30th June – Well settled in to Villa Sigean

First two days are over and time to relax. We have settled in well and so far no complaints with the villa. We had thought there would be beach towels available and that there would be Internet access (the web site said there was). Neither is available. So we will buy some towels today in a Super U and I have to go to the local pub where they have free WiFi to upload these posts to my Blog. The things I have to do in this Information Age!

I always when I am holiday finally feel that I am only on holiday when I can have a beer during the day. Roma and I strolled down to the town centre where we sat outside with a Pelforth beer. At last – now I can fully relax. Having a beer in the middle of the day is something I almost never do, so it is a real holiday treat for me.

We also went down to see Port-la-Nouvelle (we have already christened this “Newport”). Super U was closed, but we had a good look around – nice holiday type town. We bought some bread (French of course) for lunch. Lazy afternoon by the pool – it is very hot, about 32 C. Kate and I played boules and table tennis, and I also played piggy-in-the-middle in the pool with Vicki and Emma. Some cooler weather is coming according to Le Monde – as I write this it is Monday morning and cloudy.

Last evening we went back down to Newport for dinner – I had a Dorado-like fish which was nice. All during dinner I was thinking of the Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain – I got to see most of the second half, and some bits as we passed bars and restaurants. It looked a bit boring, so maybe I didn’t miss much. My bet on Germany is lost, but I got good value for my €10 – all the way to the final.

I tried the bike this morning and it started first time! I took it for a spin to Newport as I'm certain that I ran down the battery yesterday trying to start it. Good to be on the Harley in sandals, shorts, and t-shirt - this feels good. I called HOG Assistance to find the location of the nearest Harley dealer (Beziers) - but they are closed on Mondays. I'll contact them tomorrow to arrange a fix for my starter motor.

I'm now sitting at a small table on the main street of Sigean with a beer and a wireless connection in Bar la Rotonde. Roma and the girls are off to the Super U in Newport. Lots of the local young lads are riding by on their very noisy scooters and bikes (two-stroke engines) - at least I am not the only person with a loud motorbike around here.

28th June - Destination Sigean

This morning I awoke to the sound of lots of swallows getting ready at dawn for the day’s insect catching action. I had slept with the windows open (Chalet Fleuri is a two-star hotel, no air conditioning) – so all the birds were up early and I decided to join them. Dawn in Chauvigny is beautiful – the sun rises over the medieval part of the town and I was treated to a wonderful silhouette. It was very peaceful and I sat and enjoyed the sun rise. It was 5.30 am and after dawn I decided to go back to bed for a couple of hours – no use trying to check out at that time, or starting a noisy Harley to wake everybody else who did not hear the swallows.

The picture below shows the centre of Chauvigny with the bridge over the river Viennes, note Claire driving past in her silver Citroen C3!

After leaving the hotel, I went down to the town square hoping for a coffee. No Starbucks here, but the place I stopped at only served pizza – I decided to move on. The bike took ages to start (much to the amusement of the watching locals), and this worried me a bit. I stopped off at the Gendarmerie at the edge of town to report my missing passport. The Gendarme did not speak English and I was very proud of myself that I could converse with him in French. I got a report of the missing passport which I need to get out of the country and for getting a new one. The bike started first time after this and I decided to move on.

I had a breakfast of delicious black coffee and two croissants at a roadside café. Exactly as you would get in Ireland, but it tasted so much nicer in France. Once again the bike started OK so I continued my journey in more confidence. The first part was through smaller roads from Chauvigny to Limoges. Lovely countryside with the smell of freshly mown hay everywhere. Weather was excellent – no more rain, I had blue skies for the rest of the day.

Due to starter problems and time in the Gendarmerie I was a bit behind schedule – I had planned to meet Roma and the girls at Carcassonne airport at 3.10pm so once I hit the autoroute I moved at a much faster pace (80mph/130kph). There are a lot of cars on the road, so much so that it seems as if every French person has 4 or 5 cars. There are Citroens, Peugeots, and Renaults everywhere – very patriotic of the French to buy their own cars. I kept seeing Claire’s silver Citroen C3 everywhere – I even waved to her a few times, but she never waved back! At a services station after getting petrol I had problems starting again – really bad this time, but eventually the bike started. I decided not to go for something to eat, but to keep going.

Close to Carcassonne a Ryanair jet flew over the autoroute – it was about 3.00pm, right on time. I got to the arrivals hall literally two minutes ahead of Roma and the girls – excellent time-keeping by my part, I get this from my Dad. Carcassonne is a really small airport so in no time at all the bags were picked up. We were getting a rented car from Hertz – but so was everybody else on the plane. The queue was long and the wait even longer. It was an hour after landing that we finally got the car, 45 minutes of this was at the Hertz office – they were painfully slow. How they could not be more efficient I do not know, surely it is possible to have some preparation done ahead as they only have a few flights a day at the airport – I will use this as an example in my next Business Systems Analysis class. Anyway – great to see Roma and the girls after two day’s away.

We set off for Sigean about 80km away – me leading the way on the bike (started again OK) and Roma following in our Opel Zafira rental. The villa is lovely and we met the owner who showed us around. Finally, we got into the pool and felt that we had arrived and were on holiday at last. I was pleased that my trip on the bike had gone according to plan. However, later when I wanted to move the bike from the front to the back of the villa it would not start at all – I feel certain that the starter motor has had it (this is the third time since I bought the bike). I now have no choice but to call HOG Assistance – but since it is now Saturday evening I will wait until Tuesday before doing anything further (most Harley shops close on Mondays). At least I got here!

We had pizza for dinner in a pizzeria – €60 for delicious pizza and drinks for five. Good value. All to bed exhausted after all the travel.

27th June - je suis en France, mais sans Passport

Arrived in France this morning after an early start in Portsmouth – 0700 ferry departure. No problems at the beginning – I was disappointed not to have seen HMS Victory as I had planned, but I did catch a glimpse as we passed by the Historic Docks from the ferry. Saw lots more modern British warships, including the Ark Royal.

I tried to sleep on the ferry, but no luck – too many noisy children. I did not sleep much last night – I must have woken up 10 times before 0500. Funny how your body wakes you up when you know you have an urgent early start.

