Tag Archives: Tydavnet

TERRY’S SUPER HEXAGON

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Terry Cavanagh

Terry Cavanagh

A big night in London tonight for Terry Cavanagh from Tydavnet in County Monaghan, developer of Super Hexagon. It was in the running for a BAFTA video games award in the Best British game category. Terry is based in Cambridge and his parents were with him at the finals at the Hilton Hotel in the West End. Dara O Briain was compere. Here’s how The Guardian described the ceremony:-

10.31pm:

Now it’s time to turn to the award for British game. Not the game that best embodies Britishness (croquet? cricket? cluedo?) but the best game made by a Brit. A difficult award to judge this. The nominees are:

·  Forza Horizon ·  LEGO: The Lord of the Rings ·  Need for Speed Most Wanted · (these three are “hefty multiplatform blockbusters” according to the blog)

· Dear Esther · The Room ·  Super Hexagon (Terry’s game is among three independent creations, self-funded by their developers). These two different groups “exemplify the current tussle at the creative and commercial heart of the industry”, says the Guardian video games journalist, Simon Parkin.

10.34pm:

And the winner is: The Room, an iOS puzzle game that’s heavy on atmosphere and light on scarves.

The game, according to a BBC report, challenges players to solve puzzles in a 3D environment in order to reveal the secrets of a mysterious box. It was created by Guildford-based Fireproof Studios and had previously won Apple’s 2012 iPad game of the year.

Well done Terry, who no doubt might disagree strongly with that description of the category namely “the best game made by a Brit”!!    gamegames-awards-logo-2926

For a full list of the nominations in the nineteen categories, you can go to the BAFTA website here. The Best Game award went to Dishonored, as the BBC News technology section reports. This was the fifth year O’Briain acted as master of ceremonies. The Guardian said he took to the stage and opened his remarks “by expressing his dismay at continually being asked to defend video games in the role of ‘token’ game playing celebrity”.

Dara O Briain

Dara O Briain

EMYVALE QUIZ

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Quiz Winners

Quiz Winners

Table quizzes are very popular, especially in the winter. So it proved in Emyvale, County Monaghan, with two contests running side by side in neighbouring pubs. The Blackwater Steelers, a basketball club, were at the Red Boys. Over at the High House, I was asking the questions for the annual quiz run by Emyvale Cycling Club. I had to do some quick thinking when I inadvertently gave away an answer for one of the questions, which was supposed to be “Ash Wednesday”. Not many of the 18 teams were able to guess who Tommy Bowe’s Ulster rugby colleague is who has just received a call-up for the Ireland team against Scotland at out-half: Paddy Jackson. The winners (on table 5) of the E200 prize were a team from Tydavnet, including Alice Daly. Congratulations to them and to all who took part to make it an enjoyable evening. Thanks also to those who supported the raffle by buying tickets or donating prizes.

BAFTA GAMES AWARDS

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BAFTA Game Awards 2013

BAFTA Games Awards

You might think that BAFTAs were just for films. But that’s not the case. The British Academy also has its own “Oscars” for video games. So congratulations go to County Monaghan man Terry Cavanagh on his latest success (with potentially more to come!).

Terry Cavanagh

Terry Cavanagh

His parents from Tydavnet who are over in Cambridge at the moment tell us he is in the running for a BAFTA award for his Super Hexagon game. It’s one of six nominations in the “British game” category, which has been added for the first time this year.

Dara O Briain

Dara O Briain

The host for the gala evening at the London Hilton hotel on Tuesday 5th March is another Irishman, Dara O Briain. It will be shown on the UK’s Challenge television channel (Sky 125, Freeview 46, Virgin 139).  Another of Terry’s game creations, VVVVV, won an award for being the most fun and compelling game at the Indiecade showcase for games developers in Los Angeles in October 2010. So let’s wait and see if he gets another “Oscar” under his belt!   gamegames-awards-logo-2926

BRITISH GAME:

