User talk:El Gringo

Welcome from Ravedave

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. We as a community are glad to have you and thank you for creating a user account! Here are a few good links for newcomers:

• The Five Pillars of Wikipedia
• How to edit a page
• Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial
• Picture tutorial
• How to write a great article
• Naming conventions
• Manual of Style
• Merging, redirecting, and renaming pages
• If you're ready for the complete list of Wikipedia documentation, there's also Wikipedia:Topical index.

Yes some of the links appear a bit boring at first, but they are VERY helpful if you ever take the time to read them.

Remember to place any articles you create into a category so we don't get orphans.

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! By the way, please be sure to sign your name on Talk and vote pages using four tildes (~~~~) to produce your name and the current date, or three tildes (~~~) for just your name. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome. -Ravedave 04:55, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! I was wondering why my name wasn't showing.

• I updated the Denis Donaldson article you were editing so the picture is shown. Its pretty easy to do. Good luck and happy editing! -Ravedave 05:01, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. I'm just trying to find that out from the 'Help' link you gave above.

Seamus Heaney

I have left a comment on the talk page about the spelling, regarding your recent changes. You might wish to contribute their. Djegan 19:58, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Cambro-Norman

When you changed Anglo-Norman to Cambro-Norman you broke the link to the referenced article, since Cambro-Norman doesn't currently exist. You need to pipe the links (and possibly also create a redirect) if you're going to make such changes, at least until an article called "Cambro-Norman" exists. Thanks. --Craig Stuntz 16:15, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

What's the thinking behind the term Cambro-Norman anyway? I know David Green used to insist on it, but I don't get the full implication of Welshness in this context. Is there a real objection to Anglo-Norman? And does it matter anyway, since the king of England (H II) was lord of Ireland by 1172 and Magna Charta had been extended to the country by 1215?--shtove 18:46, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

WikiProject Gaelic Games

Hi, i have noticed that you have previously edited articles related to the subject of Gaelic Games. Several users, including my self, have start work on a WikiProject to collaborate and pool our work on the subject to create, expand and improve listings about Gaelic Games and related subjects. With your previous edits i was wondering if you would be willing to join us and help out in this project. Their is no commitment necessary, and you can assists the project as your time permits. If your interested you can check out the project at Wikipedia:WikiProject Gaelic Games, and if you have any questions about the project feel free to drop a line on the project talk page, or you can drop me a line directly. Thank you, and i look forward to your assistance. (Gnevin 17:35, 4 April 2006 (UTC))

Wolfe Tone

blown up 1979. rebuilt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Delaney Palx 08:18, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

Naming policy

Thanks for the message. I've no difficulty with the original names being used within the articles. I use the anglicised names because they're the ones used in my sources and are familiar to me. So the recent edit to Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne adds to the quality. Where the anglicised versions must be insisted on is in the article titles - otherwise readers would find it too difficult to access information. I suppose Hugh Roe O'Donnell and Hugh O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone are good examples of the inconvenience and confusion over naming styles: I started out removing the apostrophe before the surnames, and changing all Tyrones to O Neills and so on - but in the end it became confusing, so I just went with the familiar anglicisations. On the diversity point - I hope that's shown in the details of their lives. If you have a notion of adding all the original Irish names to the Category of Elizabethan Ireland biographies then I'd be happy to help. Perhaps you can help with adding portraits, maps etc?--shtove 11:14, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

Essex Regiment

Hi. Could you respond to point raised on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Essex_Regiment back on 17 July. Thanks! Davidbober 01:30, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the response. Clarified what I needed. Davidbober 14:39, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

Nine Years War - rebel

A problem with use of the term rebel - stop the lights, Bunny! I don't disagree with you, but then many terms used in this context will become a problem eg. you've put in English colonial government, when the government operated out of Dublin and was largely run by people born in Ireland ie. it was as much Irish domestic as English colonial. I think I recognise your concerns - anglicisation tipping over from language into concepts - so I suggest we put together a list of agreed terms for this article and its relations (including nomenclature). That's going to take a long time. I'm sure User: Jdorney will advise.--shtove 00:59, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

• We're talking about armed resistance to an established government, which is a rebellion: those taking part against the government were therefore rebels. That's my take on it. Brady is excellent (I've read the O Neill biography, but years ago), although I doubt his argument is as you describe it. Is there an alternative to rebel? Insurgent, freedom fighter, traitor, holy warrior - all inappropriate for various reasons. Please make your own suggestion. And get on to User: Jdorney and ask if it's OK to change the title of Desmond Rebellions.

• On the colonial government point, the historiography since the 1970's (including Brady) has been banging on about the Kingdom or Colony? question - Ireland's constitutional status was mixed, so the crown government was not exclusively colonial, but domestic too. English attitudes to government in Ireland were varied - see Brady's Chief Governors - and the fact that it came down to Kinsale does not mean the English were always hell-bent on outright destruction of the Gaelic polity. The Old English were highly influential in government until the mid-1590's, and it's just a tragedy that the hard men won out in the context of the Anglo-Spanish War (1585).

