Re: McCanns Easter break Donegal 2007

by Daisy 16.12.11 16:02

Agreed Jean, it appears he worked in the licensing trade in some guise. Although, like Uppatoffee, as a (past) keen family historian, I've found 'publican' & 'wine/spirit merchant' mean totally different things. The most probable answer is he ran an Off Licence. (when the the marriage cert was recorded)

Wonder why they left Ireland behind to move into a one bedroomed tenement block in Glasgow where SEVEN of them (+ lodgers!) were all crammed together? The photos of the 'McCann Bar' show it to be a large substantial building; if they did own it, their move to Scotland makes little sense. I don't suppose any of this is relevant, but you never know. I've uncovered some extremely interesting and revealing facts researching family history.

If what they tell us is true (I have no reason to doubt this), Eileen/Ellen was evacuted to her Grandmother's home in Burtonport, Donegal during the war - perhaps this is when she met John Mccann

by Guest 16.12.11 21:24

I think a lot of the pubs would have done carry out and for this they'd need a separate licence. It looks like the pub couldn't sustain a family so the publican was also the undertaker. The undertaker would also have a hackney licence so might have also dropped people home at the end of the night. If John McCann couldn't find any other work he'd have had no choice but to leave and find better opportunities in Scotland. I think the one bedroomed home would have been seen as temporary at the time.

by **tigger** 17.12.11 7:59

Molly wrote:I think a lot of the pubs would have done carry out and for this they'd need a separate licence. It looks like the pub couldn't sustain a family so the publican was also the undertaker. The undertaker would also have a hackney licence so might have also dropped people home at the end of the night. If John McCann couldn't find any other work he'd have had no choice but to leave and find better opportunities in Scotland. I think the one bedroomed home would have been seen as temporary at the time.

Hi Moll, haven't heard from you for a long time!
Yes, you're right. I've lived in a lovely village in Monmouthshire where the undertaker ran a tiny pub called The Cupid. Basically a kitchen table and a small bar with a very select set of locals as customers.

by Guest 17.12.11 9:19

Yes I was thinking that it's possible that Joe Peoples could be both the local pub landlord and undertaker. The trouble is that, with the porkies he's been telling about the McCanns' Irish connections, you tend to assume that everything you hear about him isn't true either.

by uppatoffee 17.12.11 10:37

Good work Marian! That's exactly what he is listed as here!
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by Guest 17.12.11 10:44

I can't claim any credit for knowing he's an undertaker Uppatoffee as this link has been supplied before by someone else, maybe Daisy. It isn't definite that he's the same man who claims to be running the pub but it's a reasonable possibility in such a small town.

by Guest 17.12.11 11:59

Sunday May 20 2007
RONALD QUINLAN

AS the search for abducted four-year-old Madeleine McCann enters its third week, a dedicated bank account has finally been set up here in Ireland to allow people to assist through donations.

Funds raised through the Madeleine McCann Appeal account at the AIB bank are to be used to help fund the ongoing search for Madeline, and to help defray the costs of legal representation for her distraught parents.

The establishment of the account has been undertaken by Donegal-based Katerina Fernandez, a close friend of the missing girl's family.

Madeleine and her parents stayed with Ms Fernandez on a recent holiday in Donegal. Ms Fernandez fondly recalled the Easter visit.

"It's very hard to take it all in. It's bad enough when it's a child you don't know. But she was here with her family. It was only a weekend, but I can still see everybody down at the beach playing rounders. I can still picture Madeleine there. It's devastating," she said.

Ms Fernandez set up the fundraising account at the AIB to maintain awareness of Madeleine's case in Ireland.

Madeline McCann Fund

AIB Account No: 07511020

Sort Code: 93-73-39

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I only found this now, not sure if anyone's seen it before.

by Guest 17.12.11 12:10

That's a new one on me Molly. I wonder if Ms Fernandez runs a B & B as the other reports say that's where the McCanns stayed!

