User:Matt Lewis/Nationality labelling guide for the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (including England, Scotland, Wales and the British Islands)

Nationality labelling guide for the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (including England, Scotland, Wales and the British Islands)

This essay covers the "opening paragraph" nationality for people from the archipelago that consists of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (including England, Scotland, Wales and the British Islands)

The essay provides full definitions, with examples of present-day and historical usage, and offers a guide for finding the best-suited "opening paragraph" nationality, per the Wikipedia: Manual of Style (biographies) guideline.

The islands edit

The "British Isles"

The islands (most commonly known as the British Isles) are an archipelago comprising of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. In addition it includes three smaller islands known as "Crown dependencies": the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.

Ireland edit

Ireland

The Republic of Ireland (commonly called Ireland) is an independent country.

The United Kingdom edit

The United Kingdom
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales

The United Kingdom (in full, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is made up of four constituent countries (known in the UK as the "home nations"):

Under British law, these four countries are an equal union, sharing a common British nationality (see British nationality law). The terms "Britain" and "Great Britain" are often used to mean "the United Kingdom". A UK passport describes its holder as a "British citizen".

Northern Ireland: British, Irish and dual citizenships edit

People of Northern Ireland are entitled to Irish citizenship by default (Irish citizenship being a fundamental "entitlement" that extends to all of the island). This automatically allows for dual British and Irish citizenship. Unequivocal "single citizenship" can be applied for from the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Consequently, Northern Irish people can be British only, Irish only, British while flexible on becoming Irish, or explicitly both British and Irish.

The Crown dependencies edit

Guernsey and Jersey

The archipelagos include three Crown dependencies that are not part of the United Kingdom. The Crown dependencies and the United Kingdom are collectively known as the "British Islands".

The Crown dependencies are:

Isle of Man (a self-governing dependency)

The Channel Islands comprising of:

Bailiwick of Guernsey (and its surrounding islets)
Bailiwick of Jersey

Citizens of the Crown dependencies are officially classed as “British citizens”, but as with citizens of the home nations, the accuracy of the appellation regarding each person should be verified.

Celtic heritage edit

The "Celtic Nations"

The islands were once inhabited by Celtic tribes, the heritage of which lives on today. The remaining Celtic cultures (sometimes called the "Celtic nations") are as follows:

Area	Name of Celtic people	Language	Celtic culture	Example of use
Ireland and Northern Ireland	Irish	Irish	Irish is taught in the Irish schools, (where 40% regard themselves as "competent") and in Northern Ireland (where 10% "have some knowledge").	Seamus Heaney
Scotland	Scottish	Scottish Gaelic	Scotland has always had its own law-making powers. Around 60,000 Scottish citizens speak Scottish Gaelic (1%), and around 1.5m (25%) speak Scots (an English hybrid). In 1989 it successfully voted for its own Scottish Assembly, and a referendum for complete independence is currently scheduled for 2010.	Robert Burns
Isle of Man	Manx	Manx	The Isle of Man is a self governing Crown dependency in the Irish Sea, situated between northern England and Northern Ireland. Although the Manx language is no longer commonly spoken, a hybrid form of Manx English is widely used – which contains many original Manx words.	Thomas Edward Brown
Wales	Welsh	Welsh	Welsh is spoken by 600,000 people (20% of the population), and Wales is bilingually sign-posted. In 1998 Wales successfully voted for its own Welsh National Assembly.	Dylan Thomas
Cornwall	Cornish	Cornish	The county of Cornwall is the South-western peninsula-tip of England. The Cornish language and culture has undergone a renaissance in recent years. It is spoken by 3,500 people.	Richard Trevithick

(A sixth "nation", Britanny, is a province in north-western France. Many Bretons also identify with their Celtic history and language.)

Historical examples of use edit

Various "unifications" have happened throughout the history of the islands. Unification happened first in the 16C between England and Wales, during the Welsh-decended Tudor dynasty. In the 18C, after the Tudor-connected Scottish Stuart became king, the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed. Unification happened with Ireland after it was eventually conquered by Great Britain: this lead to the first "United Kingdom" comprising of Great Britain and the island of Ireland. The second (and current) "United kingdom" comprises of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, after the Republic of Ireland achieved independence.

Date (CE)	Event		Event-related nationality	Example of use
43-300	Roman invasion of the Celtic tribes of Britannia	Britain, or Great Britain is often used for Britannia. The terms Ancient Briton or "Brythons" can be used for its people	Britons	Boudica
	Ireland		Irish
300-900	emergence of Kingdom of Scotland	Pictish or Gaelic	Picts, Gaels	Nechtan Morbet
300-1200 (excluding Galloway c. 900-1230s )	south of Forth before 1200s	British or English/Anglo-Saxon etc (depending on culture)	British or English (depending on culture)	Run of Alt Clut, Owen the Bald
500-1707	consolidation of England	English is often used for the Heptarchy of kingdoms that came to be known as "England" sometime in the 10C.	English	Alfred the Great
500-1707	consolidation of Wales	Welsh is generally used; "British" and "Briton" used in contexts into the later middle ages	Welsh	Hywel Dda
900-1707	consolidation of Scotland	Both Scottish, and Scots (though as with England (1066), avoid calling first or second generation Norman incomers "Scottish")	Scottish, Scots	Robert the Bruce
1066	Norman conquest of England	The Norman conquest of England significantly changed the course of English history. The Normans gradually became naturalised, as did Normandy itself with France.	Norman	Gerald of Wales, Strongbow
1069	Norman invasion of Ireland	Following the invasion, Gaelic Ireland lost central authority, but the English Crown was unable to consolidate authority effectively, leading to centuries of power struggle.	Anglo-Irish
1536	unification of England and Wales	Wales officially became a "Principality".		Shakespeare, Robert Recorde
1607 - mid-1600s	Plantation of Ulster	The Gaelic order collapses, and central "English" authority is consolidated in Ireland. A hundred thousand English, Welsh and Scottish settlers are "planted" in the Ulster province, to ensure a quash resistance, sowing communal differences that underly the modern conflict in the area (renamed as Northern Ireland).	Scots-Irish
1707	unification with Scotland	The "Kingdom of Great Britain" was created. The term "British" came into common usage.	British becomes an option	Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, Walter Scott
1800	unification with Ireland	The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created.		Oscar Wilde, James Joyce
1920-1921	creation of Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland.	The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was created. (See Northern Ireland: British, Irish and dual citizenships above)	Northern Irish, Ulstermen/women	George Best, Seamus Heaney
present-day	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	British, English, Irish, Northern Irish, Scottish, Welsh are all used today.		(See Present-day examples of use below)