I couldn’t help thinking about the Normandy invasion in 1944 as the ferry approached the port of Ouistreham. You could see the beaches from a long way out – what must it have looked like for the Allied men landing in 1944? A day at the beach? Or unknown horror?

After leaving the boat I decided to take it easy for the first few miles (sorry – kilometres, now that I am in France I must speak “metric”). I enjoyed the countryside and soon came across the first of the signs for Second World War cemeteries. I decided to take a short detour to see the Canadian War Cemetery at Cintheaux. – I had never seen one before and recall that on my last trip on the bike through Normandy that I was so late for the ferry that I couldn’t stop. A war cemetery with so many headstones speaks so much for peace and against war. This was a small immaculately maintained cemetery, but there were over 1,000 headstones there – mostly for men killed after the invasion. The ages were mostly in the 20’s with lots of Irish names like O’Neill, O’Reilly, and McCormack. I took some photos, but did feel a bit invasive of the tranquillity of the cemetery (I was the only person there). I signed the Visitor’s Book but was not sure what to say in the comments section. Most other people simply said “Thanks”, “Merci” or “With Gratitude” – one entry curiously said “Well done lads”, I simply wrote “Rest in peace”.

The photo here is of my bike and a giant Canadian Maple Leaf just outside the cemetery.

No rain today, though it was very cloudy in Normandy. There were a few drops to remind me about yesterday in case I had forgotten already about the wind and rain in Wales and England. The further South I headed – the warmer it got. I stopped at an Autoroute Services station for lunch and at last enjoyed some heat for the first time in two years. This stop was spoiled a bit by a particularly noisy 1-year old at the next table who wouldn’t stop screaming her head off despite her mother’s useless efforts (am I becoming intolerant of noisy kids after three of my own?).

The Autoroute was great and easy to ride. For a brief period before I turned off at Chatellerault I was joined on the road by about 20 other Harley-Davidson riders. So for a short time I rode with a biker gang who called themselves “Tintin’s Club”! My destination today was Chauvigny – a medieval city. However, on my arrival as I was checking all my gear I couldn’t find my passport – despite searching everything I soon realised that I had lost it. I’m guessing it fell out of my pocket when I was paying tolls which I had to do twice. Stupid! I have to go to the Gendarmes tomorrow.

Chauvigny is a beautiful town on the river Vienne. I explored the 11th-13th Century buildings at the top of the town and had a nice pint (half litre) of Heineken. I ate duck and noodles in a Vietnamese restaurant before strolling back to my hotel, Chalet Fleuri, which is on the edge of the river.

I thought my evening was over until I encountered one of the locals who was walking his dog. I’d guess he was in his sixties and he muttered (he had no teeth) something to me in French but I could not understand. He kept this up and despite not understanding a word that he spoke he made it clear that he was offering me sex by pointing to my Men’s Dept! I don’t know if he was the local pimp, or if he fancied me himself – but I’m glad to report that I did not take him up on his offer. I’m 48 years old and this is the first time a man has offered me sex, and it happened in Chauvigny. The only word I understood in the end was “Domage” – beware of toothless dog-walking Frenchmen I say!

Rain, rain, and more rain!

Today was about rain. It started with thunder and lightening in Dún Laoighaire Harbour about 10 minutes before boarding the HSS. I was chatting to other bikers when the heavens opened. The ferry crossing was fine, but it was lashing rain when I disembarked.

I'm sure that North Wales and especially the Snowdonia region are beautiful, but it was almost impossible to see through the driving rain. I was reduced to 20 and 30 mph on several occasions on some twisty roads that I did not expect - I was on the A5. The rain eased off by the time I got to Shrewsbury, I had a few more showers during the rest of the trip, but the rain never stopped altogether. A thoroughly miserable trip through Wales.

I had some light relief along the way. At a Stop-and-Go roadworks in Wales I stopped beside a field with a small herd of buffalo - how I wished I was on the dry prairies in the American mid-west at that moment. In Wales they have wonderful unpronouncable names: Betws-y-coed (Betty goes to a coed school?), Cerrigydrudion, Ty Nant, - I also saw a statue to Owain Glyndwr (a Welsh hero).

In England I had some fun looking at number plates - some interesting three letter combinations ONE, NOT, UHT, - I also saw PNE (Preston North End) and even EOL (your's truly!). I made good progress as I passed through the M54, M6, M5, M4, M3, and M27. I arrived in Portsmouth about 7 hours and 300 miles after leaving Holyhead - below is a Google Maps record of my route:

View Larger Map

The Ibis hotel that I am staying at is OK - it was easy to find and is close to the docks for my early departure tomorrow morning. However, the heater in my room is not working - so I can't dry out my gear. Both my boots are wet (mental note - buy new boots), which won't be a problem if it is dry tomorrow in France. My jacket is a bit damp, but should be OK. Nothing is cheap here - I have had a fish and chips dinner and a couple of nice pints of Worthington's Free Flow (£20). Even this Internet connection is £7 for two hours.

I watched the end of Spain vs Russia (3-0) in the European Championship - looked a bit one-sided. Everybody will be up for Spain in the final against Germany - but I will be supporting the Germans as I have €10 on them to win at 6/1! Deutschland Uber Alles!

Ready to go!

It's Wednesday 25th June - the day before I head of to France and I think everything is ready to go. I took the Harley out for a spin this morning down to Rathnew - I have a new seat with a backrest and I am still trying to get used to it. It seems a little bit higher than the old one and is definitely closer to the handlebars. This is making me sit up a bit straighter which of course is good - the backrest is also great. I'm facing 1,000 miles on the road over the next three days, so I want to be as comfortable as possible.

I filled up the petrol tank to the brim at Texaco in Newtownpark Avenue - this should get me about 175 miles in Wales and England tomorrow. As petrol is a lot more expensive in England I hope to only have to fill up once. The mileage counter is at 24,642 miles - I expect it to be close to 27,000 miles on my return.

I'm taking the HSS from Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead in Wales at 11.10 in the morning - a nice civilized hour to start off. I have all my bags packed. The Harley has two saddle bags - one will be for "bike stuff", the other will hold non-clothes items such as shoes, chargers, cables, camera, and books. I'm taking my clothes in a carry bag and straping this to my rear seat.

I'm really looking forward to this journey - the first stage (Holyhead to Portsmouth) will be about 300 miles and should take about 5-6 hours. I'm taking my computer with me so that I can hopefully blog my trip and holiday. Watch this space!

