Moira O'Neill was the pseudonym of Agnes Shakespeare 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 Moira O'Neill was born in Mauritius on the 13th of July, 1864 and was raised in Cushendun, County Antrim in Northern Ireland. She used the name "Moira O'Neill" to publish her poems, However her birth name was "Agnes Higginson" but people used to call her "Nesta". 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 initially 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. On the 5th of June, 1895, Agnes married Walter Clarmont Skrine who was born in Warleigh Manor, County Somerset. The couple was married in Cushendun and after that moved to Alberta, Canada since Walter had land holdings placed there."The couple settled in the Bar S Ranch, 24 miles southwest of High River where Walter had nearly 17,000 acres under lease and built a new, two-story home for his family, the lumber freighted from Calgary by teams of horses". Agnes and Walter raised five children together, three sons and two daughters. Charles John and Susan were born in Canada, Mary Nesta who became a famous writer and was known as "Molly Keane", Godfrey Higginson and Walter Henry were born in Ireland when the family moved back in 1902 and settled in the Ballyrankin House, Ferns, County Wexford.