How To... Calculate the Factorial of a Number in Excel

Today I came across the exclamation mark symbol while preparing some notes for a statistics class on Probability. It has been a very long time (probably 1st year in College) since I came across or last used this symbol. When used with a number it means that it is the factorial of that number. For example: 

        5!  =  5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1  =  120

While this calculation can be done in your head, it is much more awkward to calculate the factorial of a larger number. So I decided to see if I could find an easy way to do it in Excel 2010, and sure enough it is relatively straight-forward to so using the FACT function. Here is my short video showing how to do this:

Today was also the first time that I had someone with me when I was recording a video. Normally I close the windows, turn my phone to silent, and put a Do Not Disturb note on the door. Up to now I have been on my own in a quiet office - I do not like company when recording. The Head of the School of Computing at NCI, Dr Pramod Pathak, expressed an interest in seeing how I made the recordings, so he was a welcome guest today. Having someone else beside you doing this is quite an experience. Of course I wanted the recording to be a good one and demonstrate an easy way to create educational material - but I also felt that I had to do a better job and not make any mistakes while being watched. Having someone present definitely  made me feel and perform differently.

Students Citing Wikipedia, Google, and YouTube (via @mashable)

Four of the top ten web sites cited by students are: Wikipedia, YouTube, Yahoo Voices, and Answers.com, according to Sarah Kessler writing in Mashable. In her article Students Cite YouTube, Google, Wikipedia the Most, she writes that when "doing homework, many students turn to the same websites as they do when they’re surfing the web under other circumstances" and that "students referred to Google more than any other database when discussing their research habits". While this is not in the least surprising, it does show the dependency of modern students on these easy to access and use resources. The article also shows a very interesting Infographic based on some studies by EasyHub.com - you can see the graphic here.

Many students are open about using these tools - I have seen students Google some words in some of my own open book in-class tests, and even send my question to Ask.Com to find an answer. The trouble is that the likes of Google return millions of results and the key is in using Google properly. I don't know anybody who looks at more that a handful of search results before trying a different search if they don't get what they want. Perhaps we should have classes on searching for information on the web. It is too easy to just type in a few words and search. Equally, us educators have to be conscious that it is easy for students to find information and that in addition to the threat of plagiarism, there is also the possibility that a difficult assignment can be made very easy by clever use of search tools and the likes of Wikipedia.

Drawing Box Plots in Excel

I have added a new video to my YouTube channel about how to draw a simple box plot chart in Excel. Box plots are part of the syllabus of a new module I am teaching in the upcoming semester - Business Data Analysis. I have a tutorial class where I will be setting students some tasks to display data in Excel, and a box plot is a nice tool to do this.

This video took several "takes" to make as I had never created a box plot before. Creating a video is a great way to learn how to do this and I hope the resulting video will help my students to complete their lab work.

Birthdays and an "American Wake"

The 27th of August is a notable day in our family as both my Mum Phil, and my daughter Claire celebrate birthdays on the same day. Mum is 78 and Claire is 24 - I hope both ladies will forgive me for revealing their age. We had a small family get together in our house to mark the occasion, and also to get some family together before Claire sets off for America this Saturday for a year. All were in great form and below is a small slideshow of some photos I took on the day:

Happy birthday Mum and Claire!

Celtic Rock meet Seán Ó Riada - #horslips

It was 1970s nostalgia, balding heads, expanding waistlines, dyed roots, and for a couple of hours at least, youth restored for the middle aged fans of Horslips who rocked the National Concert Hall last evening. I had been at a previous concert at the O2 back in December 2010 - this time in the more intimate surroundings of the NCH they were supported by The Orchestra of The National Concert Hall, with arrangements by Golden Globe nominee (and conductor) Brian Byrne. It felt like Celtic Rock meets Seán Ó Riada.

The concert was based on two of Horslips' most famous albums - The Táin and The Book of Invasions. This of course meant we were treated to some of their best music: "Charolais", "Dearg Doom", "Daybreak", "Trouble (With a Capital T)", and "The Power and the Glory". At times the Orchestra drowned out the lads, in fact probably the only time that this did not happen was for the second encore when they played "Shakin' All Over" without the orchestra. However, for tracks like "Daybreak" and "Dearg Doom", the orchestra really excelled and helped make the evening special for Horslips fans. It's not the first time Horslips have played with an orchestra - check out "Trouble (With a Capital T)" in the YouTube video below when they hooked up last year with the Ulster Orchestra at the Waterfront in Belfast.

Good Customer Service

Two incidences this week got me on to a "I'm a consumer and I know my rights" high-horse. I was itching for a fight and would demand that both products be exchanged. However, I was disarmed by polite and helpful customer service - so I thought I'd give them a plug on my blog.

Image source: The Think Green blog.

First, I had called Crossan Motorcycles earlier in the week to tell them that I was not happy with the motorcycle helmet I had bought from them three weeks ago. At the time I expressed some concern that the helmet felt very tight - it was size 61-62cms while my head is almost 64cms in diameter (yes - I know that's big!). However, I still bought the helmet based on the expert advice that it was the correct fit. Three weeks later I had enough of the too tight fit. But in the phone call I was informed that the shop was under no obligation to exchange the helmet (I even checked this out with the Northern Ireland Consumer Council - the shop was right). I was mad at this and I told them so. Today I called to Crossan Motorcycles near Mayobridge just outside Newry where the manager Shane agreed straight away to an exchange for a larger size - he would sell the smaller helmet on eBay for a lower price and we agreed to share the cost. I have to say that I was treated with the utmost respect and came away happy that I had the right helmet. Two lessons for me: One - if I'm not happy with a product I should not buy it regardless of advice received. Two - be nice.

