Trick or Treat

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 01:59:25 +0000

Atlanta, Piper, Fionn, Lorna.

Ballyjamesduff Museum

admin — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 23:19:36 +0000

My day off today, so we went to see the Cavan County Museum in Ballyjamesduff www.cavanmuseum.ie It’s only 6 miles away but I’d never been before. They have a special exhibition for the next two weeks of The Breac Maedoc and the Bell of St. Mogue, on loan from the National Museum of Ireland www.museum.ie and the Armagh Public Library www.armaghrobinsonlibrary.org

They also have some stone heads and pottery, and a nice collection of Sheela na Gigs.

Some of these photos are well worth seeing in their original size. Click on the picture to go to the flickr page, then click on action>view all sizes just above the photo

Google Streetview

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:22:27 +0000

Google launched the streetview part of google earth and google maps in Ireland today. It wouldn’t work on my iPhone, but it works on the desktop version.

Click on the photo for a larger one.

Here’s to Long Life and Happiness. Cheers

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:50:33 +0000

Here’s somethng you won’t read in an Irish Times editorial: drinking alcohol in moderation is better for you than excessive drinking (obviously) and abstention (less obviously). Specifically:
Controlling only for age and gender, compared to moderate drinkers, abstainers had a more than 2 times increased mortality risk, heavy drinkers had 70% increased risk, and light drinkers had 23% increased risk. A model controlling for former problem drinking status, existing health problems, and key sociodemographic and social-behavioral factors, as well as for age and gender, substantially reduced the mortality effect for abstainers compared to moderate drinkers. However, even after adjusting for all covariates, abstainers and heavy drinkers continued to show increased mortality risks of 51 and 45%, respectively, compared to moderate drinkers. (ht: Overcoming Bias)
So there you go: eat, drink and be merry – for there’s a better chance you’ll see tomorrow.

Like Old Times

admin — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:29:18 +0000

These old tractors must be on their way home from the vintage day in Finea last Sunday

1911 Census

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:20:08 +0000

The entire 1911 census (and most of the 1901 census) of Ireland is now available online for free. It’s a fantastic tool if you want to check your roots, and great to see their returns written in their own writing.
This is my great grandfather, Jerome Murphy’s census return from April 2nd, 1911. He was a shipping clerk for Cunard in Cobh, Co. Cork (then Queenstown). My granny, Marjorie is also there, aged 12. Check out your own at www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

To see it bigger, click on the photo, and on the flickr page, click on actions>view all sizes

Julie Galligan’s hen party

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:12:15 +0000

Julie’s Hen Party had a WAGs theme and was great crack. Loads more photos and become a fan at www.facebook.com/copperkettlepub

Photography

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 23:07:40 +0000

Not many posts recently, I’ll make up for it now. I’m taking the photos next month at Aidan McCann and Sharon Leddy’s wedding, so we went for a practice run up at Crover the other evening.

iPhone or iPod Touch?

admin — Sun, 02 May 2010 21:18:48 +0000

The Copperkettle website is iPhone friendly. If you read the copperkettle.ie website regularly using your iPhone or iPod Touch, you can add the logo above to your home screen simply by going to the site, tapping on “+” at the bottom of the screen, and choosing “add to homescreen” in the menu that comes up. That way you can visit easily anytime you like!

Drumlane Abbey

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:38:37 +0000

near Milltown, Belturbet, Co. Cavan was founded in the early sixth century. The original wooden buildings were replaced by stone in the 12th Century, and later added to in the 15th Century. You can clearly see the two periods by the different types of stone building in the tower. The monastery is associated with St. Mogue, who was born in nearby Templeport. It’s in a beautiful place overlooking two lakes in peaceful quiet countryside, however we weren’t the only visitors yesterday, these two Irish hares must have thought it was still March. There are some unusual headstones in the graveyard. The one below with the skull and crossbones is conclusive proof that we’ve been colonised by aliens, with it’s egg-timer on the left, coffin underneath, and space-shuttle on the right!

After a little further research (Thank You, Google), it’s possible these weren’t aliens after all. William Roulston explains the meaning of the strange pictures known as ‘Mortality Symbols’ on some headstones. The skull and cross-bones is a well known symbol for death. The coffin and the bell represent a funeral. The hour glass represents the time running out. These symbols tell us a lot about how people felt about life and death at that time. Headstones like these can be found around Fermanagh and in parts of Monaghan.