‘Kevin O’Higgins’ Comma’

Photo of Kevin O'Higgins

Kevin O’Higgins
[Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kevin_O%27Higgins.jpg#/media/File:Kevin_O%27Higgins.jpg]

One of the most popular posts on this website – for whatever reason – is Significant Commas in Irish History. While looking for something completely different, I came across an article in The Irish Jurist about the second of the commas I looked at in that article. Entitled “Changing the King’s Title, 1926: An Asterisk to ‘O’Higgins’ Comma’”, it delves into the claim made by Terence de Vere White in his biography of Kevin O’Higgins (London 1948) that this particular change was the responsibility of O’Higgins. The article is therefore a much more detailed treatment of that episode in Irish-British relations than can be found in my article.

SPOILER ALERT! The author concludes that while plausible, it’s not possible to definitively say who introduced that particular change into George V’s title.

Reference

Shinn, Ridgway F. “CHANGING THE KING’S TITLE, 1926: AN ASTERISK TO ‘O’HIGGINS’ COMMA.’” Irish Jurist (1966-), vol. 16, no. 1, 1981, pp. 114–140. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44026910.

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