Also yesterday I had received a Sky+ HD box from TVTrade.ie. It was €117 including post and a remote control, and a six month warranty. It is used, but the box looked in great condition. A new box would have been €259 from Sky - I felt that I had got a bargain. When I connected it to the TV it worked straight away. I called Sky to pair the viewing card with the box - I had HD immediately. However, I noted that recording and live pause were not working. I was mad again. I called Sky Tech Support, but despite their best efforts they could not get it working. I got in touch with TVTrade who gave me a dose of my own medicine by sending me a link to one of their own YouTube videos on how to reformat a Sky+ box. It worked perfectly! Many thanks to Dave for his advice, and keep up the good work with the YouTube videos.

Obama's secret weapon - our own Michael D. Higgins!

Fiesty stuff from President Michael D. Higgins on Newstalk Radio two years ago in a debate with Michael Graham where he condemns the Tea Party approach to Health Care in the United States. Apparently it is getting popular on YouTube. Though it was recorded long before our own Presidential Election last year, I do feel that if it got the same publicity then he would have been a shoo-in from the beginning (instead of winning after the Seán Gallagher implosion).

Though I did not vote for Higgins, I do admire his energy, passion, and strong convictions on the provision of  at least some basic health care for all (which the Tea Party opposes). He tears the Tea Party apart in this interview. President Obama should start using this YouTube clip in his campaign!

A Useful Tool for Students - Convert Words to Pages

I am often asked when setting assignments what the expected word count should be. I usually give guidelines such as 3,500-4,000 words. I warn students that this usually does not include tables, graphics, and appendices. I also advise not to over do quotations, especially long ones, as these should not count towards word count either.

Image Source: Helen Woodall Blog.

For some assignments there can be a lot of "non word count" stuff like tables and quotations - this can sometimes make for lengthy assignments which will actually have a low word count if all these are excluded. It is important for students to remember that the word count refers to their own work - you are not going to get any credit for having a 100 word quotation from somebody else in your essay.

Another way that students like to be able to measure what they should do is to estimate the number of pages that they have to write. There are several tools to help guide for this - Word to Pages is one such tool. I like it because you can check out different font types and sizes. For example, one page of Times New Roman size 12 font is about 400 words. 1,000 words is roughly 2.5 pages.

Finally - I always advise that it is a good idea to stick to the word count. Definitely do not write less that whatever figure is guided, and probably you should exceed it by a couple of hundred words to take account of labels and quotations. The main reason I advise sticking to the word count (and this is Project Scope Management, which I teach) is that it is a guideline that should be followed. Check with your lecturer/teacher if there are penalties for not following the word count guideline - this does happen.

iPad Workshop for Age Action

Today I spent an hour at the Abbey Street Age Action computer training room where some silver surfers (over 55s) brought along their iPads to learn how to use them courtesy of Apple Reseller Compu B. In a slightly chaotic class they did learn some basics. Some were using the iPad for the first time, while others were little bit more experienced. I was surprised to find that some had received iPads as gifts from family - Age Action provided  an ideal informal workshop to help get them started. There was no syllabus, no list of tasks to complete - just get cracking on surfing the Internet. For some we had to overcome WiFi connection difficulties, no email accounts, and no Apple Store ID - it's difficult to hold a class without these things. Some left without achieving very much, and I felt a bit frustrated at this. No doubt more organized sessions will be required - the iPad is here to stay as our silver surfers have shown.

Image Source: Age Action.

Writing in January 2010, shortly after the iPad was launched, Damien Mulley wrote a telling piece in his blog entitled "Our Mums are about to join the web". Mulley stated that the iPad "is going to make using the web easy for people who up to know found using a mouse, keyboard and a browser a tad intimidating". How right he was - I can safely say that his prediction is coming true. I noted that older learners who have never used a computer before find the touch and feel of an iPad much easier to cope with than a keyboard and mouse required for a PC.

Age Action are currently running their annual Silver Surfer Awards - nominations are now open. The Silver Surfer Award is for the over 50s "who have an interesting story about how they use their computer, internet and mobile phone use". God I'm over 50 -  I actually qualify for this myself!

The Blue Screen of Death #BSOD

Several times this week my home computer suffered from the Blue Screen of Death - the message each time was:

A device driver attempting to corrupt the system has been caught. The faulty driver currently on the kernel stack must be replaced.

Image source: Sound On Sound.

So that's easy to fix - just update the faulty driver, right? It started to take a long time to check out drivers - especially for items recently installed. So I purchased Driver Genius to do the job for me. It scanned my PC and found that it has 193 drivers! I'm sure many are redundant, but I was still amazed that there were so many. The first scan revealed that 32 drivers needed to be updated - Driver Genius downloads and installs these for you, and then can continue to monitor for updates. So hopefully there will be no more BSODs due to driver failure - none so far.

Ever since I started to use PCs running Microsoft Windows in about 1988 - General Failure Errors and BSODs have never been far away. Nearly 30 years later no one has figured out an easy way for Windows to tell the user what exactly went wrong and how it can be fixed. These things don't happen by themselves - there is a reasons for everything. How tough can it be to capture the information as it happens, dump it to a text file, and when Windows starts again it reads the file and tells us what to do "Windows has detected that you need to update your Web Cam driver....".

The BSOD is not confined to older computers - (mine is just over three years old). My brand new laptop at work encountered a BSOD on the second day I had it!

How To... Plot a Simple Scattergram Excel 2010

Suppose that you want to graph the heights and weights of a group of people. Since both height and weight are variables, we use the phrase bivariate data, meaning that there are two variables (height and weight). Bivariate data are best displayed on a Scattergram (aka Scatter Plot). To construct a scattergram, follow the instructions in my video below:

I used scattergrams a lot in my PhD research to compare populations of the painted topshell Calliostoma zizyphinum. They are an excellent way to see differences in populations. My scattergrams were drawn using SPSS v2 on a DEC 20 mainframe computer - at that time (1984-1987) the small Computer Science Department in Trinity was the Brunswick Chambers building at 200 Pearse Street. I had to learn some FORTRAN programming to feed my data files into SPSS, and then wait until the next day to see the results on a printout which was placed in a pigeon hole style box for collection. No instant results in those days.