Séamus (Shay) Byrne - 1947-2008

My Mum's first cousin Shay Byrne died on May 14th last after a long struggle with Multiple Sclerosis. I attended his funeral at Mt Jerome Cemetary and as usual met a lot of family I hadn't seen in years. While it was a sad occasion, there was a sense of release for Shay - he was diagnosed with MS in 1992.

He was a huge Beatles fan and some of their music was played at the funeral mass. The LP "Revolver" was brought up as an Offertory gift - cool! We all left the church to the sound of "Here Comes the Sun".

I have only a few memories of Shay - the last time I saw him was in 1998 when I brought my Canadian uncle Brendan Byrne out to see him at home in Ballyboden. Despite our best efforts, he was unable to join us for a pint down the local. Previous to this I met him and Brendan (again) in Bruxelles in Dublin for a pint in the afternoon - Shay was on strike from work, hence his freedom for an afternoon pint. I'm sure this was in 1981 as Roma and I went to a party in the Byrne house in Rathfarnham that evening on one of our first dates. I fondly remember Shay and all the Byrnes singing every Beatles song they knew!

I also remember Shay from the early 1970s. There was an occasion when all the Byrne family came down to Ballingate and camped in Mum and Dad's front garden. I recall hair was very long and I thought Shay and his brothers were the coolest people on the planet. He would only have been in his early 20s at that stage and he happily chatted with us youngsters.

At his funeral, there was much mention of a book of Shay's thoughts and memories being published. Shay was a regular in Smyth's of Haddington Road as is former Senator Maurice Manning who championed Shay's book. I got it in the post this morning from Shay's brother Brendan and read it in one go almost immediately. It is very funny and contains random thoughts and memories. I especially liked "Tarzan's Three Challenges" and "Cleaning Up Misery Hill". He loved Dublin, but also managed to travel a bit - his memories of hitch-hiking in America are a great read.

At the end of his life, Shay was confined to a wheelchair being paralysed from the neck down - it was indeed a great achievement to be able to write a book. What a pity he did not live to see it in print - no doubt he would have enjoyed a pint or three in celebration!

Roma is Killiney Lion's Club President for 2008/2009

Last night in McCormack's Pub in Mounttown Road the Killiney Lions Club held their Annual Hand-over Meeting where the out-going President presents the new President with the Chain of Office. Roma is President for the next year - here she is wearing her new chain. Her name will be engraved on it in due course. Roma made a short speech to thank the out-going President (Dan) for his efforts - the thrust of her speech was that everybody in the Lions Club "wants the same thing", to help the needy.

Viva el Presidente (the new one)!

We had a pleasant evening and I enjoyed my salad washed down with a few glasses of wine. I was asked when I was going to join the Lions Club - I replied "It's not for me".

Crabs on Roney Beach

In 2005 I wrote a scientific paper about the spider crab Maja squinado for the Irish Naturalist's Journal - my first journal paper in 18 years. The INJ don't publish abstracts or full papers on-line, but the title and volume details are listed in the Archive section of their website.

The scientific citation for the paper is as follows:

O'Loughlin, E.F.M. (2005).

A note on aggregation behaviour and mass mortality of the spider crab Maja squinado (Herbst) (Decapoda, Majidae) in shallow water on the north Co Wexford coast.

Irish Naturalist’s Journal, Issue 28 (2)

The paper is about an unusual event on Roney Beach which I discovered. Selected extracts from the paper:

...

On 1 August 2004, a large aggregation of thousands of spider crabs was observed on the north Wexford coast in Roney Bay (T212505) near Cahore Point.

...

Observations were made in very shallow water (1.5 m to 4 m depth) by the author while snorkelling between 2 m and 40 m distance from the shore. Sea conditions were very calm in this locality on 1 August 2004.

...

On 2 August 2004, sea conditions were rougher as the wind picked up and wave activity increased. This resulted in huge numbers of spider crabs’ carcasses being washed ashore.

...

I had taken some photographs and included these in the paper submission. However, the Editor declined to publish the photo (it would have cost a lot) and the Editor also felt that the text description was adequate. I include a scaled down version here in this post - click the picture to see a larger version.

It was a fantastic sight that I have not seen in the following years. Apparently it is very unusual, but does happen. In a report in the London Times dated 13th August 1997, an estimated mound of over 50,000 spider crabs, ten animals deep and weighing 10 tonnes, was discovered on the Dorset coast of England at a depth of 4 metres. From the article:

Although there is documentation that spiny crabs come together in this way periodically, no one yet fully knows why or can predict where and when these mass meetings take place." Dr Collins, of the university's Department of Oceanology, estimates that he saw 50,000 crabs, weighing about 10 tonnes. Some scientists believe the mass meetings bring males and females together for mating. But Dr Collins said: "Let's face it, you do not need to get together with thousands of others to mate."

True!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Roma and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last Friday evening. I'm a big fan in the Indiana Jones movies, so I was very much looking forward to this.

You know what you are going to get with this type of action movie - ACTION, and lots of it!

This is a really enjoyable movie and age hasn't slowed down Indy at all. There are a lot of things happening - a criticism might be that there is too much happening. The story is a bit complicated to follow (not like the previous Indiana Jones movies).

I still rate The Last Crusade as my favourite Indiana Jones movie, followed by Raiders of the Lost Ark. Crystal Skull is not as good as these, but is better that The Temple of Doom.

Visit to Ottawa, Canada, in May 1998

I once had a Home Page at Ireland On-line (http://www.iol.ie/~eugeneol), IOL were my first ISP. Curiously, the page still exists, though I no longer maintain it. On it I had "travel" section where I wrote about some of my travels - this was a period when I traveled quite a lot with work.

On one occasion I was sent to Ottawa in Canada on business. Luckily, I was able to combine the trip with some family contact - I had three cousins, Janet , Barbara, and Lauralea, living in Ottawa at that time. I was looking up my old IOL home page recently and enjoyed reading my old report on this visit.

Here it is again:

Canada - Ottawa, May 1998

I had the pleasure of preparing Ottawa for Kathleen's visit this summer with a two day business/pleasure trip. CBT Systems sent me over to check out the Development Center of a company that we are buying out called ForeFront.