1. Dear Esther

Daniel Pinchbeck, Robert Briscoe, Jessica Curry

Thechineseroom/thechineseroom

2. Forza Horizon

Development Team

Playground Games/Turn 10 Studios/Microsoft Studios

3. LEGO: The Lord of the Rings

Development Team

TT Games/Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment

4. Need for Speed Most Wanted

Development Team

Criterion Games/EA

5. The Room

Mark Hamilton, Rob Dodd, Barry Meade

Fireproof Games/Fireproof Games

6. SUPER HEXAGON

Terry Cavanagh, Niamh Houston, Jenn Frank

Terry Cavanagh/Terry Cavanagh

GEEL DISCOVERY

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Extraordinary discovery in Geel (Het Nieuwsblad)

Extraordinary discoveries in Geel                   (Het Nieuwsblad)

St Dympna is the connection between Tydavnet (Tigh Damhnait) in Monaghan and the town of Geel in the province of Antwerp in Belgium, with which it is twinned.  I have visited Geel on a number of occasions, most recently in August last year. So I was interested to see an online article in the Belgian paper Het Nieuwsblad about an important archaeological discovery showing evidence of prehistoric remains, including a large graveyard from the Bronze Age. The find was made in the area called Sint-Dimpna, close to the church of that name, I think, at a site being excavated to make room for a new sports centre. I have used Google to attempt to translate the article, to find out a bit more about the discovery. This is what the report says, give or take a phrase or two!

Extraordinary discoveries in Geel (caption for photo).
Unique archaeological traces at St. Dympna:
Geel Historical Society has worked with the city archives to organise a lecture on the results of the excavations at St. Dympna. The archaeologists will explain how their research was done, what traces were found and what they mean. The excavations were carried out for the construction of the new sports and play park. During the investigation many archaeological traces from different periods came to light. The researchers found four main buildings from the Iron Age (circa 800-50BC), a yard from the Middle Ages (10th-12th century AD) and numerous smaller outbuildings or nails that served as storage for food. There were also some wells found (dating from) the Middle Ages. Besides these traces of habitation there were also traces of a large graveyard from the Bronze Age (2000-50 BC) that came to light. And it is this last discovery that makes the archeological site so unique and interesting. Finding such burial sites is extremely rare for archaeologists in Flanders. “The combination of the cemetery and a settlement is truly exceptional. In Geel everything was also very well preserved, “said Connie Leysen from the Geel city archives. The lecture will take place on Friday 25th January at 8pm in the Winery.

GRAFFITI

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Corragh Orange Hall

Corragh hall

Driving past a small orange hall in a rural part of County Monaghan at Corraghbrack near Tydavnet on Saturday night the car headlights revealed two offensive words “F**K YOU” had been painted on the gable wall and came up very clearly in the car headlights. The hall is used infrequently and does not have any sign outside and I have been past it many times before. My initial reaction posted yesterday and now corrected here was that this could be described as a sectarian act, possibly in reaction to the flags row in the North. Going back to visit the scene in daylight hours, the offensive slogan was not as apparent, depending on what angle you looked at it. But the wall showed signs of previous acts of graffiti having been painted out. Damage was done to the windows and front door of the hall in 2005, when a nearby hall in Glaslough was also attacked. On that occasion the local parish priest in Donagh, Fr Sean Clerkin, spoke out strongly at Mass against the attack.

Hopefully action will be taken to remove the unwanted graffiti. Further enquiries have revealed that the paintwork (which at the time seemed fresh to me) is not recent and there are no slogans accompanying the crude message to suggest it is a political act. It seems it is not intended in any way as a sign to the people who own the property. As I stated previously, Tydavnet and other parts of Monaghan generally have very good relations between Catholics and Protestants. It is to be hoped that this unsightly work will be attended to in due course and that the good relations between all sides of the community will prevail.