I'm certain that if I had Excel that I would have been able to shave months off the time (4 years) it took me to complete the PhD - data analysis has become a lot faster and easier with fantastic tools like Excel.

How To... Draw Simple Line Charts in Excel 2010

Sometimes a simple task can seem like a hard task - especially if you've never done it before. Some of my more popular videos on my Learn with Dr Eugene O'Loughlin channel are on subjects like plotting histograms and pie charts. Very easy to do when you know how, but also easy to get wrong when you don't know how. 

I will be setting some of my students some tasks to visually represent some data in class - using Excel 2010. I noticed that for two of the tasks (Line Charts, and Scattergrams), I did not have any videos for these on my channel. So, today I have created a video for Line Charts (Scattergrams tomorrow) - check it out below:

Doing this allows me to spend more time in class helping students get the tasks done - I will be strongly suggesting that they view the videos before class. Even if they don't, they are short enough to view in class if needed. Also, some students will already know how to complete the tasks, so they can get on with the work without having to sit through an explanation from me first. I have read that doing this is like taking class at home and doing homework in class.

New Video Recording Tools - and Another #YouTube Landmark Reached

With a new laptop recently provided for me at work, I have much more flexibility when recording videos. I now have plenty of hard disk space and memory. The quality of the recordings is better, and the videos are created faster. As reported earlier this week I have also switched to Snagit instead of Camstudio. While Camstudio is free, I have in the past encountered some problems with it. For now I am using the one month's trial version of Snagit - so far with no problems. It is just as easy to use as Camstudio, and creates excellent videos that can be uploaded immediately to YouTube. All very integrated.

On Monday my YouTube Channel, Learn with Dr Eugene O'Loughlin, passed the 1.25 million views mark. having become a "views" millionaire earlier this year, I'm not as excited about this landmark as I had been about previous ones - I think the 2 million mark is the next one to get excited about which will be some time next year.

As you can see above, I also have over 100,000 "Monetizable views". Two months ago I switched on monetization to allow ads on my videos. As far as I am aware, part of my Partner agreement with YouTube is that I do not report how much I earn from the channel. Suffice it to say that I will not be retiring anytime soon, but I am surprised that the channel is making a lot more than I thought it would.

I am also interested to see if advertising has a negative impact on the viewing figures. In each of the summers since I started the channel in 2006, viewing numbers have dipped (as you can see above where Christmas/New Year also shows a decline). So far viewing figures have recovered each September, so I'll be watching out for trends this coming September.

As I write, there are now 205 Channel Partners in the Lifelong Learning section of YouTube Education. Mine is still the only Irish one, but as more and more are being added by YouTube I am slipping down the Top 100 Most Viewed - today I am at #99, about 160,000 ahead of Stage Time TV in position #100. But it can only be a matter of time before I fall out of the Top 100. Until recently, I was ahead of additions to the Lifelong Learning network like the much publicized Udacity (now almost 1,300,000 views), who have now passed me out. Udacity has money behind it, and over 3,000 videos - I have no money behind my 73 video channel. Hopefully with plans to create some more videos in the next few weeks for a Statistics module I am teaching, I can improve on this.

How To... Calculate Data Range and Sample Variance in Excel 2010

The second of my two statistics videos to publish this week is about data variability using Data Range and Sample Variance. Range is really easy to figure out and calculate - it's simply the largest value minus the smallest values in a data set. Sample Variance is a little bit harder to understand, but is also really easy to calculate in Excel.

As I am creating these videos, I am also preparing corresponding sets of lecture notes and tutorial exercises. It's not since the days of my PhD research in the 1980s that I used statistics a lot - so I am basically re-learning it all again. There are far more sources of learning today than in the 1980s. In addition to the course book ("Statistics" by James McClave and Terry Sincich), there are a lot of sample files also provided. The Khan Academy provides a lot of Statistics tutorials, and of course there's also plenty of learning material available on the likes of iTunes.

I find making the videos a really good way to learn - I am making immediate use and showing others what I have learned. This is one of the most effective ways to learn according to the Institute for Applied Behavioral Science.

How To... Calculate Data Mean, Median, and Mode in Excel 2010

It's been a while since I created a new video for YouTube, and this new Statistics using Excel video is the first of what I hope are several videos on this subject that I am teaching for the first time in the upcoming semester. The videos will be primarily for my own students in a Business Data Analysis module for a class of 4th year students - but of course I hope that the videos will also be usefull to others as well.

The subject of this video is how to calculate the mean, median, and mode of a set of data using Excel Functions. They are relatively easy to calculate manually, but Excel makes the job even easier.

In making this video I am using my new work laptop for the first time to do so, and I have also switched from Camstudio to Snagit as a screen capturing tool. Both are easy to use, but there are problems with installing Camstudio that I do not wish to try on my new laptop. For the moment I am using the trial version of Snagit.

A Native Irish Tree planted by Crann on my behalf

I had a nice and interesting surprise on my return to work yesterday in the post - a Certificate of Tree Planting!

Last March I made a presentation by webinar to the Learning Innovation Network on the topic "Does your lecturer need to be qualified to teach?", and as you can see the tree was a corporate gift from the LIN network "in gratitude" for my participation.

I've never had a tree planted on my behalf before - I don't know what type of "native Irish tree" it is, or where it is. It would be nice to be able to walk up to the tree and say "That's my tree" and maybe even carve my initials in the bark. Many thanks to Dr. Mark Glynn of the Institutes of Technology Ireland (IOTI) for this thoughtful gift.

Back to work...

The first day back at work is always a day to endure rather than get much done, no matter if it's one week or six. I spent most of the morning deleting emails - I do have far too many subscriptions to newsletters and web sites. 

Photo link to Irish Independent.

