Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Ireland-related articles

This page documents an English Wikipedia style guideline.

It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts

These guidelines deal with the naming of Ireland-related articles; this includes both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Please follow the conventions below. If you disagree with any of them, please discuss it in the talk page.

To write and edit Ireland-related articles, please follow the conventions below. See:

Wikipedia:Manual of Style for general cases;
Wikipedia:History for notes on the style of history articles
Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English) for general use of English names in articles;
Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ireland Collaboration for an ongoing discussion of the use of the name "Ireland" in article names and within articles;
Wikipedia:Irish Wikipedians' notice board for ongoing news and tasks relevant to Ireland-related topics;
Wikipedia:Northern Irish Wikipedians' notice board for ongoing news and tasks relevant to Northern Ireland-related topics.

Geographic articles

Naming articles: English versus Irish

Where the English and Irish names are the same or very nearly the same, but the English and Irish spellings differ, use the English spelling.
- Example 1: Rosmuck, not Ros Muc.
- Example 2: Inishmore, not Inis Mór.
Where the English and Irish names are different, and the English name remains the predominant usage in English, use the English name.
- Example: Wicklow, not Cill Mhantáin.
Where the English and Irish names are different, and the Irish name is the official name, but has not yet gained favour in English usage, use the English name.
- Example: Newbridge, not Droichead Nua.
Where the English and Irish names are different, and the Irish name is the official name, and has gained favour in English usage, use the official Irish name.
- Example: Muine Bheag, not Bagenalstown.

Irish names in content

Once the article name is established, any alternate name for the locale should be provided on the first line of the article (whether or not the name is widely used), as well as the proper location in the information box. The remainder of the article should use only the place name as titled in the article.

The exception to this is when a portion of the article is providing information specific to the naming of the place.

When mentioning other locales in the context of the article, conform to the rules for article titling above but do not include the alternate name along with it. An exception might be in the case of a name that is unlikely to be provided an article of its own. However, if a place name is significant enough to warrant both an English and an Irish name, it is probably significant enough for an article of its own, however brief.

Use of 'Ireland' and 'Republic of Ireland'

Concerns have been expressed that using the word Ireland alone can mislead given that it refers to both the island of Ireland and the Irish state (which are not conterminous). A discussion process decided to leave the article on the island at Ireland and the article on the Irish state at Republic of Ireland for the time being. That decision will be reviewed, possibly in Autumn 2011.

A consensus emerged with respect to referring to the island and the state in other contexts:

When referring to places and settlements in the Republic of Ireland in the introduction to articles (and in elements such as info boxes), use [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] not [[Ireland]] or [[Republic of Ireland]] (e.g. "Cork is a city in Ireland").
In other places prefer use of [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], except where the island of Ireland or Northern Ireland is being discussed in the same context or where confusion may arise. In such circumstances use [[Republic of Ireland]] (e.g. "Strabane is at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland").
An exception is where the state forms a major component of the topic (e.g. on articles relating states, politics or governance) where [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] should be preferred and the island should be referred to the island of Ireland, or similar (e.g. Ireland is a state in Europe occupying most of the island of Ireland").
Regardless of the above guidelines, always use the official titles of state offices (e.g. "Douglas Hyde was the first President of Ireland").

County usage

When entering counties into Wikipedia use the full term County, not Co or Co.. The use of Co. is generally localised to Ireland and not always understood by the global community. For example, write County Galway, not Co. Galway.

Use the full county name (i.e County X) when referring to counties, rather than abbreviating to short name (i.e. X). There are normally towns or cities within a county after which the county was named. Use the "short name" to refer only to that place (i.e. County Galway vs. Galway).

Derry / Londonderry

Shortcuts

To avoid constant renaming of articles (and more), keep a neutral point of view, promote consistency in the encyclopedia, and avoid Stroke City-style terms perplexing to those unfamiliar with the dispute, a compromise solution was proposed and accepted regarding the Derry/Londonderry name dispute. Use Derry for the city and County Londonderry for the county in articles. The naming dispute can be discussed in the articles when appropriate.

Biographical articles

People born before independence in 1922 have their birthplace referred to as just Ireland, not Northern Ireland or [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Ireland]] or [[Northern Ireland|Ireland]]. Neither are they described as Northern Irish.

Correct Irish orthography in naming people

If someone used the Irish version of his or her name, and this enjoyed and enjoys widespread usage among English speakers, this should be reflected in Wikipedia. Thus, we refer to Máirtín Ó Cadhain, not "Martin Kyne"; Tomás Ó Fiaich, not "Thomas Fee", etc.
In cases where someone used the Irish version of his or her name but this does not enjoy widespread usage among English speakers, then use the English version when naming the article but refer to the Irish version of the name in the first line. For example, Geoffrey Keating was Irish-speaking and probably never used that name himself. He is listed under Geoffrey Keating but the first sentence reads "Seathrún Céitinn, known in English as Geoffrey Keating, was ...".
When giving the Irish version of the name of a person who is normally referred to by an English-language name, a source can only be considered reliable if it provides an Irish version explicitly for that individual. It is not acceptable to cite a generic English-Irish dictionary of names to translate the person's forenames or surnames and present this combination as the person's name in Irish.
If someone did not use the Irish version of his or her name, it is not appropriate or encyclopaedic to "invent" such names, as this constitutes original research.
In Irish orthography, there is a space between Mac and the rest of the surname, e.g. Seán Mac Eoin, Seán Mac Stíofáin etc. In English orthography, there is no space between the Mc or Mac and the rest of the surname.
In Irish orthography, note that the Ó in surnames always takes an accent and is followed by a space, e.g. Tomás Cardinal Ó Fiaich, not Tomas Cardinal O'Fiaich, etc.
In Irish surnames "Mac" (Son of) and "Ó" (Of the family of) are only used for men. Use these for the English forms of women's names but use the appropriate Irish forms "Ní/Nic" (daughter of), "Mhic" ([wife] of the son of), or "Uí" (of the family of) in Irish spellings of women's surnames.
In alphabetised lists of Irish names in the English Wikipedia follow English convention and group all 'Mac's together rather than following the Irish convention (where they ignore the Mac, Ó prefixes and alphabetise by the first letter of the suffix); follow this practice even for names in Irish.
When transcribing from old(er) Irish texts which contain lenited letters (the dot above indicating séimhiú), please reflect modern usage by replacing the dot with an 'h'. Thus, Aeḋ or Aoḋ becomes Aedh or Aodh, Doṁnall becomes Domhnall, Ruaiḋri becomes Ruaidhrí, etc.
The síneadh fada (or acute accent) should be used when Irish spelling requires it; thus "Mary Robinson (Máire Mhic Róibín)", not "Mary Robinson (Maire Mhic Roibin)".