OMAGH COURT

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My journey yesterday was on the road to OMAGH in County Tyrone. This morning I was there for the court sitting……

Omagh Magistrates' Court

Omagh Magistrates’ Court

Four men and a juvenile, all from Omagh, have appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court charged in connection with the death of Jason McGovern, a student from Tydavnet in County Monaghan. One of them was also charged with assaulting a friend of the teenager after a night out in Omagh last weekend. All faced a charge of unlawfully fighting causing an affray in the early hours of New Year’s Eve. Mr McGovern from Knocknagrave was attacked on two separate occasions. He was found dead at a friend’s house at Mullan village near Emyvale in County Monaghan on New Year’s Eve. Appearing at Omagh Magistrates Court were James O’Brien from Rylagh Road, Mark Donnelly from Greencastle Road, both 21, Aaron Davis, aged 19, from Beattie Villas and 18 year-old Aaron Bradley, from Waterworks Road in Omagh. Mr Bradley was also charged with assaulting a friend of Mr McGovern’s.  The juvenile cannot be named for legal reasons. An investigating officer said the PSNI were objecting to bail because there were a large number of witnesses and it would take a few weeks to speak to them all. The district judge agreed to bail subject to a number of conditions. Suitable addresses for the defendants would have to be found at least three miles outside Omagh and approved by the PSNI. If this condition is met, they would be released on their own bail of £500 and two sureties of £750. They were ordered not to enter Omagh, except for court appearances, to be tagged, and to report to police three times a week. They also had a curfew imposed by the district judge and they are not allowed to enter licensed premises or to contact witnesses in the case.

UPDATE:  A 21 year-old woman arrested in connection with the murder of Jason McGovern has been charged with perverting the course of justice and is due to appear at Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday 29th January.

NEW YEAR GRIEF IN MONAGHAN

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Jason McGovern

Jason McGovern

Death makes no distinctions of time. But losing a loved one during a holiday period when celebrations are going on all around is particularly tragic. The parish of Donagh in North Monaghan is grieving the loss of 19 year-old student Jason McGovern from Knocknagrave, Tyadvnet (which happens to be the townland of my late father-in-law). PSNI detectives are carrying out an investigation following the incidents in Omagh early on New Year’s Eve morning which are thought to have led to the death of Jason from head injuries. Canon Macartan MacQuaid described Jason as a very caring and affable young man and said his family was struggling to cope with his death. As more details emerged surrounding the death of Jason, I thought about another New Year’s Eve tragedy that happened in the nearby parish of Tydavnet, when two young schoolgirls lost their lives in a drowning accident at a frozen Hollywood Lake near Scotstown. The news came through as I was about to join some Belfast neighbours at a New Year’s Eve party and next morning on New Year’s Day I was at the scene to watch the Garda operation as they searched for the two bodies in the frozen lake. The two who died were cousins, 12 year-old Louise McAloon from Hollywood and Veronica McAloon aged 10 from Aghabog. As I passed St Mary’s church at Urbleshanny, Scotstown, this afternoon I stopped briefly at the grave of the two girls, who were laid to rest beside each other twelve years ago on January 3rd 2001.

Urbleshanny graveyard

Urbleshanny graveyard

Rest in peace Louise & Veronica; sympathy also to the family and friends of Jason McGovern.

Louise McAloon

Louise McAloon

Veronica McAloon

Veronica McAloon

TYDAVNET GOES TO GEEL

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For the past 20 years, Tydavnet in Co.Monaghan has been twinned with the town of Geel in the Antwerpen province of Flanders in Belgium. The connection is through the story of St Dympna (Tigh Damhnait in Irish means Dympna’s house). Some groups have gone over for the five-yearly St-Dimpna Ommegang or procession in May. More recently Monaghan delegations have participated in the Geel Euro Festival in August every five years. I was there in 2007 and went back for this year’s events, reporting for the www.tydavnet.com website. I have put my diary pieces over the six days into one article to give you an idea of how the group of 22 (including the Mayor of Monaghan and three Councillors) spent their time with the host families who provided free accommodation for them.