The best thing about today was watching Katie Taylor win her Olympic semi-final in the staff canteen (which was packed). Great support for Katie and we will all be rooting for her in the final tomorrow. Olympic Gold for a Wicklow girl coming up!

I also got a new laptop computer today! Pretty powerful 3D Intel i7 processor with 1TB of hard disk space. I had a lot of software to install, and data to copy over from my old laptop (which has served me almost 7 years). But....I have already got a Blue Screen of Death - hopefully that will be the last one for another 7 years?

Monsignor Charles F. Hurley P.P. V.G.

Almost five years ago I wrote in this blog about searching for the grave of my grand-uncle Charlie (known as "The Mons" in our family) in the nearby Deansgrange Cemetery. I was not able to find his grave, and the office at the cemetery did everything they could to find his grave. The only piece of intelligence, from the Newman University Church, that I had was that he had died in 1980.

Photo from the 1958
edition of An Fiolar.

It turns out that the date was way off. I found his name this morning on the Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives website where he is listed as being buried in "St. Patrick's Section, Part Six, No. 765". The date of death was given as 16th January, 1985. With this new intelligence I set off to Deansgrange to try again to find his grave.

While the St Patrick's section is easy to find, "Part Six, No. 765" was not. One of the cemetery workers offered to help, but the number 765 meant nothing to him and he recommended to try the Office.

In the office, a very helpful man looked up the records for 16th January 1985, and found Charlie's name in seconds - he is buried in plot 25 B in St Patrick's. Gravestones are numbered on the back. I was able to find his grave, which was beside those of other priests from the diocese. It was in quite good condition. The "F" in his name is for "Francis", I am also named Francis as a middle name after him. The "P.P." stands for Parish Priest, while the "V.G." stands for Vicar General. Though the headstone just lists his last parish in Harrington Street, he was also P.P. in Ballybrack (where me married my mother and father). I'm told that he also spent time in Rome and was even considered for a promotion to a Bishop.

It was nice to finally find his grave - I'm guessing that he has not had many visitors over the past few years. I remember him well and have fond memories of him. My grandmother (his sister) was very fond of him and I can recall many times the fuss over his visits to her house when he was treated like royalty.

Rest in Peace Uncle Charlie.

Bank Holiday Weekend in Wexford

I went to Wexford for part of the weekend and met up with some family. My brother Brian, who lives in England, was back in Ireland with his kids and it was great to see them. We had a mostly fine day and even had a chance to get a photo in with a bit of blue sky and sunshine. 

My brother Brian, sister Kathleen, and me.

This is the last weekend of my holidays as I am due back to work on Wednesday next. I have had nearly six weeks off - one of the perks of being a Lecturer is 31 days holiday a year. Despite the dreadful weather, I have enjoyed the break and can't believe how quickly it has passed. It seems like only yesterday that I was enjoying 36C in Spain at the end of June. The best part was my 100 Corners tour (which I still have to finish).

The summer is not over yet and hopefully I will  get out and about some more during August before the new academic year starts in September.

South Armagh to Meath (and new boots) - #100corners

A brief return to my 100 Corners of Ireland tour when I went up to Mayobridge in Co Down to buy some new boots for the bike. I decided that I would return to Dublin via the coastal route and add to my 100 Corners story.

The Newry Canal.

First - the boots. I bought a pair of size 12 TCK motorcycle boots in Crossan Motorcycles of Mayobridge. These are water-proof with a GoreTex lining and should keep my feet nice and dry for the next few years. Unusually, I was able to try on a few pairs and choose one - normally I cannot get boots to fit me. Many thanks to Louise for all her help in selecting boots to suit. 

A view towards King John's Castle in Carlingford.

So I returned to Newry and started 100 corners again. I took the road to Omeath and has a nice ride along the Newry Canal, which I never knew existed. After stopping for petrol in Omeath I went on to the wonderful town of Carlingford. I had never been here before and it is a real treat - lots of old buildings and some really nice narrow streets with cafés and restaurants. I stopped for a wonderful whipped ice cream at Taffe's Castle. Carlingford - definitely worth a visit.

I continued around the Cooley Peninsula which has the Oriel and Táin trails. With glimpses over towards Warrenpoint and the Mountains of Mourne, this is truly one of the nicest parts of our country. I stopped at Greenore and was surprised at the number of lorries that were going in and out of this port. On to Dundalk and the village of Blackrock. Again - this was a location that I had never been to before and was nicely surprised at how lovely it was. Blackrock has an intriguing sun dial in the centre of the town - it was 1.5 hours too slow according to my watch! 

Port Oriel, near Clogherhead.

After Cooley, I traveled down the coast through Castlebellingham and on to Annagassan. A quiet village which boasts a Viking Festival later this month. I took some coastal roads from here to Clogherhead, and they really are coastal roads being right along by the sea. On the approach to Clogherhead there are some great beaches. A real gem is the harbour at Port Oriel where I bought some fresh sea bream for dinner and had some delicious sea chowder for my lunch - fantastic!

The railway in Drogheda.

By now I was against the clock and had to be back in Dublin by 5 o'clock. So a quick run down the coast through Baltray towards Drogheda was next - a great ride again along the coast and then River Boyne. The approach to Drogheda is super - especially as the railway bridge looms into view. Alas - I had to head for the M1 to be back in Dublin on time, but I will be back to finish this last leg of the 100 Corners Tour.

It felt good to be back on the road again, thought it was on the only decent day weather-wise this week.

Glasnevin Cemetery Tour and Museum

The Glasnevin Trust have been advertising their museum and tour of the cemetery on the radio a lot lately, so I decided to go and have a look to see what was on offer. Visiting a cemetery on your holidays does not sound like a very exiting thing to do, but I was not disappointed with today's visit to a place where over 1 million people are buried. It is of course a location for the final resting place of many well known Irish people like Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, Brendan Behan, Daniel O'Connell, Charles Stewart Parnell, and many others.