I'm still wondering if this Donegal holiday story ever appeared in 2007 anywhere other than in Irish papers.

by Guest 17.12.11 12:31

Marian wrote:That's a new one on me Molly. I wonder if Ms Fernandez runs a B & B as the other reports say that's where the McCanns stayed!

I'm still wondering if this Donegal holiday story ever appeared in 2007 anywhere other than in Irish papers.

Despite the change in culture during the Celtic Tiger we're still Ireland of the Welcomes particularly when it comes to tracking down the Irish roots and connections of celebrities. It's a very interesting question, Marian, which did come first. The Mail ran with it as early as 12/05/07. There is more here on an extract from the Donegal News [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] But I'm pretty sure that the Irish connection was mentioned immediately in our media.

by bobbin 17.12.11 17:42

Is it at all possible that Katerina Fernandez, close friend of the McCanns in Donegal area, could be related to the Francisco Marco Fernandez, one of the McCann 'detectives' just visited by the Met in Spain.
I know its a common enough surname, but, well, does anyone have any more info ? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by bobbin 17.12.11 17:48

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I meant to add the link above to my previous post. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by Daisy 17.01.12 17:44

The media reports state the McCann's visited the Rosses, Dungloe and in particular - Gweedore, where they say Eileen McCann (nee Ferry) has roots. She was apparently born in Crolly. Some articles claim she still has family there.

I wonder if Michael Ferry from Crolly, a member of a paedophile ring ooperating in those very areas mentioned above ^ is any relation to Eileen Ferry? Of course, Ferry could be a very common name in Crolly, so I make no accusations.

Sex abuse ‘rampant’ in parts of Donegal

Published on Thursday 4 August 2011 15:36

Child sex abuse is rampant in
parts of Donegal and has been for many years, according to a source
involved in social work in Donegal.

“There are concerns now that some
kind of paedophile ring involving Michael Ferry has been operating in
the Gweedore, Dungloe and the Rosses area but a high profile community
activist expressed the same concerns about another area in north Donegal
as far back as the 1990s. This stuff has been rampant for years,” the
source said.
“There are people who have been convicted for sexual
offences living and working in communities with free access to young
people. Some of them may be on the Sex Offenders Register, while others
served their time before the Register was drawn up. In either case,
there seems to be little or no monitoring of such individuals and
whether they are allowed associate with children and young people.”
The
comments were made following the arrest under Section 4 of the Criminal
Justice Act of two men in West Donegal on Monday morning. The men, who
are both in their 60s and are understood to be from Crolly and Bunbeg,
were released on Tuesday, following questioning at Letterkenny and
Glenties Garda Stations. A garda spokesperson said that neither of the
men was charged and “there are no further developments at this time”.
While
gardaí would only confirm that the arrests were made as part of their
investigation into “serious assaults”, local sources suggest that the
arrests may have related to investigations following the conviction of
Michael Ferry for the sexual abuse of four young men in Gweedore.
Locals told the Democrat that one of the men arrested had worked at a school in the area.
“People
are of the view here that the conviction of Michael Ferry won’t be the
end of it, that there is more bad news still to emerge,” one local man
told the Donegal Democrat yesterday.
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by Guest 17.01.12 18:43

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No Ferries or McCanns that I can see!

P.S. If you google Michael Ferry, Donegal there are many stories about him.

by Daisy 17.01.12 20:08

Thanks Jean. It may be nothing, but I still think it warrants investigating, Yes, I've read a fair bit about Michael Ferry. How sick that the school he carried out the abuse at gave him his job back - knowing he'd been convicted of the sexual abuse of a pupil there!

There's someone done a fair bit of work on the Ferry's from that area. I can't find what i'm looking for though included: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

by uppatoffee 20.01.12 9:11

Someone posted a link to the St Johnston cemetery a while back which gave Hugh's date of death as November 1999. I have since found the death registration of a Hugh Francis McCann b 2 January 1943, d November 1999 in Manchester, England.

