Early Life
One of nine children of a small farming family, he was born in 1949 in Lispole, part of the Dingle gaeltacht in County Kerry. He went to school in the Dingle Christian Brothers School, and after finishing he enrolled in the priesthood. As part of his training he was sent to a Catholic seminary school in Minnesota, U.S. in the 1960s.
It was against the backdrop of anti-Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement that Higgins was politicised.
He is a brother of Liam Higgins who played football with the Kerry GAA senior team in the 1960s and 1970s.
Higgins is bilingual in English and Irish.
Read more about this topic: Joe Higgins
Famous quotes related to early life:
“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)