• You might take up your points in Tudor re-conquest of Ireland, which has some good contributors and addresses the ideology. Have a look at British Empire too - I added a few paras on 16thC. Ireland after a bit of debate on the talk page there.

• As for changing nomenclature and names you'll meet a lot of resistance. I don't agree with the Irish for Nine Years War going in to that article. Had the term been used contemporaneously, then good - but NYW is just a tag used by historians to identify a particular set of campaigns, and using the Irish translation is only appropriate in Irish WP.--shtove 18:06, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Renaming Cats

If you want to rename a category, such as Category:Anglo-Irish War (1919-1921) to Category:Irish War of Independence, you should do it through WP:CFD rather than simply moving all the pages. Cheers. Leithp 14:23, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

Seán Ó Faoláin

Why did you remove Ó Faoláin's English name from Seán Ó Faoláin? It is extremely widely used and the legal name he was born with. --Kwekubo 21:22, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi. I've never heard of him referred to as anything other than Seán Ó Faoláin so I presumed that putting an English version next to his name was similar to putting "John Halpin" next to Seán Óg Ó hAilpín. Where is your evidence that he used it, never mind "is extremely widely used"? Did he write anything under that name? El Gringo 22:14, 13 May 2006 (UTC)

• I'm not sure if he wrote under that name, but the English name was registered on his birth certificate, and some outside Ireland mistakenly treat his use of "Seán Ó Faoláin" as a pseudonym. A few citations of the English name: [1], [2], [3]. --Kwekubo 19:34, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Siege of Smerwick

I like the link you created from Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th Earl of Desmond to Ard na Caithne - never occurred to me before to send the reader into the middle of an article. The siege needs an article of its own - it's red-linked in Irish Battles or somewhere. We could collaborate if you like. The newspaper article link is interesting - I wonder have the remains been inspected to determine cause of death? Two points - the Earl of Desmond was non-commital at best to this invasion force ie. he tried to play both sides + I've come across a source (not sure which) that the soldiers were killed by paunching (stomachs slit with pikes), leading to a drawn out death. Also, I just posted Spanish Armada in Ireland, which has a section dealing with the Munster landings in 1588, including those on the Dingle peninsula - perhaps you'd take a look see if the local knowledge is accurate (plus Irish place-names!).--shtove 20:08, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

I set out to create just such a page on the Siege of Smerwick, and as I wrote the background info, it evolved in an article on the second Desmond Rebellions, with a section on Smerwick. Peraps you could review --Rye1967 06:32, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Sean nós

Noticing that you've contributed to the Talk page of the sean nós article, I take it you are interested in the subject. I don't know whether you noticed my own edits to that article on 21 May, when I added information from a book which I've added to the article's references. I also edited the ornament (music) article, linking it to sean nós.

It's a subject I find very interesting - speaking as a listener, player and improviser of folk music myself - but my knowledge is entirely intellectual rather than experiential. That is to say, I only know as much about sean nós as I have read in books, not having experienced much of it for myself. I have listened to the samples on this page, but those do not illustrate the use of nasalisation or glottal stops, both of which are said to be characteristic of sean nós in at least some regions.

I enjoyed contributing to the article, but I would do a better job of it by working in collaboration with someone with a more experiential perspective, who can distinguish better than I can between what is trivial and what is important. How do you feel about the article as it currently stands? Zerrakhi 07:07, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Lenny Murphy pic.

Hi, The image of Lenny Murphy is from Martin Dillon's book The Shankill Butchers. Regards, bigpad 11:15, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

British Isles

Thanks for the spelling corrections on British Isles. It really is annoying how some users seem so intent on pushing a little englander agenda on the article, and regard any attempt to in any way explain the Irish problems with the term as 'nationalist POV-pushing' or worse. One particular bigot on his own page went into an abusive rant which mocked the Famine!!! Unbelievable. While most people on the page on both sides are balanced and constructive, there seems to be a few who are nothing but rascist bigots. FearÉIREANN\^(caint) 01:02, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Hi El Gringo, the 'Anglo-Celtic Isles' article is in need of defence yet again...some users of the term 'British Isles' are trying to get a 'redirect' set up. I'm 100% against this, naturally. If you'd like to oppose too, please do! Best regards, Pconlon 15:59, 12 August 2006

Hi El Gringo, do you agree that Anglo-Celtic Isles should stay of redirect to BI. Maybe you could have a look. MelForbes 22:11, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

Edward MacLysaght

Good work on the Edward MacLysaght article, you've really managed to flesh it out from the stub that it was. I've come across it in the past but not known enough on the topic or had the time to research to update it. Ben W Bell talk 13:29, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

"Incorrect" Britain

Please stop reverting this. I have put my reasoning why here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:United_Kingdom#.22Britain.22_being_an_.22incorrect.22_abbreviation Gsd2000 21:24, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Béal na mBláth