I arrived in Ottawa on Monday 18th May. It was so good to see a friendly face at the airport - Lauralea was there to meet me. This is the first time that I have been met by somebody I know on any of my business trips. Lauralea took me to her house and introduced me to everybody who lives in Pocono. First time I met Serge, Kate and Natalie - Erin and I are old buddies from her visit to Ireland last year.

After checking into my hotel with a great view out towards Gatineau I went to Janet's apartment where I was treated to a song from the wonderful Barbara accompanied by the equally wonderful Janet on piano. Barbara's Italian is really good and she does Sarah Brightman better than Sarah Brightman herself. Barbara and Janet are both too young to remember Sarah singing "I lost my heart to a Starship Trooper" back in the 70s. We all had dinner in the Laurier Hotel - we almost had the entire restaurant ourselves. We got through all the family gossip (hey - no secrets were revealed!), Picasso (sorry I didn't get to see this Barbara), and Janet, Barbara and Lauralea days growing up. A most enjoyable evening that I will remember for a long time. I forgot to show you my photos of the O'Loughlin girls - I only brought a few hundred and it's a pity we didn't get through them. Janet sent me some photos - here's a sample of lucky me with my three cousins on the stairs in the Laurier Hotel lobby: All next day was spent in ForeFront - a fairly productive visit. Don't know if I'll ever be back.

Tuesday evening, Lauralea and I went out to the Markets area of Downtown Ottawa (looks to me like everything in Ottawa is Downtown!). Three of us had dinner in a restaurant whose name I do not remember. Lauralea had pizza, I had burger and fries, and our mosquito has a piece of my legs. I've already warned Kathleen about Ottawa's insect population whose grapevine is already spreading the news that Irish legs taste best. Our insect repellent factories are already working nights to supply Kathleen with enough repellent for her two week stay!

Lauralea and I went to the Heart and Crown where we had two pints of Guinness. Lauralea - I don't care what you say, Guinness does not travel well and tastes best in Dublin. I should stick to my principles and drink only local beer wherever I go. Lauralea also added to her beer mat collection - she still has one's that I wrote on in 1983!

Wednesday I visited the Royal Canadian Mint where I was keen to add to my coin collection. I think that they are going to melt down all the money I spent and keep Canada's pockets rattling with coins for the next year. Barbara, I passed by the Picasso exhibition - nice building!

I had lunch with Janet in the Cafe across from the Parliament building. Janet, please pass on my regards to Beth. Sorry our time was so short, but it was great to see you again.

Lauralea picked me up from my hotel and brought me to the airport via her house and a large shopping center where she obviously gets commission on everything that her "guests" spend. I picked up a particularly nice soap stone plaque to go with a similar one I purchased in Toronto last year.

Alas, time to go home and Lauralea brought me to the airport to make sure that I got on the plane. Last year I got the trip to Toronto right out of the blue, same this year with Ottawa. Who knows, maybe I'll get to Canada soon again and see all my other cousins and relatives.

"Hike" to Ballycorus Chimney

Today I "took a notion" (as they say in Ballingate) and decided that I would at long last try to go up to Ballycorus Chimney in Rathmichael in south Co Dublin.

For years I have noticed the chimney on top of a hill near Loughlinstown, but had never went near it. I didn't even know that the chimney had a name until earlier today when I Googled it to find directions. It being a fine day, I decided that I would head off with my camera for a look. In Google Maps below it is the shadowed landmark just to the right of center.

View Larger Map

It is easy to drive quite close to the chimney. I parked at the end of a lane and walked the rest of the way up through the nutty aroma of gorze bushes. In no time I was at a very windy top. Once upon a time this chimney was part of a lead mine in this area - lead was mined further down the hill 200 years ago and they decided to build a long chimney to take the fumes from the smelter away. I was once told by a geologist (Pat Kirwan) that it was the longest chimney in Ireland.

From Wikipedia (link):

The mine was opened about 1805 by the Lead Mining Company of Ireland who erected a smelting works at the foot of Carrickgolligan for processing of lead and silver ores taken from the local mine. Ore was also brought here by horse and cart from Glendalough and other Wicklow mines for processing. The ore was melted and converted into ingots, the silver separated and refined, and litharge, red lead and shot manufactured. The mine was closed during the 1920s.

At the top I took a few photographs. The chiminey is still a very impressive structure with an interesting partial spiral staircase around the outside. It is broken in several places so it is no longer possible to go up to the top of the chimney. I was the only person there and I treated myself to the magnificent view out to Bray, Killiney, Dublin Bay, Howth, and the Dublin mountains.

I saw no evidence of the rest of the chimney going down hill - apparently it was possible to walk up through the chimney, but not now.

You can go into the center of the chimney and look up through the middle.

One is struck by the ingenuity of the 19th century engineers who built this chimney. Nearby there is a hollowed out area where it looks like the stones for the chimney were cut out of the local granite rock. I'm glad that at last I made the effort to go and see this landmark.

EdTech 2008

I attended the EdTech 2008 Conference held in Dundalk Institute of Technology on Thursday 22nd May. The Conference is the main activity of the Irish Learning Technologies Association (ILTA). I have been on and off the ILTA committee over the past two years and did not take much part in the preparations for the Conference. I pulled back from ILTA activity when I took on the role of Acting Head of School for three months before Christmas last. This was also the first year that I did not submit anything for the Conference - I regret not finding the time to do this.

I picked up my colleague Stephan Weibelzal at 07.30 hoping to arrive early in Dundalk. However, we spent just over an hour between the M50 toll bridge and the M1 exit - literally inching forward. I can't believe that there are people who do this every day. I was in my car because it was raining - how I wished I had taken the Harley instead! Nevertheless, we were only about 5 minutes late for the opening keynote presentation by Larry McNutt of IT Blanchardstown.

Larry's presentation was one of the best I have been at in years - very entertaining and informative. The title of his talk was "An exploration of the habitus of educational technologists: What does the research tell us?". Lots for us educators to think about. At the end he presented everybody attending with a small gift - a "high-tech device" that he said we should all use to improve our teaching. It turned out to be a mirror! Fantastic!

The break out sessions were good - I attended the following sessions:

Developing educational screencasts – practical tips and pedagogical issues from the chalkface
Damien Raftery of IT Carlow.