The tour started out with a rendition of Patrick Pearse's famous oration at the graveside of the old Fenian  Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa - his "the fools, the fools, the fools! — They have left us our Fenian dead" speech. Pearse wrote this speech in his cottage in Ros Muc in Connemara, where I was last week on my 100 corners tour.

While the tour was a bit like a lesson in Irish history, it was nevertheless very informative. I found the grave of Daniel O'Donnell to be the most impressive - it was a vault where his family are piled on top of one another in coffins. His own coffin is under an altar-like structure - we were told by our guide that it is considered "lucky" to touch his coffin, which I did. Despite a downpour at the grave of Maud Gonne McBride, the tour (with about 50 people) was very enjoyable. After the tour I set out to find some of the other graves not part of the tour - I saw Parnell and Arthur Griffith's graves, as well as Francis Sheehy Skeffington.

One of the big differences that you will notice  in Glasnevin is the contrast between the graves of Michael Collins and Éamon de Valera. Dev has a simple grave with no flowers, while Collins has a more elaborate grave with lots of flowers.

Overall, I thoroughly recommend this tour - below is a slide show of some of the graves I visited:

Obituary of my Grandfather PJ O'Loughlin, June 1965

On my visit to my Aunt Mary last week I had a chance to look through a scrap book which had an Obituary for my grandfather PJ O'Loughlin, who died on 19th June 1965. It was interesting to read about him from a scrap of paper (possibly The Wicklow People). I had not seen or read this before, so I photographed the pages.

Also in the scrap book was a photo of my grandfather I had not seen before, and I have also been sent a copy of the death notice. I know some family read this blog and reproduce the items below - enjoy:

#100corners - To Be Continued...

Today I am back in a showery Dublin having decided to complete the rest of The 100 Corners of Ireland tour probably next summer. I feel a bit guilty having not completed the trip in one go, but it was always at the back of my mind that I would have to do this in two parts.

The weather forecast for the coming week is dreadful - especially for Donegal. See screenshot for  midday today from the MET Éireann website to left. I could face no more rain, and will complete at a later time.

I have so much to remember from all the places I have been. I will be researching for more information about where I have visited, and plan to write this all up with a view to publication.

It has been a great adventure so far, but there is still so much to see and do in the Northern half of Ireland. 

To next year...!

Mayo to Sligo and Racing Showers - #100corners

Early morning in Belmullet and is is time for breakfast next door. I had a comfortable night followed by a nice breakfast cooked by Mairin - she was also full of chat. She recommended riding to the top of the Erris peninsula, so off I went. Today was to be a very showery day, but it was fine in the early morning. I pulled into An Baile Glas an had beautiful views over Broadhaven Bay. I also stopped at Erris Head, but did not take the Loop walk that is available there. On the way back from Erris Head, I stopped at a pile of turf, and helped myself to a sod as a souvenir!

The Céide Fields
Visitor Centre.

I left the Erris Peninsula and I have to say it is a beautiful location worth riding on a bike. On-wards to the North coast of Mayo and the Céide Fields. All along the coast here are excellent views of fantastic cliffs - if this area was beside the Cliffs of Moher it would get a lot of oohs and aahs. The Céide Fields is a slightly disappointing site in that there is not that much to see outside the Visitor Centre. I watched the movie as it had started to rain heavily outside - I was fascinated, and envious, to be informed that the climate in Ireland 350 million years ago was tropical! I had a cuppa and apple strudel in the café and waited out another shower. As I left, it started to rain again, so I went back inside and chatted to the receptionists who were happy to let me shelter from the rain. Eventually it stopped and I continued east towards Sligo. Looking back to the west I could see another shower coming, so I did my best to stay ahead of it, though it caught up on me in Killala.

In Killala I stopped at the Round Tower built around the year 1200 - its purpose today was to shelter me from the rain. On the edge of Killala there is a monument to the French General Humbert of 1798 fame, and I decided to take the Tour d'Humbert between Killala and Ballina. This is a useless tour down country lanes that does not feature anything about Humbert, though there are a couple of nice Abbeys to see.

No surfers in Strandhill!

On I went into Sligo and stopped at the Black Pig of Muckdubh statue at the edge of the town - Muckdubh is a townland wher a large pig is supposed to have been buried. Enniscrone is on the Diamond Coast - I have been here before to play golf (well at least walking around a golf course hitting a few balls). InSligo I stopped off at Aughris Head where I had collected some Calliostoma zizyphinum as a student - but I did not remember it. The Sligo coast is not that interesting, but I was watching out for showers which eventually caught up on me in Strandhill. I was expecting to see a lot of surfers out, but it may have been too windy as there was nobody out on the water.

There was heavy rain in Strandhill, and I also got caught in a very heavy shower at traffic light in Sligo. This shower also revealed a hole in my over-suit in the most uncomfortable area. My destination was the Radisson Hotel in Rosse's Point where my brother Joe and family were attending his brother in law's wedding - I got a great welcome and lots of coffee and biscuits.

I had reviewed the weather forecast for the next few days in Donegal - and it was for a very wet Sunday and Monday. There was no doubt that I would have been in for two very wet days, followed by more bad weather. Looking at the calendar I judged that I would have difficulty completing the trip before the August Bank Holiday, so I headed for Dublin.

To be continued...

Northwest Mayo - #100corners

I expected rain today, so I dressed in my full length suit and new wellies, but it hardly rained at all! Another nice day in the West - despite a forecast for a very wet day, I was very lucky to avoid the showers that were around. I was in Achill for a lot of the day and I know from the past that it can have its own micro-climate, when compared with the rest of the country. So a very pleasant day - tomorrow looks good too. My thanks to Dorothy and crew for putting me up last evening in Rosmindle. I also called to my brother-in-law Bryan's house to say "hello" to Maria and her Mum Gemma.

Croagh Patrick.

