[3] He had an elder brother, Fearghal Ruadh Ó hUiginn, who succeeded his father as head of the family and died c.1400.
The historian of Medieval Gaelic Ireland, Marc Caball, believes him to have been a great-grandson of Tadhg Ó hUiginn, a celebrated poet who died in 1315.
Ó hUiginn enjoyed a great professional reputation within his own lifetime, and was regarded as a master poet.
Written in or around 1400, when Tadg Óg was in his early thirties, it is entitled Anocht sgaoilid na sgola (also known by the initial line of stanza 14, Me a dhearbhrathair 's a dhalta).
[8] Marc Caball draws attention to Ó hUiginn's success in "composing works of affective power and elegance ... nothwithstanding the somewhat formulaic configuration of the bardic form.