Using an Interactive Whiteboard to Efficiently Create Instructional Multimedia to Support Student Learning in a Numerate Discipline
Seamus Ryan of Athlone IT

Using RSS Feeds to make your Lecture available on Moodle, iTunes and the Web
Brian Coll of IT Sligo

Voice: The killer application of mobile learning
Gavin Cooney of Learnosity

Conceptions of Digital Literacy: Implications for Research Design
Leo Casey of National College of Ireland

Usability and Behaviour Observation in e-Learning
Stephan Weibelzahl and Leo Casey of National College of Ireland

Afterwards I attended the ILTA AGM at which I was nominated for the committee again. I also successfully pitched for NCI to host the EdTech 2009 Conference next year - now the work begins!

GAA Shock - first Championship win ever for Wicklow in Croke Park!!!

While I was at Declan and Orla's wedding last Sunday a big shock was taking place in Croke Park - Wicklow 0-13 Kildare 0-09, in the Leinster Senior Football Championship. This was Wicklow's first ever Championship win in Croke Park! Kildare were 1/7 to win this match, and like most Wicklow people I was almost certain that Kildare would win this one handy enough. I did not even look out for the score during the wedding and got a big surprise later on in the evening on hearing the news.

Much credit is due to the magic touch of Mick O'Dwyer who abviously loves Croke Park. He was giving out today that Celine Dion was more important to the GAA than Wicklow because Croke Park is being used for a concert instead of hosting the next match for Wicklow. Next up - Laois!

My grandfather PJ O'Loughlin will be pleased up in heaven at a first Wicklow win in Croke Park - please have a celestial pint on me to celebrate (I'll pay for it in 40 years time when I get there!).

Wedding Bells - Declan Kelly and Orla Lahart

Sunday 18th May 2008 was the big day for my School of Computing colleague Orla Lahart's wedding to ex-School of Computing Head of School Declan Kelly.

The wedding ceremony took place in Cappataggle, Co Galway. Roma and I picked up my colleague and friend Pramod Pathak on the way, stopping off in Athlone for lunch, and arriving in Cappataggle about five minutes late. Not to worry - Orla was about 15 minutes late so we were in plenty of time. A nice ceremony featured very nice music.

The reception was in the Hodson Bay Hotel just outside Athlone - it was a great occasion with several of my colleagues - Pramod, Stephan, Frank, Paul, and Elaine present. We had a fantastic evening with plenty of jokes and dancing - I even danced the Siege of Ennis!

Declan and Orla looked great (and very much in love - ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!). I took 175 photographs - go digital photography!

Long life and happiness to Declan and Orla - thank you both for a great day.

La Peniche Restaurant

Last Friday I went out with colleagues from work (Pramod, Stephan, Elaine, Orla, Keith, Paul, Shauna, and Declan) for dinner to La Peniche Restaurant which is on a barge on the Grand Canal near Baggot Street Bridge. The occasion was to mark the upcoming wedding of Declan Kelly and Orla Lahart next week. We met for a drink in the Mespil Hotel first and we then crossed the road to the barge.

Our meal was excellent and we were also treated to a (short) cruise on the canal. The best bit was going through a lock - I had never been on a barge before. It was a surprisingly swift operation - we went up top to have a look at the proceedings.

The picture of Orla and Declan to the right was taken with my phone - I rarely use it as the quality is poor.After our meal, we adjourned to the The Fifty One pub on Haddington Road - a noisy pub with loud music that made it difficult to hear others. However, we still had a nice evening - I even tried to sing!

The New Taoiseach

Fellow Class of '77 Cistercian College Roscrea Pastman, Brian Cowen, is the new Taoiseach, today is his first day. The photo above is from today's The Irish Times front page showing him receiving his seal of office from President Mary McAleese.

Finally, it's my generation's turn to run the country. I hope "we" do a good job!

I mentioned that I was a classmate of Brian's in a previous posting. If someone had told me in 1977 when the photo to the left was taken that the boy on my immediate left would be Taoiseach some day, I surely would not have believed them.

I don't think I would have selected Cowan in a "Boy Most Likely to be Taoiseach Some Day" competition. There are 56 boys in the photo - a select group now. Hopefully we'll meet up some day again at a re-union in CCR.


Brian signed the back of the photo (as did most others in the class) - this is his signature to the right. As you'll see, Brian followed Liverpool FC and I recall plenty of banter with him over soccer matters. He is known more today for support of GAA, and is not as well known as a soccer fan. Indeed it is hard to compare the man he is now with the fit youngster of 18 years of age in the school photo above.

In school he was one of those guys who was good at everything. Every game he played, he was one of the best. In class, he was one of the smartest. In debates, he out-classed everyone. He was modest, and never boasted about his achievements. He was a thief! Well, sort of. I used to get the newspaper every day in sixth year and during lunch he would "steal" it to read - he was prefect on the table next to mine. Let's hope he will be a good Taoiseach.

I have met Brian three times since school. The first was in The Ginger Man pub in Fenian Street not long after he was first elected to the Dáil - I'd say about 1985. I recall we chatted, mostly about College and what I was doing. The second time was in Guiness's during the visit of US President Bill Clinton in 1999 - we bumped into each other as he came out of an elevator. We shook hands, but he did not stop - cleverly keeping moving as he said hello to me. I'm sure people stop him all the time - he can't stop to talk to everybody. The third and last time was in 2005 at the launch of the CCR book Céad Bliann Faoi Rath, which marked the 100th Anniversary of CCR - Brian was to launch the book. I had been chatting to another classmate, Dr Eamon Maher, when he came over to sympathise with Eamon on the recent death of his father. We just said hello again. I would liked to have stayed around as I believe the party went on long into the evening, but I went to a soccer International after the book launch.

Trailer by Joe(s) O'Loughlin Senior and Junior

Last year I bought a foldaway motorcycle trailer from Treale's Trailers near Preston in Lancashire. I first used it to take my Harley to Achill on holidays last summer. It is very neat and folds up easily so that I can put it in my garden shed. A description as to how it works is here. It really can only be used as a motorcycle trailer - that is, until my Dad and brother Joe got a hold of it.

Dad designed, engineered, and manufactured a box to fit on top of the trailer for use as an ordinary trailer when not towing a motorcycle. Joe welded all together with some skill.

