Mayo man, 90, has published two books in past year
Tom Higgins, aged 90, has published two books in the past year.
It is some achievement for anyone to write a book so what long-time Castlebar resident Tom Higgins has achieved is nothing short of remarkable.
The retired national school teacher turns 91 next month, and this year alone has seen him publish not one but two non-fiction books. It means he has extended the total number of books in his own personal catalogue to seven.
Just published in time for Christmas is Tom’s latest history book. The book is entitled , and it arrived from the printers last week and will be officially launched this Thursday in Castlebar where Tom has lived for many years.
The foundation for the book is a series of articles Tom wrote for the in 2003, and he expands considerably on it, exploring five centuries of upheaval in Mayo.
“There is very little knowledge of some aspects of our history. Even up until Cromwellian times, people haven’t a clue about the devastation Cromwell did in Ireland,” Tom told the .
He explores the impact of the Elizabethan conquest, Cromwell’s devastation, the Penal Laws and famine, rebellion and cultural revival, keen to stress the book is "a glance at the history of Mayo down through the ages".
The book explores some of this county’s hardest times and the enduring resilience of its people.
It is some undertaking to publish a book like that, even more so when you consider that the bulk of the first half of the year was taken up with another publication.
Tom’s own memoir, , was published in the summer. He wrote it as a record for his own family so it is not on general sale but the work that went into it is no less exacting for that. It is over 300 pages long, was two years in the making and tells the story of a long, varied life.
Tom is a native of Cloonacurry, Bekan and after attending the local national school, went to St Jarlath’s College in Tuam in 1949 thanks to the support of a wealthy aunt. He went from there to the seminary at St Patrick's College in Maynooth, as did so many of his generation, especially the students of boarding schools who were encouraged to continue their education, as well as pursuing a religious vocation.
“I went to Maynooth myself for four years and then got the brainwave to do teaching. I never thought of teaching after my Leaving Cert but before Easter in Fourth Year I got this sudden enlightenment that I wanted to teach kids in primary school. I thought it was something I was cut out for and would enjoy,” he said.
Spells in Longford, east Mayo, including his native Bekan, and Ballyheane followed before he became principal at Breaffy National School on the outskirt of Castlebar in 1974, teaching alongside his wife, Mary (née Dolan).
While there, he was the driving force behind a publication in 1990 to celebrate the school’s centenary. became a template for school, community and club publications in the county. He was a pivotal figure in the growth of the school from a three-teacher school to one of the largest in Mayo today.
Upon retirement in 1998, Tom was asked to write a book to mark the centenary of the Church of the Holy Rosary in Castlebar. was a splendid local history book, published in 2001 to great acclaim at a time when there were very few local interest books being published in Mayo.
Tom published a family history book and family tree in 2005 while the extended lockdowns of Covid-19 actually accelerated his productivity. In 2020, he published , a collection of his landscape photography and in 2021, his long-standing interest in sacred scripture, a legacy of his studies in Maynooth, inspired the publication of .
And the next book? Tom laughs and points to his head. He is waiting for the inspiration but he’s quite confident it will come.
will have its official launch this Thursday, December 18, at 7pm in Castle Books, Main Street, Castlebar. The book, which is published by Mayo Books Press, is on sale in all good bookshops and online via www.mayobooks.ie. It will make a perfect Christmas present for anyone with an interest in all things Mayo.
