional host and regaled visitors with stories, ranging from Kalgoorlie goldfields to all matters genealogy.

Unsurprisingly, with their similar love of nature, gentle manner and droll wit, he clicked with the late stallion master Philip Heenan, an equally shrewd judge of character. He recalled Philip unlocking Clover Hill’s padlocked door, peering in and remarking, ‘He should be in here.” “Sure where else would he be!” Miceál laughed.

His knowledge of pedigrees and first-hand recollection of stallions is peerless. He was my ‘go-to’ person for details on the likes of Middle Temple and Primal, plus Connemara pony household names.

Miceál was not dealt the best of hands health wise over the past 19 years. 2006 was a particularly tough year after the loss of his beloved Evelyn and as one diagnosis followed another. Again, you could reach into the bag of polite phrases about illnesses being bravely borne. Suffice to say that Miceál continued to defy the odds with grace and unfailing good humour.

Nothing could prevent him from attending the ISA AGM held that year in Westport. In an unprecedented move by someone who rarely singled out any individual, ISA President Dorothea Lazenby welcomed Miceál’s presence and the following tumultuous round of applause reflected the deep affection held by his friends for the Athenry gentleman.

Thankfully there were many more occasions, shows and presentations since for Miceál, so aptly described as “a patient and forgiving man”, particularly the milestone birthdays party jointly celebrated with Kieran two years ago.

“The mileage is building up. We cannot go against nature,” he said matter-of-factly and sadly, this gentle warrior’s good fight ended on February 4th in Galway Hospice, whose wonderful staff were a great comfort to his family.

In the ribbons: Micéal Higgins was a gifted horseman with a great mind for pedigrees

Heartfelt tribute

In a tribute sent by his niece Maggie McGrath, who now lives in Australia, and read at his funeral Mass, she wrote; “I have many fond memories of Coshla, family times and celebrations shared. The door was always open and everyone was welcome.”

“He live a life filled with a lot of challenges, faced with positivity and strength. Some might say something was impossible, he would see it as a challenge.

“He was generous to a fault with a great sense of integrity. He had the knack of making you feel special, listened to everyone and what they had to say and welcomed everyone’s opinion,” said Kieran in his eulogy at the Mass, concelebrated by Fr Benny McCabe and Fr. Declan Lohan.

“In the end, prizes won don’t matter. What does matter is did you leave the world a better place by your presence?” asked Fr McCabe. A rhetorical question in the case of “the best”.

The reason for the distinctive spelling of his name originated from several other Michael and Micheál Higgins in the neighbourhood and schools. There was always only one Miceál.

To his sons Kieran and Ger, daughters Sinead and Ethna, family and wide circle of friends, we can only repeat that phrase in his precious Gaeilge by saying: “Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís.”

SF