Now I can simply slide the box on and off the trailer. Pictured left is Dad at home on the farm and my new trailer's first load - "sticks" (logs) as we call them in Ballingate.

No problems driving on the road - due to Dad's careful aerodynamic design, no wobbling or bouncing on the road was observed. Excellent!

Now I need to paint to complete the job.

Roma of course thinks I have turned into her Dad and that all I want to use the trailer for is to go to the dump!

Patrick Pearse - The Triumph of Failure

I have just finished reading a biography of Patrick Pearse by Ruth Dudley Edwards - "Patrick Pearse - The Triumph of Failure". I very much enjoyed this book and gave it a five star rating on Amazon.co.uk. I have also reviewed it for Amazon - my review is available here.

I sent a short email to Ruth Dudley Edwards today thanking her for an enjoyable read and to my surprise she responded almost immediately. I told her that Roma and I had a copy of the photo of Pearse as a boy which at first we could not identify. Her response was as follows:

Thank you very much, Eugene.

I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed writing it.

How interesting about the unidentified boy!

Best wishes,

Ruth
www.ruthdudleyedwards.com

Patrick Pearse - A Rare Photograph?

Just before my Mother-in-Law, Mary Rose Bourke, died in September 2006, Roma saved some old photos and letters that Mary Rose had at home and was about to throw out. Interestingly, included were several very old letters, documents, and photos dating back to the early parts of the 20th century. Roma's grand-aunt, Eileen Ryan, was an aquaintance of Margaret Pearse - Patrick's mother. Eileen also attended Pearse's school for girls (St Ita's in Ranelagh).

I'll post a few items on this blog about this as it is facinating that these documents were kept in Roma's family for over 80 years. Eileen Ryan died on 29th July 1923. Her sister (Gabrielle) was Roma's paternal grandmother.

Perhaps the most interesting photograph is one of Patrick Pearse as a school boy. Pearse was born in 1879, so the picture shown to the left was probably taken in the 1890's - he looks about 12-14 years old in this photo.

Ruth Dudley Edwards, in her excellent biography of Pearse "Patrick Pearse - The Triumph of Failure" shows a copy of the photograph among others in the centre section. It is simply labelled "Schoolboy" with no reference to it in the text, or in the bibliography.

I suspect this is quite a valuable photo. I have been to the Pearse Museum in Rathfarnham and did not see a copy of this photo there. I have also Googled it, but have not found it. Several Pearse and 1916 memorabilia have been auctioned in the recent past (see Adam's Independence auction results). In the run up to 2016, there are sure to be many more auctions and renewed interest in early 20th century memorabilia related to 1916.

I have made several efforts to contact the Pearse Museum through email and telephone. Roma feels that even though the documents might be valuable, if the museum are interested in them she would like to donate, or lend, to the museum.

Today, 3rd May 2008, is the 92nd anniversary of Pearse's execution by firing squad in Kilmainham Jail.

South Bar and Restaurant

Last evening we went out for pizza to the new South Bar and Restaurant to celebrate Kate's 17th birthday. The whole Beacon area in Sandyford is being developed, so we saw lots of new buildings and shops. We had not been to this new restaurant before - it looks great, if a bit "posh".

While our meal was fine - we all had pizza, our waitress was to say the least "inexperienced". She took an instant dislike to us, and didn't seem to know what she was doing. Once she had taken Kate and Vicki's order she disappeared! When she came back she took our wine order, and was almost about to get away again when we asked if Roma and I could also make an order! Even this did not compute to her - soon after, Kate and Vicki's pizza arrived - no sign of ours. By the time our pizza arrived, Kate and Vicki had finished their's. Even a Manager's intervention did nothing. I can't remember when it was the last time I did not leave a tip. The meal came to €90.15, and I took home the €9.85 change from €100.

I'm sure I'll be back - the rest of the menu looked interesting, and of course this waitress won't last.

THE BUSINESS ANALYSTS ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND - Home

I am on the Home Page of the Business Analysts Association of Ireland pictured (right) with a group of graduates from the NCI Diploma in Business Analysis and Consultancy. I have been teaching the Business Systems Analysis module for the past three years. I don't think I have been on a home page before - so this is a first for me. Woohoo!!!

Other photos from graduation ceremonies over the past few years are also shown on this site - click here to see me with some well-dressed people (including me in the very fetching scarlet and gold Trinity PhD graduation gown)!

Preston North End 2 - Ipswich Town 2

I went to Preston this weekend to see PNE vs Ipswich Town in the Championship, and also to see Brian. PNE are by now safe from relegation, but Ipswich had an outside chance of a play-off place if they won this match. So, not quite an end of season meaningless fixture. Brian and I were looking forward to the match.

I travelled over early to Liverpool by Ryanair arriving at about 0900. Conveniently I got a bus to Liverpool's Lime Street train station straightaway for £2.50 and a train to Preston. I arrived at 1200 planning to go to Preston Harley-Davidson, but I got a text message from Brian to say he had arrived early in Preston.

So I skipped the motorbikes and decided to meet Brian earlier than planned. While waiting for Brian outside the Fishergate Shopping Centre a man approached me looking for directions to PNE's ground - Deepdale. Though I knew the direction to the ground I felt that I was a bit of a phoney in the centre of Preston dressed in my PNE shirt - the guy was obviously an Ipswich Town fan.

I met Brian in a Japanese Restaurant called Sakura - we had a smashing lunch, Brian's first time in a Japanese restaurant. Brian was in great form and it was good to see him again - we had not met since Uncle Charlie's funeral last September. Afterwards, we walked up towards the ground stopping off for a pint at Finney's Sports Bar. This is a nice pub, named after PNE's most famous player ever - Sir Tom Finney. It is very close to the ground - my pint was a curiously honey flavoured brew. We watched part of the live Chelsea vs. Manchester United game - the whole pub cheered when United scored. Brian tells me that there is always a North/South rivalry in England. (Chelsea won 2-1 in the end).

One thing the pub owners here should do is clean up the toilets - they look like they have not been cleaned since PNE last won the League title (1899). Brian took the photo to the right outside on our way to the match.

We got to the ground just in time for the match. The ground was not full - 14,197 attended. The game was a real end-to-end contest with lots of chances for both teams to keep us entertained.

