Frederick Robert Higgins

Frederick Robert Higgins, born in Foxford, County Mayo, Ireland, was an Irish poet and theatre director. He was the eldest son of Joseph and Annie Higgins: his poem "Father and Son" is a loving tribute to his father (Joseph, a policeman, was stationed in Foxford at the time of his son's birth). Higgins grew up in Ballivor in County Meath, where his family had farmed for several generations. He also lived in Dublin and attended Saint Columba's National School. He spent the largest part of his adult life in Dublin. His health was poor, and though his friends were inclined to regard him as a hypochondriac, his frequent predictions that he would die young proved to be accurate. He married Beatrice May Moore in 1921. He died suddenly of a heart attack in January 1941.

Higgins was a student of William Butler Yeats and served on the board of the Abbey Theatre from 1935 until his death. His best-known book of poetry is The Gap of Brightness (1940). He is also well known for his poem, "Father and Son." He wrote a moving elegy for his fellow poet Pádraic Ó Conaire. He was generally acknowledged to be a fine poet, but was less successful in his Abbey Theatre work. In 1937 he was tour manager of the Abbey Theatre production of Teresa Deevy's Katie Roche which toured to the Ambassador Theatre (New York City), USA. His Abbey career can be seen in the Abbey Theatre archives.

He was a popular and convivial man and his circle of friends included many of the leading Irish literary figures of his time, including Yeats, Pádraic Ó Conaire, George William Russell, Lennox Robinson, and for a time Frank O'Connor. He was also capable of great kindness and generosity to younger writers like Patrick Kavanagh.

Source: Wikipedia