My first port of call today was to O'Donnell's Pharmacy in Westport to get an extra memory card for my camera. This is the height of the holiday season in Westport, and even though it was quite early in the morning, the town was already busy. Yesterday evening on my ride into Westport I stopped at Croagh Patrick, which I have climbed before, and took the photo to the left.

Leaving Westport I headed for Newport. On the way I came up behind a slow moving jeep, but on the twisty section of road I had to wait for an opportunity to pass. Very soon we came upon some temporary traffic lights , and I moved to the front ahead of the jeep (as I do every day in Dublin). Did the driver like that? Even though I sped away, the jeep came up behind me and passed me out - a little "victory" for the driver. What do you know - within a mile or so we came upon another set of lights, and I moved to the front again. He gave up - little "victory" for me! I could write a book about the driving habits of Irish people.

Newport Church.

In Newport I called to the church where Roma and I were married on 13th September, 1986. Happy memories.

After Newport I headed towards Achill. I stopped at Burrishoole Abbey and Castle - lovely sites. In Mulraney I stopped at the hotel and looked at the back where there are the remains on an old railway station. It is now a stop off point on the very popular Greenway cycle track, which follows the old Westport to Achill Sound railway.

I took the Atlantic drive around Corraun, stopping off at a small memorial to the Spanish Armada. I was in the Gaeltacht again here and I wondered what tourists would make of all the "Go Mall" signs in Irish. I'm sure that Americans wonder who "Mall" is, and why the locals are encouraging him to "Go" all the time!

Coming into Achill Sound you go over a unique bridge after which I headed for a second Atlantic Drive. This is one of the most beautiful coastal drives in the country - even better on a windy day with the sea splashing up on the rocks. At the end of Achill is Keem Bay and Croghaun mountain - a fantastic approach road with thrilling bends and roads to get down to the beach.

Keel Beach, Achill.

After Keem I called on Roma's cousin Mark where he and his wife Antoinette treated me to tea and sandwiches - delicious! I also called on Roma's Uncle and Aunt - Aodhan and Nuala for a few minutes. After all this socialising, it was getting late, so I decided that it was time to leave Achill - the photo below was taken at Keel Beach.

The road from Mulranny to Bangor and on to Belmulllet is great to ride in that it is very straight. This region is almost uninhabited - which made a welcome change from the bungalow blitz that I have seen around the coast of Ireland so far. 

Arriving in Belmullet at around 5.30 I decided to arrange accomodation before continuing. Two weddings in town meant that everywhere was booked out, but one B&B lady arranged a room for me with her neighbour. The bathroom is not ensuite, which makes me a little uncomfortable.

Erris Peninsula.

Once organized - I headed down to Blacksod Point where there is a disused weather station. On D-Day in 1944 it transmitted the weather forecast to the British in preparation for the invasion of Normany - neutral or what? The Erris Peninsula is beautiful - very flat with wonderful views out to uninhabited islands. I could also see across to the back of Slievemore and Croghaun in Achill.

I have landed in the Talbot Hotel on main street Belmullet for a smashing fish and chips dinner and a glass of wine - plus of course free WiFi. I certainly recommend the food here - very helpful and nice staff. I chatted to some local people at the bar who sang the praises of this area - on a beautiful evening in Belmullet, I think they are right.

Connemara to Mayo - #100corners

On a glorious morning I set out west from Spiddle into deepest Connemara. The fine day made this one of the best days on the road I have had so far. The forecast was for a clear day, and for a change reality matched the forecast.

I headed for Rosaveel which was very busy with people heading to the Aran Islands. There are great views of the islands, and North Clare all along this Connemara coast.

Next up was Costelloe (Casla) - if you draw a line directly west from Blackrock in Dublin (where I live), it would pass through Costelloe. Villages and towns like Costelloe, Carraroe, Lettermore, and Lettermullan are very close to each other. The roads are quite good and I was enjoying myself riding through the rugged landscape of Connemara. There was a real treat in Lettermullan where I saw a sign for a Heritage Centre down a small lane. The Centre was a based on a collection by a local man called Conneely - lots of tools, traditional items, books, medals, and typewriters. A real treasure trove that is well worth a visit. Further down the same lane was a Lloyd Tower - the west coast equivalent of Martello Towers.

Patrick Pearse had a cottage near Ros Muc - set in a beautiful location. The curators told me that he did a lot of writing there, including his famous "The fools, the fools...." oration at the graveside of O'Donnavan Rossa. The cottage is quite simple and it does not take long to view it - but it is a must for any student of Irish history.

Moving on, I set out for Roundstone and Ballyconneely - the countryside here is very rugged, with little or no tillage. Lots of rocks and stone walls about. At Ballyconneely I turned off for Slyne Head. Great countryside, and a smashing location for the Connemara Golf Club. You can't get down to the Head as the land is private - there is even a "Beware of the Bull" sign to keep the nearby campers out.

On the road to Clifden I stopped at the Alcock and Brown monument - a simple sculpture in the shape of the tail of an airplane. Close by I saw a sign for the Alcock and Brown landing site and museum - so down a dreadful surfaced lane to nothing more than a lump of concrete in the shape of a bullet. Very boring and not worth the effort to see.

At Clifden I stopped for a coffee at Walsh's Bakery. Clifden was very busy with lots of people about. It was very crowded with cars and it was even difficult to park the bike on such a hilly street. After Clifden I headed out to Cleggan - not too much of interest out here. I rode past Letterfrack and Kylemore Abbey - a nice ride on a twisty road. Just outside Leenaun I was in for a real treat when arriving at Killary Harbour. It looked great in the evening sunshine. Killary harbour is really a fjord, and it was great to pass up and down both sides before heading to Louisburgh via the Lough Doo Pass - another treat though mountains and valleys.

The final leg of my journey today was along Clew Bay to Westport. I stopped in Murrisk to view the Famine Memorial and Croagh Patrick - the crowds had gone for the day, though there were still a few hardy people on the mountain.