Present-day examples of use edit

Editors have strongly opposing ideas on the relative importance of the appellations "Irish", "British", "English", "Northern Irish", "Scottish" and "Welsh". All are proud and highly individual countries, and each contain people that cherish their independence as much as their union (and in many cases, more so).

Various different methods of referring to a UK citizen's nationality have been adopted, including:

Name and title	Nationality	Note
Patrick Lee	is an Irish journalist...	who might be from anywhere on the island of Ireland.
Jane Smith	is a British chef...	who happens to be English.
John Brown	is an English lyricist...	who writes about English life.
Liam O'Connor	was a Belfast-born footballer...	who is an "expatriate" from Northern Ireland, perhaps.
Muira McClair	is a British politician from Scotland...	who is part of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom.
Dafydd Gruffudd	was a Welsh author...	who happened to write in English, rather than Welsh.
David Tanner	(born on 13 June 1955 in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland) is a football pundit...	who has only his birth country mentioned.
Tommy Arrow	is a UK comedian...	Occurs occasionally, but is considered by many to be a lazy option.

No variation is particular to any one nationality.

Guide to finding an appropriate nationality edit

The following guide is designed to help find the right "opening paragraph" nationality for your biography.

When looking for available evidence (perhaps through biographies, encyclopedias and news articles), bear in mind that conflicting examples can exist for any one person. Often, however, a clear national preference will arise (e.g., the actor Sean Connery is widely referred to as Scottish, and rarely - if ever - as British).

Try and stick to the country's media if possible - "international" media can make simplistic (and erroneous) assumptions about UK citizens: some use only British or English to describe them.

Look specifically for evidence that the person has a preferred nationality. You may wish to refer to the evidence in a footnote. The writer Iris Murdoch considered herself to be Irish, though some feel she was perhaps wrong to do so:^[1] the current consensus on Wikipedia is to call her "Dublin-born".

Each UK home nation has its various national sporting teams, which are often are allowed to recruit new team members based on the nationality of their parents or grandparents. These players are sometimes described as a nationals of their team's nation, and often become proud to be a representative of the two different nations. The original nationality of the player is usually used in these cases – though some players may choose to adopt the nationality of the country they played for.

Changing an exisiting nationality edit

It cannot be called "wrong" to change an existing nationality (e.g., Welsh to British, or British to Irish) provided a sufficient connection exists.

Before making a change:

Consider why the existing nationality was chosen.
Examine the article for details that support the existing label.
Look for existing consensus on the discussion page, and in any archives that may be present.
Conduct research to be certain your choice is preferable (you can consult the guide above).

Sometimes no single "correct" choice exists. Is your change actually for the better? An editor may query you, or revert your choice – so be prepared to explain your decision.

Above all, be civil, assume good faith and respect other people's points of view. It is of course OK to "be bold" and apply your choice, but remember that strong feelings surround UK identity, and firm disagreement may arise!

Do NOT enforce uniformity edit

It is not possible to create a uniforming guideline, when such strong disagreement exists on the relative importance of the labels.

Re-labelling nationalities on grounds of consistency – making every UK citizen "British", or converting each of those labelled "British" into their constituent nationalities – is strongly discouraged. Such imposed uniformity cannot, in any case, be sustained.

Do NOT "edit war"! edit

Be aware that "edit warring" with other editors by repeatedly changing the text of an article to suit your views is against Wikipedia policy, and may lead to action being taken against you by Wikipedia administrators.

Cannot decide? edit

If you are still uncertain how your biography nationality is best labelled, you may wish to follow this course of action:

Look at what others have done in comparable articles.
Post a message asking for advice or assistance on the talk page, and/or on relevant WikiProjects and notice boards.
Consider simply leaving the matter to someone who has a better feeling for it.
When an idea of nationality exists, consider deferring to that view.

WikiProjects and notice boards edit

Notes edit

^ Conradi, Peter J. (2001-09-08). "Iris Murdoch: A Life by Peter J Conradi: Iris Murdoch always claimed she was Irish. But was she mythologising herself?". The Guardian (Saturday Review). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[1] Conradi, Peter J. (2001-09-08). "Iris Murdoch: A Life by Peter J Conradi: Iris Murdoch always claimed she was Irish. But was she mythologising herself?". The Guardian (Saturday Review). {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

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