ALL ABOARD FOR GEEL

A group of eighteen people from the parish of Tydavnet  has headed off (Wednesday morning 15th August 9am) for the town of Geel in Belgium, with which we have been twinned for the past twenty years. Some of those on the trip have visited Geel before and for others it will be their first trip to see Flanders. The group will be accompanied by the Mayor of Monaghan Cllr Hugh McElvaney from Corcaghan, along with Councillors David Maxwell, Seamus Treanor and Pat Treanor. They will receive a welcome from the Mayor of Geel and the local council. Thursday is the day for “It’s a Knockout” games or “Spel zonder Grenzen” involving all twelve participating European countries. Sounds like we are in for a dunking as we have been advised by Sheila to bring our swimsuits! Friday is the day for a conference on active ageing. Saturday is the day for cultural trips and a big show. On Sunday the day begins with a church service and there is usually a procession afterwards. The event is usually held every five years. Each person or couple is given hospitality by local residents, some of whom have visited Tydavnet since the link was established. For more about the St Dympna connection see the section under “History of Tydavnet”. Hopefully we can keep you informed of progress on this news page. Translate “geel” from Flemish into English and you get “yellow” so here is the news about EUROFEESTEN 2012 from Geel aka Yellow!

GEEL DAY 1

All arrived safely in Geel and were met by the host families. André and Mia are hosts once again for Evelyn and myself; Donagh is staying nearby and tonight Hermann and Annie gave us dinner. Regards from all to Harry & Deirdre. Plenty of good Belgian beer when we arrived. I led a sing song  briefly in the festival tent before we went our separate ways. Plenty of excitement tomorrow in the “It’s a knockout” games involving twelve European countries. Good night all until Thursday.

GEEL DAY 2

Killylough won the gold in another European tug-of-war competition led by Paddy Sherry. The Tydavnet team representing Ireland finished eighth out of ten, ahead of Portugal and France (wooden spoon). Poland were the champions in the Spel zonder Grenzen (It’s a Knockout), represented by Czestochowa. Martin McKenna led our team and Sheila put on a swimsuit for some water-based game. I ended the final game dressed in a wig and yellow/red trousers as a symbol of Geel. All great fun. Cllr David Maxwell led the quiz and jigsaw team. He was also interviewed by local TV (as was Martin after the tug-of-war victory). David was left confused in a game where the Irish currency produced was a copy of an old Allied Irish Bank £20 sterling note with a picture of Queen Elizabeth!

Maybe these Belgians with their good connections in Brussels have some inside knowledge of the future of the Irish economy……..!!! This evening I led a sing-song of Irish favourites and Flemish melodies at Ten Aard parish centre, close to where we are staying. Plenty of rabble-rousing songs including “A Nation Once Again” led by the Mayor Hugh McElvaney who has to be up early am for a conference on active ageing. Eugene & Mary Sherry have just arrived (staying next door) but took a wrong connection on a train so their arrival was delayed a bit. They will join us tomorrow Friday for a trip to a museum in Antwerpen. Oiche mhaith.

GEEL DAY 3

Owing to a technical glitch, this report is coming to you from Geel slightly later than the previous ones…….well that’s my excuse anyway. In reality, my kind host André produced a glass or two of Powers and we did not get to bed until late after solving the problems of the world (especially Belgian politics!!). So starting backwards, we returned home to the peaceful suburb of Ten Aard at 2am, having said farewell to the Mayor of Geel Frans Peters and his wife, who were catching up with old friends. They spotted us sitting outside the Irish pub in the Grote Markt (town square) and came over to speak to Martin McKenna and Sheila. She left us temporarily to be introduced to a Cork man in the building industry here in Geel. He told us there were a few Monaghan people working with him, so if you happen to know any, send them along to the square tonight (Saturday) and you will find us there. Earlier the group joined representatives of nine other European countries at the official opening of the EUROFEESTEN. A great spectacle, very lively and colourful. Ireland was mentioned at the start of the presentation…..20 years of twinning Tydavnet:Geel. But we were the last country to be introduced and welcomed from the stage, and as Amhran na bhfiann was played, Sheila McKenna in true Katie Taylor style (much better in fact than the Olympian!) waved the tricolour, while the Mayor of Monaghan Hugh McElvaney wearing his chain of office