I am staying with the Bourke in-laws tonight - tomorrow it is off to the rest of Mayo, though the weather forecast is for more rain tomorrow. The weekend and next week is not looking good either.

(No photos this evening as I am not in 3G for WiFI land).

West Clare to Galway - #100corners

With yesterday's heavy rain behind me, I looked forward to a rain free day as I continued my 100 corners trip in West Clare and on into Galway. I had been given a heater last evening by the good folks in Crotty's of Kilrush and had everything nice and dry by the morning. I was sweltering as the heater was on full blast all night!

Crotty's were great - they could not have been more helpful and I'd recommend anyone to stay there. 40e per night including a monstrous breakfast was good value. I had an interessting chat about emmigration with a journalist over breakfast - apparently many parts of Clare are losing a lot of young people and that this is being especially felt by GAA clubs.

At Loop Head Lighthouse.

My first port of call today was to Loop Head. On the way I stopped at the West Clare Railway. The road to Loop Head is a nice flat ride, with flat country on each side of the road. At the end of Loop Head is the Lighthouse - I took the tour (5e) which brought me to the top of the tower. On the way up I noticed through a window that I had left the lights on and had to return quickly to the bike to switch them off before running down the battery in a location just about as far as possible from the nearest bike garage. I was allowed to rejoin the tour - very interesting how the lighthouse works, and well worth the 5e.

The next biggest attraction in Clare is of course the Cliffs of Moher. So I headed on through Kilkee, Quilty, Miltown Malbay, Lehinch, and Liscannor. A great ride with every so often a glimpse of the Cliffs in the distance to whet the appetite for the real thing. The Cliffs must also be one of the busiest spots in Clare - hundreds of people were there enjoying one of Ireland's best natural attractions. The site has changed a lot since I was there last (in 1985) - a large carpark is available (6e entry), but at least my bike was secure. There are shops and a Centre embedded into the hill near the cliffs - I think this is tastefully done and does not detract from the location. I heard a lot of French being spoken - a good thing that the French are still coming here. A young couple in their wedding outfits attracted a lot of attention - they were sure lucky with their wedding day - it could have been yesterday in the torrential rain! There were also a good few buskers - a lady with a harp was good, another with a squeeze box was dreadful. Altogether - an absolute must for any trip to this part of the world.

At the Burren, with a view
out to the Aran Islands.

Having been blown away by the Cliffs - the Burren was next. I stopped several times on the road to Ballyvaughan to marvel at the rock formations and the limestone. I remember from my College days as a science student that there are rare flowers here, and that this is one of the most unique habitats in Europe. All the way up to and around Black Head is a spectacular ride - there are views out to the Aran Islands to the left, Connemara straight ahead, and the Burren to the right. Fantastic.

I stopped in Ballyvaughan for petrol, and also to check out O'Loughlin's 's pub - sadly it was closed and not opening until 20.00. I noticed a sign over the door for "O'Loughlin's Whiskey" - I have never heard of this and must research it.

Because of the huge breakfast in Kilrush, I did not feel like lunch until about 16.00 - as I as going through North Clare I started to think about Moran's of the Weir and oysters. This famous restaurant is near Kilcolgan in Galway and I know I was there twice before. I had a dozen oysters and brown bread. I'd love to have washed them down with a pint of Guinness, but a pot of tea had to do. Delicious, and for the first time on this trip I was also able to eat outside.

A dozen of the best!

By now it was after 17.00 and I decided to head for Galway - enjoying a bit of speed for a change on the Oranmore to Galway road. I went into the city centre and parked in Eyre Square. I had hoped to make the camera shop at the top of Shop Street before 18.00 to see about an extra memory card for my camera, but just missed it by a few minutes. I headed out to a very busy Salthill where there were hundreds of people enjoying the evening sunshine.

I decided to end the day's long ride in Spiddle. I got a B&B just on the edge of the village and walked down to the harbour and beach to enjoy the remaining evening sun. There are beautiful views across to the north Clare coast.

I am writing this post in the An Cruischin Lan Hotel - they have free WiFi here, and a great pint. The weather forecast for tomorrow and Friday is for no rain - so hopefully I will have two more days of excellent riding. Tomorrow it is into deepest Connemara and I hope to make Westport in Mayo by early evening and to visit with my in-laws - the Bourkes.

West Kerry to South Clare - #100corners

It's 6 o'clock in the early evening and I am sitting in front of a pint of Guinness in Crotty's Pub in the centre of Kilrush Co Clare, after one of the toughest days I have ever had on the motorcycle. It started out OK - Waterville was misty, but it had cleared by 9.30 and the morning was reasonably pleasant. Waterville is a quiet town - I was the only guest in my hotel, but some of the other pubs last evening had some life in them. The village has statues to two famous people - Charlie Chaplin, who holidayed there, and Mick O'Dwyer. Micko's monument was recently opened and it is dedicated to his sporting achievements, including his stint as manager of Wicklow GAA 2007-2011.

The Great Micko admires my bike.

On my way out of Waterville I stopped at Daly's Hardware store to point out an error in the price I paid for the Wellingtons yesterday. This morning I discovered they were labelled at 19.50e, but I had paid 37.50e yesterday. I was refunded the difference no problem by the nice folks in Daly's.

I headed out to Ballinskelligs and into the Gaeltacht and had some excellent views of the Skellig Rocks despite rain threatening all the time. In St Finian's Bay there were some hardy souls out surfing. In Portmagee I stopped at a monument to more lost lives at sea - sadly there is room for more names along side the list of existing names. I crossed over to Valentia Island - still nice scenery and the weather was holding. At Knightstown I got the short ferry to get the short cut to Cahirsiveen where there was heavy traffic due to a traffic accident. I took a detour here out to a castle ruin near Doulus Head before heading back to Cahirsciveen. I would loved to have stopped here, but I wanted to get some miles on the road. After a brief stop at the birthplace of Daniel O'Connell I was joined on the road by Lala, the Swiss biker I had already met met a few times on this trip. We stopped in Killorglin for petrol, a coffee, and a chat. Like me she is touring the South West, and is getting fed up of the rain. We headed for Tralee where we parted ways again.

