Boston School

[McMurdo]

Wonderful photos Alex, thanks for them, very interesting write up as well. I know I've said it before but I really think you are lucky to live amidst so much history.

[Niblox]

Incidentally Alex, John Duns Scotus (c. 1266-1308) may have been born in Ireland, as the word "scotus" was the mediaeval latin term for someone who was "Irish" or "Gaelic". Given European knowledge of the geography of these islands at the time, the confusion is understandable.

John Scotus Eriugena (c. 815-877) is sometimes confused with John Duns Scotus, but he lived 400 years earlier, so he certainly didn't overlap! He was definitely Irish, and ended up as a monk and philosopher at the University of Paris (where, incidentally, John Duns Scotus also taught).

JS Eriugena was commemorated on the Irish five pound note which was replaced in 2000 by the Euro.



The name of Scotland itself is derived from the name of an Irish tribe, the Scotii, who crossed the 12 miles between Antrim and Argyll to form the joint kingdom of Dal Riada. See the website "Celtic Origins" http://groups.msn.com/CelticOrigins/language2.msnw for more details