This fits in with the Irish birth record entry for Hugh F McCann, born March 1943 quarter, mother's maiden name O'Rourke, registered in Letterkenny. Agnes died February 1943, so it is possible that this was a result of the birth. This is also recorded as March 1943 quarter in Letterkenny.

This has to be great Uncle Hugh. However a number of newspaper articles referred to him as having been on this infamous Donegal Easter break, such as this one from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

"Madeleine and two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie were with their parents and their great-uncle Hughie, as well as their grandmother Eileen, also known as Ellen, who was born in the area."

I guess the use of his name in these articles was to demonstrate a strong link to the area to gain widespread Irish support, especially of a financial nature.
wft

by Praia 20.01.12 9:19

They played the Irish people like fools. Their PR brains would know the Irish are the most generous in the world to charity. Mitchell said the greatest number of letters (and donations) came from Ireland. This is where the devout Catholics come into play..

by **tigger** 20.01.12 9:26

Praia wrote:They played the Irish people like fools. Their PR brains would know the Irish are the most generous in the world to charity. Mitchell said the greatest number of letters (and donations) came from Ireland. This is where the devout Catholics come into play..

But also (I do have a bee in my bonnet about those photographs) to establish this happy extended family holiday and very much to establish that that is where they were that Easter, see? two no three totally convincing photographs! In case you missed it, that was last Easter in Donegal - dozens of family members to testify to that - Easter, Donegal, all three children - Donegal, nowhere else!
Because it seems curious to have articles and photographs in the Belfast telegraph as early as the 8th May. For goodness sake, they should have been way too busy looking for Maddie where she was last seen.

Thing is if the McCanns are pointing West, I'm looking South.

by jd 20.01.12 9:34

I am still trying to figure out how it is possible that the twins looked older in these Donegal pictures to a month later in PDL, and the cousins look older than they did a year later for the charity run

Have they discovered some drug that makes you grow younger?

by Guest 20.01.12 9:35

Not just the Irish people taken for fools either! I'd love to know if the amazing Uncle Hughie (to whom I dedicate this old song [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) had any children who might account for the surplus McCanns popping up everywhere in this story.

by uppatoffee 20.01.12 9:48

Jean wrote:Not just the Irish people taken for fools either! I'd love to know if the amazing Uncle Hughie (to whom I dedicate this old song [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) had any children who might account for the surplus McCanns popping up everywhere in this story.

There is a possible marriage in 1964 in Liverpool, but not found any children yet.

by Lance De Boils 04.03.12 0:35

I still wonder how Philomena, her partner, the Camerons and a number of others could bring themselves to go on a holiday to turkey for a week in June 2007 (? need to remind myself of dates), so soon after Maddie's "disappearance".

by Guest 04.03.12 0:40

That's a new one on me Lance - not just the holiday but also Philomena's partner? There's never been any mention of one as far as I'm aware.

by Lance De Boils 04.03.12 0:50

Oh there has.... but the information I've provided about it before seems to have been ignored. I'll dig it all back out, if you are interested?

by Lance De Boils 04.03.12 1:17

Here we are: Aegean Dream Resort, Turkey (near Bodrum IIRC)
24th June 2007.
Group of 26 arriving for 1 week.
Incl: Philomena McCann & her partner, Tony Rickwood [Phil made enquiries about their spa, beauty & massage treatments]
Trish Cameron [who enquired about water skiing]

No idea who the other 23 were.

[It was established that this was extremely unlikely to have been any kind of school trip]

by **tigger** 04.03.12 6:40

Didn't I read that when they family rushed over to PdL to comfort the McCs they brought their swimsuits?
So it was - pass on the news, book a flight (now that would be interesting to find when those were booked?) what do we need - swimsuits, holiday gear.
I've never heard a report of those people searching for Maddie either.