Ipswich scored first after eleven minutes through Miller. The PNE match vs Wolves last year had only one goal for Wolves in the 11th minute, so I was hoping for a change this year.

Chris Brown equalized for PNE in the 34th minute - wonderful, my first PNE goal celebration at Deepdale! We were entertained at half time by a wonderful red-coated brass band whose average age was at least 60+ years old. In the second half the excitement continued and PNE finally took the lead in the 79th minute through Neil Mellor - the photo to the left shows Brian celebrating this goal. Ipswich scored a late equaliser (Walters - 87th minute) - I think a 2-2 result was just about right. Enjoyable game - worth coming over for!

After the game Brian and I had a pint (me) and a coke (Brian) in the Victoria Bar near the train station. We dissected the game, plus of course some family chat.

I left Brian for the 18.50 train to Liverpool. I'll see Brian next on 20th June when Joe and I go over to Barrow for some golf.

I got a taxi from the train station to the airport - my taxi driver must have been the only one in Liverpool who didn't care much for football. The flight home was delayed by 30 mins, but I got home about 11.30. A long day, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Go PNE!

Tale of Two Brains - Comedian Mark Gungor

Kate sent me this short comedy video by Mark Gungor from YouTube. Gungor has a laugh comparing men's and women's brains. I wonder was Kate thinking of me when she watched it herself?

Men's brains ARE different from women's brains. I can remember who scored the winning goal in the 1977 FA Cup Final (Roger Osbourne of Ipswich Town, left foot shot into lower right hand corner of the net past Pat Jennings of Arsenal!), but I can't remember what I had for dinner last Tuesday. Why is this? Maybe we do have boxes as Gungor suggests - watch the video and enjoy!

Ageing through Passports

I was tidying away my desk this morning and noticed that the family's passports were out of their usual spot. Our old passports were also out and I looked at my first one which was issued in July 1974 - this was for my first ever trip abroad to Saint-Étienne in France on an exchange with French boy (called Vincent Studer). My next passport was issued in August 1984 just before Roma and I went to Paris for our first ever trip away courtesy of my winning a competition on the Gerry Ryan Show on RTÉ Radio 2. My third passport was issued in June 1994 in time for my first business trip abroad to Provo, Utah. My current passport was issued in April 2004.

The most striking thing about looking at four passports issued ten years apart is of course the photographs - in each of above I am 14, 24, 34, and 44 years of age respectively. Time certainly hasn't done me any favours! I wonder what my next one (due in April 2014) will look like!

Another difference in the passports is that the first two were the old green hardback covered Irish style - the latter two are the modern purple EU style. Also different is that all entries in my first and second are hand-written (by someone in the passport office), while the next two are more security protected with plastic sealed photos and computer readable information.

Evening Press - 7th October, 1959

I came across a copy of the front page of the Evening Press some years ago in the Blackrock Market. A man had a stall selling real copies of newspaper front pages - he had the dates of papers that he had in stock. I was surprised to find he had a page from the Evening Press on the day I was born - 7th October, 1959.

I bought it for £10 - the original price was 2d (two old pence) which is less than one euro cent now. Unfortunately, I only got the front page - I would have liked to have got the whole paper. The Evening Press is no longer published.

As you can see, the main headline was about an air-ferry service to fly cars to Liverpool from Dublin! Also pictured is the lovely Princess Grace of Monaco with her daughter Caroline - both beautiful women. The late King Hussein of Jordan also features. Page 2 contains a lot of small ads for jobs - many for teenage "boys" and "girls" to work as servants and shop assistants. Some wages given are 20 or 30 shillings per week (about 1 euro).

My Academic Publications

I am not a prolific publisher of academic papers. I managed three journal publications in the late 1980's based on sections of my PhD, and since I became a Lecturer in NCI I have managed a few more - mostly Conference papers. Below is a full list of my work that is published elsewhere. It ranges from formal academic journal papers to Conference papers and sections in books. I publish under the name of "E.F.M. O'Loughlin". Some of these are cited in other publications (I'll get to stating these in a separate post).


Journals:
O'Loughlin, E.F.M. (2005).
A note on aggregation behaviour and mass mortality of the spider crab Maja squinado (Herbst) (Decapoda, Majidae) in shallow water on the north Co Wexford coast.
Irish Naturalist’s Journal, Issue 28 (2).

O'Loughlin, E.F.M. (1989).
Notes on the distribution of Calliostoma zizyphinum (L.) (Mollusca) on the shores and shallow waters of the Irish coast.
Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society No 12.

O'Loughlin, E.F.M. & Aldrich, J.C (1987).
Morphological variation in the painted topshell Calliostoma zizyphinum (L.) (Prosobranchia:Trochidae), from inter-tidal rapids on the Irish coast.
Journal of Molluscan Studies, volume 53, pp267-272. Abstract.

O'Loughlin, E.F.M. & Aldrich, J.C (1987).
An analysis of shell shape variation in the painted topshell Calliostoma zizyphinum (L.) (Prosobranchia:Trochidae).
Journal of Molluscan Studies, volume 53, pp62-68. Abstract.


Book Chapters:
O’Loughlin, E.F.M. (2007).
Using Video-Sharing On-line Tools.
IN: 162 Tips and Tricks for Working with e-Learning Tools (Bill Brandon - Editor). p44-45. Published by The eLearning Guild. eBook.


Conference Papers:
O’Loughlin, E.F.M. & Osterlind, S.J. (2007).
A Study of Blended Assessment Techniques in On-line Testing
AISHE 2007 (Full paper).

O’Loughlin, E.F.M. & Kelly D. (2006).
An evaluation of the effectiveness of Teaching Vignettes as part of a staff development programme in the School of Computing at the National College of Ireland.
AISHE 2006. (PDF).

O’Loughlin, E.F.M. (2006).
Evaluation and Assessment of Blogs and Discussion Boards in On-line Education.
EdTech 2006 (Research Track).

O’Loughlin, E.F.M. and Pathak, P. (2005).
The Irish e-Learning industry – growth or decline?
EdTech 2005. (PDF).

Cavanagh, J. and O’Loughlin, E.F.M. (2005)
e-Learning in Higher Education in Ireland: Hype or reality?
4th Annual IIUG Conference

Rovcanin, L & O’Loughlin, E.F.M. (2004).
Creating and Managing Learning Objects with Common Office Tools.
EdTech 2004. (PDF).