Seamus Treanor & Hugh McElvaney

Seamus Treanor & Hugh McElvaney

sat in the front row with Cllr Seamus Treanor. Instead of staying for the concert we went for a lovely meal at the museum restaurant where I sampled a local speciality of a pot of mussels in white wine and chips. As for the mixed grill which some of the others had, the plate was huge and the food generally has been excellent. Heading off for a trip soon to Vaals so no time to tell you how we got on with the window shopping (with a slight difference) in Antwerpen. Those in our small group of eleven will know exactly what happened as we left St Paul’s (Dominican) church having heard the story of Mary Magdalene and then headed for the River Schelde and the old port area……….

GEEL DAY 4

This was the day when guests are usually taken away for a trip by their host family and it has been the warmest so far, up to 35C. Tydavnet parish where the show was being held is close to the three county hollow on Sliabh Beagh. Today André drove us to the “Drielandenpunt” where the three countries meet. We travelled from Belgium into the Netherlands and came within a short distance of Germany. From the Wilhelmina observation tower we got a wonderful view, looking across to Aachen and beyond. We also stopped in the nearby village of Vaals to visit a posh hotel for coffee and cake. The reason we went to the Hotel Castle Bloemendal is because it used to be a finishing school for girls, run by the Sacred Heart nuns. My mother left Castleblayney as a 16 year-old having been a boarder at the Sacred Heart convent in Armagh and was sent to Vaals a year or two before the outbreak of the second world war. She learned to speak German. So it was fascinating to see around the hotel and grounds, where a wedding was being held. Another coincidence is that a neighbour of ours in Dublin got married there a few years ago. Time afterwards to return to Flanders via a French-speaking province in Wallonia where the signs said “Police” rather than “Politie”.

Had a short walk alongside a lock on the wide Bocholt-Herentals canal and had a nice meal in Geel before returning to André and Mia’s. There will be an international Mass in town in the morning. There is a European market in the centre and also Ria’s photographic exhibition to visit, then a Eurovision song contest….no sorry that should read a European sing-song when we will be singing (appropriately perhaps) The Wild Rover. Time for some sleep now so oiche mhaith from Geel.

GEEL DAY 5

The visit to Geel by a group of 22 from Tydavnet ended tonight in great style with a European sing-song in the newly refurbished market square. This was also the hottest day so far, up to 38C and even tonigh the reading coming home to Ten Aard in André’s car was 25C at 1:30am! So this must have been one of the hottest places in Europe. It was certainly one of the most exciting. The day began with the Irish representatives inluding the Mayor of Monaghan assembling for 11am Mass at St Amand’s church in the town centre. Designed to make the service as inclusive as possible for ten nations, the Mass was celebrated in the three main languages of Belgium: Flemish, French and English; some of the music was in Latin; at the Our Father the priest encouraged us to join in in our own language so I prayed in Irish. In his introductory remarks the celebrant (vicar of several parishes in the greater Geel area) spoke in diverse tongues including Spanish, Portugese and Romanian; he apologised for not being able to master Polish! The Mass ended with Beethoven’s ode to joy, the European anthem, again a multi-lingual experience and I have rarely experienced such an uplifting end to a Mass. The group has enjoyed the stay in Geel with a number of first-timers already talking about returning. There will be one change later this year. Frans Peeters who I met in the main square this evening will no longer be Mayor as he is retiring from politics before the October election. All in Tydavnet wish him well for the work he has done to make 20 years of twinning with Tydavnet/Monaghan a success.

