South Ayrshire History Fair, Troon, Saturday June 3rd 2006
On Saturday I ran two stalls at the History Fair in Troon, Ayrshire; one for the Kennedy One-Name Study, the other together with Jim Floyd, Regional Representative, for the Guild of One-Name Studies (Jim also runs the Floyd/Flood One-Name Study).
As well as the local and family history stalls there were a series of talks throughout the day. The one I attended in the morning was given by Professor Thomas Clancy, of the Gaelic Department, Glasgow University, entitled 'Kirks, Kills and Cults: saints and churches in medieval Ayrshire'. This was about a study Prof. Clancy is conducting into the origin of place-names in Ayrshire, in this instance the naming of places after mostly Irish saints. It was also a good venue for 'networking' and I had some very useful conversation with a gentleman from the Ayrshire Archaeological and Natural History Society about ruined Kennedy castles, for which I am most grateful.
Here are some pictures of the stalls, talks and a couple of views from the sea-front looking out into the Firth of Clyde. Click on the thumbnails to see the full size images which are 1Mb each (recommended for broadband users only).
The Kennedy stall featuring books by Moss, Fergusson, Kennedy and Pomeroy, guide books for Castle Kennedy and Crossraguel Abbey, my picture of Castle Kennedy and my Kennedy DNA results certificate from DNA Heritage, plus some flyers for this web site.
The Guild of One-Name Studies stall
Taking our seats for Professor Clancy's talk on Gaelic place-names in Ayrshire.
Looking out from the sea-front at Troon towards Arran, Kintyre and the Antrim coast.
Looking north along the coast at Troon
The next Guild event in Scotland that we are planning will be the Conference of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences at St. Andrews in August.