Reports:
Kelly, D., Weibelzal, S., O’Loughlin, E.F.M., Arnedillo-Sánchez, I., Pathak, P., and Gledhill, V. (2005).
e-Learning Research & Development - Roadmap for Ireland.
National College of Ireland. (PDF)

O'Loughlin, E.F.M. (2005)
An investigation into the introduction of a Learning Content Management System (LCMS) to manage and deliver courses at National College of Ireland.
National College of Ireland. (PDF).


Articles:
O’Loughlin, E.F.M. and Osterlind, S.J. (2007).
Blended Assessment in Small to Medium-sized Classes.
Learning Solutions, The e-Learning Guild. (Abstract)


PhD Thesis:
O’Loughlin, E.F.M. (1988).
On shell shape variation in the painted topshell Calliostoma zizyphinum (L.).
University of Dublin.


Honorable Mentions:
O'Loughlin, E.F.M. (2008)
Happy Birthday , Learning TRENDS. IN: Learning TRENDS 500th Edition. (p 24). (PDF)

Life begins at 40 for Society - News, frontpage - Wicklowpeople.ie

Mum and Dad were in The Wicklow People newspaper again this week as the paper marked the 40th Anniversary of the Carnew Musical Society. Both Mum and Dad are mentioned in the article - the link to the on-line version is:

"Life begins at 40 for Society"

Roma and I went down to Shankill today to buy the paper and then we adjourned to the local Lounge for a pint. While everybody else in the pub was watching Manchester United vs. Arsenal (2-1) we had a nice jar while looking through the paper looking for pictures of Mum and Dad - we couldn't find them. Mum had told me that they were pictured in it, the on-line version had an article about them, but the print version I had did not mention them at all. I suspect that there are different versions of the paper depending on in which part of the County you buy it.

They are also mentioned in the Gorey Guardian:

"Treading the boards of Carnew for 40 great years"

Dinner Out in Daniel's Restaurant - Glasthule

Roma an I went out to dinner on Friday evening to Daniel's Restaurant in Glasthule near Dún Laoghaire. I had never been there before, though Roma had been a few years ago with some friends.

The restaurant is upstairs and is very old fashioned - it really looked like a country B&B dining room that hadn't been painted or decorated in some time. I discovered today that it is actually part of a B&B. However, we had an excellent meal. I started with some really hot seafood chowder - I've had better, but this was good. For main course I had some delicious monkfisk in a white wine/cream sauce with dill - excellent! Roma had a tasty steak in an egg batter. The chef - Daniel Harkin, came out to explain how he would cook it - a nice touch. The other customers seemed to be "regulars" - the waitress seemed to know many of them.

Overall, an very enjoyable meal - I'll certainly revisit.

Unpublished Letter to The Irish Times - "Learn some English"

This is another letter written on January 8th , 2008 to The Irish Times that was also not published:


Madam,

Arriving at the impressive new Pier D in Dublin Airport from Luton on 5th January last, I was not impressed by the welcome a fellow passenger got. While queueing at Passport Control the Eastern European passenger in front of me was asked which airport she had come from - she replied that she didn't understand English. She was then told that she "should learn some English" and was let through. What ever happened to our Ireland of the 1,000 welcomes?

Yours etc,

Eugene F.M. O'Loughlin,
Richmond,
Blackrock,
Co. Dublin.


One good thing about this blog is that I am both the Author and the Editor and I can publish what I like, even if The Irish Times doesn't!

Unpublished Letter to The Irish Times - "Road behaviour"

As mentioned in my last post - I have had two of four letters written to the Editor of The Irish Times published. Here's one of the unpublished letters written on 21st July, 2007:


Madam,

I read with interest Alison Healy's article (July 21st) reporting on a reduction in road injuries and deaths in the past year. Having decided this year to holiday in the West of Ireland for the first time in seven years I could see for myself the evidence of greatly improved road behaviour as I traversed the country. There seemed to me to be less speeding and less careless driving by those whom I shared the road with - long may this continue.

However, it was not completely incident free. Of the five incidences of dangerous driving that I saw over two weeks, four were caused by Northern Ireland registered cars and one by a UK registered car. This is still one aspect of driving behaviour on our roads that has not changed much in seven years. Perhaps further reductions in injuries and deaths will be reported if the apparent immunity with which these motorists drive is removed.

Yours, etc,

Dr. Eugene F.M. O'Loughlin,
2 Richmond,
Blackrock,
Co. Dublin

My Letter to the Editor of "The Irish Times" - 24th March, 2008

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote to the Editor of The Irish Times after reading previously a letter from another reader (Brenda Morgan on 20th March). This letter pointed out that nearly a year after the General Election that there are still plastic ties scattered on our lamp posts despite the fact that the posters that they were used to tie up had been removed. There are heavy fines for political parties if they do not remove election posters.

This prompted me to respond and suggest colour coded plastic ties for each party. To my surprise the letter was published in the 24th March, 2008 edition! This is my second published letter (out of four written). On the previous occasion, I got a phone call from the Irish Times editor's office to confirm that I had written the letter and that it would soon be published. Not this time - they didn't tell me it would be published.

I discovered that the letter was published completely by accident. I didn't see it on the 24th March edition, and (it seems) nobody else did either! No one has mentioned this to me - how disappointing! I found it by accident as I Googled myself and saw the link way down my vanity search results. The Irish Times is a subscription newspaper on-line, so unless you have a subscription - you won't be able to see it.

Interestingly, the Editor made some minor changes - here's the text of my original letter, under the title of "Shades of Green", sent to the Editor by email:

Madam,

Brenda Morgan rightly points out in her letter (20th March, 2008) that it is a disgrace that almost a year after the general election that our constituencies are still littered with plastic ties left behind when election posters are removed. Thanks to the threat of substantial fines, political parties are now fairly good at removing the posters. Perhaps it is time to introduce a colour scheme for the poster ties so that those responsible could be fined? Parties could register their own colours - red for Labour, blue for Fine Gael, white for the PDs, but who would get green ties? The Greens, Fianna Fail, and Sinn Féin would all want green ties. Different shades to determine who is the greenest of them all?

Yours etc,

Eugene F.M. O'Loughlin,