I had never been to Fenit, so this is where I was headed to next. Up until now, the weather was nothing worse than list mist or drizzle which did not cause to much discomfort - but that changed coming into Fenit. It started to rain heavily and by the time I got to the St Brendan the Navigator Heritage park at the end of Fenit Pier I was feeling quite wet. My feet were nice and dry - thanks to my new wellies, but water was getting inside my waterproof ankle to neck suit. It starts at the neck, where the water runs down from my helmet. My shirt absorbs the water and passes it on to my jeans. Eventually even my socks and new wellies were wet. This sucked, and I reached a low for the first time on this trip.

St Brendan the Navigator admiring my bike.

After Fenit I determined to get out of Kerry and make for Kilrush in Co Clare. The rain did not let up. I passed through Church Hill and Ardfert before seeing Banna Beach where I remember an FCJ Bunclody school trip in 1978 - too wet today to stop and reminisce. I passed Ballyheige and somewhere to my left was Kerry Head - my heart sank a little when I spotted a sign for Tarbert - 49 kms. I immediately converted this to 30 niles which did not seem so far. Very difficult riding conditions.

At Tarbert, while waiting for the ferry to Killimor, two Canadians from Vancouver - who were soaked through, cheered me up with their good humour in the rain. They were cycling and I felt a bit better. On the crossing I was shivering - July 24th in the middle of the Irish summer. I don't remember shivering during the Irish winter!

Drying out!

I arrived in Kilrush in Co Clare and got accommodation in Crotty's Pub in Market Square. I dragged my sodden ass into a lovely comfortable room and a hot shower - bliss! The staff here could not be more helpful and kind - they helped me with a heater to dry out, a safe place to park the bike, and a room to dry out my gear. Bangers and Mash are on the menu and I can't think of anything that would make a heartier meal right now.

I've just looked up the weather forecast on www.met.ie which predicts no rain at all for Clare and Galway over the next two days - I look forward to it, and I hope they are right!

The Ring of Kerry and the search for wellies - #100corners

Today was about rain.

Wall of Champions.

After I dropped Roma off to the train station in Tralee, I set out for Kenmare to resume the 100 Corners of Ireland tour where I had left off last Saturday evening. In the meantime I had done the Dingle Peninsula yesterday with Roma, so I had just the small matter of the Ring of Kerry to do before heading to North Kerry and on to Clare. I had hoped to at least get to North Kerry today, but the rain soon put a stop to that. While I set out in warm sunshine, by Kenmare the rain had started and there was also a thick mist, which got thicker.

By Sneem, I was wondering was it possible that this could last all day long? I wasn't making much progress on the road and I could see very little on either side of the road. Occasionally I would get a glimpse of the sea on my left, but the conditions meant I had to concentrate hard on the road. Despite starting to feel wet all over, water was getting in to my clothes from everywhere, I was aware that it was just as wet for everybody else. I sympathised with the hikers and cyclists who were not letting the rain get the better of them. In Sneem, there were a lot of tourists wakling around in shorts and wind-cheaters - perhaps they were optimistic that the weather would get better? So we were all in it together.

I was the only guest in this hotel.

The only stop I made today was in Castlecove where I spotted a "Wall of Champions" to local sporting heroes that the village is very proud of.

By now I was prepared to abandon the 100 Corners for the day and I stopped in The Lodge Hotel in Waterville and got a room for 29 euro (including breakfast!). They are also drying out my boots and jeans. I bought a new pair of Wellingtons and hope that I won't be thrown out of the Biker's Union if seen with them on - but at least my feet should be dry from now on!

As I write this I am in the Lobster Bar in Waterville, where there are noisy kids running riot. I had a delicious afternoon tea and scones for 3.50e, and am finishing off with a small Jameson.

I am dry. I am warm. I am fed. I am happy.

The Dingle Peninsula - #100corners

O'Donnell's Pub, An Clochán.

Today I had a guest on my 100 Corners of Ireland tour - the lovely Roma. We did 140 miles and she was a great sport to stay with me all day.

We set out from Tralee in the morning and headed for Castlegregory on a very misty morning. The brilliant sunshine of yesterday had disappeared, and so had all the views of the Kerry peninsulas. After Castlegregory, a nice town with a market today and a traffic problem to match, we went to Mount Brandon Point - but did not get to see the mountain. Some super locations but with restricted views today. We were in the Gaeltacht and we were "ag caint Gaeilge" as best we could. We stopped at O'Donnell's Pub for a "cupan tae" in the village of An Clochan.

Next was the hairiest ride I have ever had, though Andorra last year was close. We had to go over the Conor Pass on our way to Dingle, and it was covered in cloud - visibility was down to 20m in places. Going up was tougher than going down as the roads were twistier - I'd say on a fine day that this would be one of the best bike rides around. We stopped at the top of the pass, and had a good laugh as we could see nothing.

At Paidí Ó Sé's Pub in Ventry.

We stopped at the Gallarus Oratory where we had been together on holiday 27 years ago. However, when we got to Dunquin, the rain started and there was not much to see in the thick mist and rain. We stopped at the Slipper in Ventry for lunch - I had soup while Roma had prawns which arrived at our table on fire! Delicious. This was just after stopping off at Paidi O Se's pub which was so packed that we decided not to stay. Similarly, Mick Mack's in Dingle was also so packed that we could not get in - no sign of recession in Dingle.

Our final stop was to the South Pole Inn in Annascaul where a hero of mine, explorer Tom Crean, used to live. I even enjoyed a beer - "Creans" brewed in Dingle.

Overrall - a great day despite the weather. The Dingle Peninsula is a wonderful bike ride with much better roads than what I have covered so far. Tomorrow it is on to The Ring of Kerry.

Annascaul.