Are you sure that it is a village and not a place?If it is a village,I've never heard of it. Dermo69

Really!Have you ever been there just out of curiosity?I didnt vote in the Britain redirection because i wasnt sure what to vote.Sorry Dermo69

oh i think i'll vote agree with that because no part of ireland is part of great britian.Of course NI is part of the UK but thats different.Its even in the name.The United Kingdom of Great britain and Northern Ireland. Dermo69

"Le gach dea-ghuí".What does that mean?Im no good at irish unfortunetly Dermo69

Alright thanks.Byeeeeeeee Dermo69

Ruairi Quinn

Just to let you know that I undid your edits on this page and moved it back to Ruairi Quinn. Quinn doesn't spell his name with a fada - see here and here. --Ryano 11:34, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Seán Quinn

I've raised the subject at the WP:IWNB to see what other people's opinions are. Stu ^{’Bout ye!} 20:31, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

U2

You might want to have a look at U2. A character (I could call him other things) is insisting that the article cannot say that U2 is Irish because 2 of its members are "Britons" (in his words). He has edited nothing on WP but that article, and made clear on his user page that he is on a crusade to get the reference changed on WP. Keep an eye out. Having been shot down on his attempts to generate a consensus behind his supposed NPOV idea, he is now trying unilaterally to force the edit onto the page, and say simply that the band was formed in Dublin! FearÉIREANN\^(caint) 04:46, 13 August 2006 (UTC)

"Those who do not believe in Wikipsychic powers and who inform others of votes and debates commit the Wikiheresy of "votestacking" and must be condemned to Wikiboycotts and Wikistonings". I wish you wouldn't misrepresent my argument in order to recruit people just to weigh in on your side of an argument. If it weren't for your straw man argument, we might have been able to get onto the issue of actually improving that article. Tonyobrienuk 02:09, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your back-up and support on the Anglo-Celtic Isles article El Gringo. Let's keep on the ball eh?! Best regards, Pconlon 19:11, 14 August 2006

Hi El Gringo, we do certainly seem to be dealing with some backward looking types - they just don't get how annoying it is as an Irish person to be continually asked if you're from the UK or if all of Ireland is part of the UK 'because you're from the British Isles aren't you?!' Argh! On your IONA point, the great problem I just can't get past - and which I think sinks its viability - is the fact that Iceland is a North Atlantic Island too...it's a nice idea, but just falls over here. Would you agree? Best regards, Pconlon 12:06, 15 August 2006

Civility

El Gringo, I must plead with you now to reconsider your civility on Wikipedia. On the deletion of Anglo-Celtic Isles page, and at British Isles, you repeatedly engage in behaviour which most would see as violating policies such as WP:CIVIL, Wikipedia:Assume good faith and Wikipedia:No personal attacks. Although some users such as TharkunColl are awkward to work with and have some warped opinions, remeber that most people at Wikipedia are here simply to create a better encyclopedia.

If people disagree with you, its because they have different backgrounds, opinions and different soruces upon which to draw their view of what 'neutral' is. I do hope that you can remain a useful contributor to Wikipedia, but you must improve your conduct. --Robdurbar 16:46, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Hill lists

Your move of Hill lists in..., with comment in the edit summary not a single Irish hill is in the list, missed the 211 Irish hills in the Hewitts (Hills in England, Wales and Ireland over Two Thousand feet). There might be a case for restricting the article to GB, merely mentioning that the Hewitts list includes Ireland as well, since AFAIK there are no other commonly used lists in Ireland, but that raises additional problems - if you have an article about a Hewitt in Ireland, where do you direct people who want to know about the Hewitts? Of course the term "British Isles" is problematic, but these are problems that ought to be discussed on the talk page or going through WP:RM rather than unilaterally moving a page, since a page move is quite a drastic action. For this reason I wasn't going to move it back, but I see that you've left hundreds of double redirects, so I will. --Blisco 10:28, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Northern Ireland

Comments, regarding opening paragraph, would be welcome at talk:Northern Ireland. Djegan 21:03, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

TharunColl is assing around again on British Isles, this time adding in an explicit attack on Irish people. Your assistance to do a revert is needed urgently. FearÉIREANN\^(caint) 23:08, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Jonto is back again on British Isles. Yippee. *sigh* Keep an eye out. FearÉIREANN\^(caint) 17:41, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi, I just wanted to note that I strongly support the 'Britain & Ireland' renaming and have stated this on the vote page. Very best regards, Pconlon 16:58, 25 August 2006 (PT)

Matt Talbot

I've done a fairly major edit on Matt Talbot. I've kept your text where possible, because it was a well-written article, but I did shuffle it around a bit. I hope you like the result. Scolaire 16:44, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

You might be interested in a RM going on at talk:Prime minister (sic). Some individuals moved the page to that ridiculous half uppercase half lowercase name (if it stays at that form WP will be a laughing stock!) Feel free to contribute to the debate if you wish. FearÉIREANN\^(caint) 23:38, 2 September 2006 (UTC)