The Irish name O’Higgins will be in the limelight in South America this week.
President Michael D Higgins is visiting Peru, where he will pay his respects at the grave of Ambrosio O’Higgins, a native of Sligo, who was born about 1720.
He was one of the last viceroys of Peru in the Spanish period.
His son, Bernardo fought for Chilean independence and was later appointed supreme director of Chile.
Monuments to the O’Higgins father and son can be seen in the Stephen Street Car Park in Sligo Town and in Ballinarry, on the shores of Lough Arrow where Ambrosio was born . . . and where, as local man Finian Dodd tells Ocean FM News, people are still very much aware of the family’s famous history.