GEEL DAY 6 : THE ROVERS RETURN

The wild rovers have returned and I hope by this stage all are settled back in their homes in Tydavnet and Monaghan (and Granard). I am writing this from Dublin and already my mother is awaiting with interest the news of my visit to Bloemendal/Vaals where she went to finishing school in 1936 for a year,  having set off on her own from her parents’ home at Conabury, Castleblayney, aged 16. So I filled in a bit of family history on Saturday, as did Cllr David Maxwell’s wife Jill. Their host family in Geel brought them to the first world war battlefields near Ypres in Flanders (a trip I had made five years ago with our Belgian hosts). There they found the grave of her great grandfather from Louth (village), who was a soldier in the Irish Guards and died in 1917. Some visited the second world war cemetery in Geel this morning where a number of Irishmen are buried,  from the Irish Guards and other British Army regiments. At 1pm it was time to say farewell to our hosts who waved us goodbye as the coach left for Brussels airport. Among those on our flight was a man from Clones who immediately recognised Cllr Pat Treanor. I also spotted the Conservative unionist MEP and Agriculture Committee member Jim Nicholson from Armagh. He might well have been interested to see some of the large dairy farms around Geel which some of our group were taken to see. Owen McNally took time to check out the quality of the potatoes and the maize, which was planted alongside the roads without any of the hedges we are used to. A big thank you once again to all our hosts in Geel for the wonderful six days we spent with them. They have been invited to send a group or representatives over for the Gathering in 2013 and hopefully Tydavnet will be ready to welcome them. Photos of the visit and other memorabilia will be collected over the next few weeks so that we can show them sometime at the community centre. I also hope to expand on this diary at some stage. I hope you have enjoyed the reports and your comments (subject to approval!) are welcome at the end of the individual articles. Now to get back to watching the Rose of Tralee….!!!                                       Michael Fisher Monday 20th August

                                             GEEL GOLD FOR KILLYLOUGH

The It’s a Knockout/Games without Frontiers involving ten European countries in Geel last week was covered by a television crew from the local news channel. You can see how the men from Killylough including Paddy Sherry and the women led by Sheila McKenna took the twelve points by finishing first in the tug-of-war (the second game). Martin McKenna was interviewed as team captain. However the joker was reserved for another game (the quiz) and had we played it on the tug-of-war we could have improved our overall place by doubling the points awarded. The main thing is that it was fun participating. No bales of straw to be shifted in wheelbarrows this time! You can watch the video here.

TYDAVNET TRACTORCADE

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Kevin McCarron
Ready for the vintage run

Monaghan vintage tractor and car run on Sunday. The procession of vehicles left Kevin McCarron’s field in Tydavnet going through the village into Monaghan and then Threemilehouse where refreshments were provided before returning to Tydvanet via Scotstown. The event was organised in aid of Monaghan branch MS and Drumkill day centre Threemilehouse (Alzheimer Society). Thanks to all who participated or gave donations. It’s understood a sum of over €6000 has already been collected.

Tydavnet tractor run

 

Tydavnet tractor run
One of the local machines taking part in the “tractorcade” and vintage car run that began in Tydavnet. It was driven by Willie Harry.
Tydavnet tractor run

 

 

EMYVALE GP CYCLING IN TYDAVNET

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First race ready for the off: Under 12

There was plenty of excitement around Tydavnet on Sunday as dozens of cyclists and their back-up supporters arrived for the annual Grand Prix races organised by Emyvale Cycling Club. The Community Centre was used for registration and adminstration. The sun shone brightly and the temperature climbed up to 25C as the junior races got underway over a shorter route. The Under 12s were first off, although a car parked outside the chapel on the start/finish line caused the organisers a few problems initially until the owner was located. The crowd was not as big as for last year’s national championships. Nevertheless there were visitors taking part from several counties including Donegal (Errigal CC), Cork (Kanturk), Tyrone (Coalisland), Derry (Roe Valley) and East Antrim.

On the start line at Tydavnet chapel
Cyclists also came from Dublin and Newry and the local riders from Emyvale were also there battling for the prizes in the various categories. The event was well organised with stewarding to ensure that roads were kept clear for the participants. Following the thrilling finish in the senior race in the senior event last year in Scotstown, it was decided that a village finish would once again be more exciting for the spectators. For the full list of results, go to the Cycling Ulster page. East Antrim’s Glen Kinning won the main event over a 60 miles course in a sprint finish from David Wherity of Stamullen, Co.Meath.
Under 14s getting ready for the start