McCain Headstone in Templastragh Graveyard

Barry R McCain of Oxford, Mississippi, has just sent me the following notes about an inscription that was recorded in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 1899:

Here's something I found in the 1899 U Journal of Archaeology, a transcription of the large tombstone in the middle of Templastragh ruin. (a good thing too as it is now too weathered to read properly)

... Here lyeth the Body of Cathrine McCain who departed this life th 9th of November 1811 Aged 61 years wife to William McCain Late of Bushmills who Departed this life Ye 17th of March in the year 1813 Aged 70 years...

Notes: Writing is stylised. Some abbreviations above the first letter, Ye = the, written with the Y over the E. the Th of 9th and 17th, over the numbers, other little oddities such as that. That McCain family part of those McCains out near Ballyleckan, kin to the Adams in Ballywatt today, etc., part of my family.

Bushmills and Lagadrade

Click to enlarge

I stumbled upon a curious place-name in the Rev George Hill's "Macdonnells of Antrim". It was Logenadoaid and according to the reference from William Petty's Down Survey 1655/6 appears to be on the west bank of the river Bush/Bush Water more or less directly across the river from the present Spar shop on Upper Main Street, Bushmills. This shop is in a building formerly known as Ballyness House.


David Speers of Causeway Books recognised the place-name as Lagadrade and Pat McKay of the Northern Ireland Place-Name Project at Queens University Belfast provided the following derivation:

It seems that Irish Log an Droichid 'hollow of the bridge/crossing place' is the most satisfactory interpretation as suggested by the local pronunciation and that 'Logenadoaid' is a corruption. Info on pronunciation of 'Cowenfishyn' as 'Carnfishin' is also interesting. I'm sure the first element is Irish 'carn' but the final element is obscure.

Carnfishin is in the townland of Ballyhemlin and Lagadrade might overlap the townlands of Magheraboy and Ballaghmore.

Undisclosed Email Problems for Government in Rathlin Ferry Saga

77 Offence of altering etc. records with intent to prevent disclosure .. Freedom of Information Act 2000

Undisclosed Emails

These inter-departmental emails were released by the Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) on 15 March 2010 following an FoI request. They were not released by the Department for Regional Development (DRD) following an earlier request in 2008 for such information.

These important documents appear not to have been evaluated by the independent investigators during the 2008 investigation into the procurement of the Rathlin ferry service. Were these emails given to the investigators and, if not, why not?

The far from watertight investigators report was published in December 2008 and has yet to be scrutinised by the Committee for Regional Development. Sadly, this report does not list the documents examined by the investigators.

CPD staff expressed a range of reservations to their DRD colleagues following the submission of tenders in the first tendering process in 2007 and prior to their evaluation:

*** still has reservations over the scoring frame. Just as myself and *** have already said, he continues to be worried about its transparency and the integrity of the whole process. I remain extremely uncomfortable with the notion of any evaluation model which is set up to exclude [12 Oct 2007]

I am disappointed to note this e-mail. You believe that the adjustments to the scoring frame were minor. I have approved these adjustments and I am satisfied that the adjustments are fundamental clarifications of the competition criteria and that it was essential that this exercise was completed before opening the tenders.

You now raise concerns that the requirement for explicit sub criteria has not been fully appreciated within the context of this competition.

The integrity of the process is dependent on each member of the evaluation team being clear on the contract requirements [17 October 2007]

These CPD reservations indicate that the tenderers were not given a detailed breakdown of the scoring system and so were left in the dark as to the weightings to be applied. [Failure to detail sub-criteria and associated weightings in advance to tenderers can have consequences.]

Also, at least one of the tenderers was not told in this tendering process that DRD had budgeted £1.2 million for a passenger only ferry for the Rathlin route, a figure curiously adjacent to the cost of the Rathlin Express catamaran. £1.2 million is a very significant figure in the context of a £4 million contract.

Which members of the evaluation team were in contact with the tenderers prior to the advertisement of the contract, between the advertisement and the submission of tenders and between the submission of tenders and the scoring process?

I would have expected that the evaluation team would have been able to act independently of the tenderers and those members of CPD and DRD they had dealings with.

Probity would require nothing less.

Adds March 26

"The EU can play a critical role in promoting best practice and ensuring a coordinated and integrated response across member states to the challenge of sustainable transport." .. Conor Murphy 24.03.2010

Minister Conor Murphy has yet to release the contents of the EU investigation report into aspects of the Rathlin ferry procurement contract and the Office of Government Commerce hasn't as yet had full co-operation from all parties to that investigation. Can we expect the EU to insist on best practice? Will its conclusions be sustainable or will they leak like the DRD's internal investigation?

Cape Clear Island Walking Talking Festival, Co Cork

Press Release

May Bank Holiday Weekend
March 30 - April 3, 2010

Cape Clear Island, Ireland’s most south-westerly point, is famous for stunning scenery, birdwatching, Gaeltacht colleges, traditional music, sailing, storytelling and whale and dolphin watching . These attractions draw thousands of visitors every year. Like other similar places, the Island inspires poetry, art and storytelling and in recent years has become host to one of Ireland’s premier storytelling festivals.

The May Walking Talking Festival will be launched by author and broadcaster Damien Enright, author of many popular walking guides to Cork and Kerry. There will be a series of walks around the hidden corners of the Island focusing on different aspects of its history, folklore and ecology, all led by local enthusiasts. Whalewathing trips are combined with other low key events such as singing workshops, poetry readings, local folklore and also culinary and musical fare, sometimes idiosyncratic, always local.

This is a low key festival for those who like to give as much as to receive, who enjoy great walking in good company, who like to exchange tales and stories and also the art of good conversation. No pressure, no hassle, bring a raincoat and good walking boots, sing a song or play a few tunes if you are so inclined, or just sit back and listen.

The local cast of characters has been set and are looking forward with great anticipation to an enjoyable weekend. See website for details http://www.walkingtalking.info

Séamus Ó Drisceoil,

Comharchumann Chléire Teo.

Cape Clear Island, West Cork.