Moira O'Neill was the pseudonym of Agnes Shakespear Higginson (1864–1955), an Irish-Canadian poet who wrote ballads and other verse inspired by County Antrim, where she lived at Cushendun. In 1895, she and her husband Walter Skrine lived on a 16,500 acre ranch in Alberta. But they returned to Ireland and were, in 1921, burned out of their mansion Ballyrankin House near Bunclody.
She also used the name Nesta. She published Songs of the Glens of Antrim (1900) and More Songs of the Glens of Antrim (1921). From the first of these collections, composer Charles Villiers Stanford selected the six poems of his song-cycle 'An Irish Idyll' (publ. 1901), dedicated to baritone Harry Plunket Greene, which includes one of Stanford's best-known songs, 'The Fairy Lough'. Her poem Sea Wrack was also set to music for voice and piano by the composer Hamilton Harty and this remains a popular work today.
Early life and family
thumb|242x242px|Old Church at Cushendun with plaque
Moira O'Neill was born in Mauritius on the 13th of July, 1864 and was raised in Cushendun, County Antrim in Ireland. Born Agnes Higginson and known as Nesta, Moira O'Neill was the pen name used to publish her poems. She was the youngest daughter of Charles Higginson, who was a colonial administrator in Mauritius, and Mary Higginson, who was the daughter of the Governor of Mauritius Sir James MacAuley. Charles and Mary were first cousins and raised seven children together, four boys and three girls. Agnes's brothers joined the military which then encouraged the family to move to Rockport, Cushendun in County Antrim.