User talk:Fergananim/Archive I

Welcome!

Hello, Fergananim/Archive I, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions. Again, welcome!

Image editing[edit]

The EU map was based on a map elsewhere in Wikipedia (for a list of "free" maps, see Wikipedia:Maps). Small maps (like Ireland county maps) can be created by tracing (using multi-layer images) reduced versions of other maps (this is by far the most effective method - as reducing other maps results in a far too intricate outline).

I mainly use Paint Shop Pro (this program is not usually free, though older versions are often free with magazines) and work on multiple image layers, with both vector and anti-aliased drawing componants. Tools include shape and line drawing, selection tools (magic wand, shape, freeform, selection modification/expand/contract/feather), paint tools (paintbrush, flood fill), image resampling, text tool (vector and anti-aliased). For photos I use image adjustment tools (colour, brightness, hue, saturation, image despeckle/blur/sharpen/edge enhance), clone brush, smudge.

I'm not sure how much help listing the above is if you are not familiar with image editing, but it should give a flavour of the extensive toolbox at my disposal, to do anything from diagram creation, small pictograms and maps to photo retouching, stitching photos together seamlessly, removing items (e.g. unwanted vehicles/people/pylons) from photos.

My final repetoire consists of the various file formats and conversions at my disposal. I can save work in progress as vector or uncompressed/multi-layer format. I can merge layers and decrease colours (to 256 using various reduction techniques dependant on the type of image) for saving diagrams, etc. as png. Or I can save photos as full-colour jpegs with appropriate compression levels.

zoney ♣ talk 11:51, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

irish History[edit]

Hi, thanks for comment on my talk page. I think I've almost exhausted my knowledge at this point, but I am planning a new section in the history of Dublin, where I'm from and an expansion of the articles on the Williamite war and the battle of Aughrim. Damn this wiki thing is addicitve... Jdorney

Well be sure to ask me about Aughrim; my ancestors fought there! We went on a two-hundred year pub crawl afterwards to get over it! And if you think you've exausted your knowledge, just make up shite! We win Nobel, Oscars and Grammys doing it all the time! Fergananim. P.S: Check out Conchobar Maenmaige Ua Conchobhair when you have a few spare minutes and tell us what you think. Took me a couple of hours, and yet again I forgot to sign in when starting it .... I'm off to the pub for a well deserved pint and two barmaids.

Had a look at your new page, its interesting - could do with some formatting though, as its a bit confusing. Its good idea to start with a really brief explanation of who the guy was and why he's important. I'm very interested in the fact that your ancestors fought at Aughrim, how did you find this out? They were lucky to get away, given what happened to the Jacobites that day, (who i assume, wisely or otherwise they were fighting for?!). As I'm sure you know, the carnage was probably even greater than on your commemorative pub crawl. Re making up stuff, tut tut! Hang your head in shame sir!Jdorney

I know, I know; only codding. Though in fairness look at what Tolkien got away with! Though seeing as he was a seriously brilliant philogist he could get away with stuff like that. As for Conchobar Maenmaige I will update and revise it a lot more in the days and weeks to come. Really what I want to do is do biographical stubs or articles about all the Kings of Connacht, especially those of the Sil Muirdeagh and their descendants, the Ua Conchobhairs. Ditto for the Kings of Hy-Many. The toughest nuts to crack will be Conchobar's father and grandfather. At least sixteen members of my family served in the army of King James II during the War of the Two Kings, of whom at least four were at Aughrim (two of whom were killed). The ancestor of a neighbour of mine, along with all seven of his brothers, were killed there; and ancestors of an acquaintence of mine were unable to return to Lenister in the aftermath of the battle, stayed put, and the family are still found in east Galway to this day. In the latter two cases its oral family tradition, in my years of stubborn research. And yes we were Jacobites. God help us! As to Dublin, are you going to concentrate on specif eras and places? The history of Dublin, especially between 1014 and in the years after 1171, really fascinates me. So much going on there, and with so many different types of people. Not to mention in so many languages. Fergananim

Wow, its amazing to hear someone with such an immediate connection to the past. I mean you joke about a thing like Aughrim, but you forget what a human tragedy it was, like the guy and his seven brothers who all died there. Like most Dublin people, I have no idea whatsoever about my family history, let alone what they were doing in the 1690s. My mother's from Clare as is part of my Dad's family, maybe they were at aughrim, who knows. My Dad's paternal line come from Ring in Waterford. Actually ,now that i think of it, while I was at university I noticed the muster roll of th Jacobite army was listed there, lsting all thier enlisted officers and men, should have looked it up. Anyways, re the history of Dublin, I'm not an expert on that by any means, but i was going to just go through the main events that hit the city -the Norman/English settlement, the Black Death, the Elsabethan conquest and the turmoil of the 17th century, then finish with a small expansion of the existing bit on the 18th c. Oh yeah, I'm also going to have make a start on those troubles pages that link from the Irish battles page. Jdorney

Well I joke because dwelling on what actually happened, and the reality of battle, still gets me mad. WE WERE SO CLOSE!!! If only Ginkel's cavalry were denied the pass by the castle ... well, we lost, and that's that. Just like forty years beforehand. I could tell you some storys but would have to be between ourselves because I feel that specking of it here comes across as self-advertisement. That's why I love genealogy so much; it connects you with someone in the past who had the same name and face as yourself, who just happened to live in extraordinary times. The Munster Roll - King James II's Irish Army List? I have that, and its not bad, but needs to be updated badly. Anyway, lord knows how many unlisted men there were - my neighbour's ancestors for example were not listed because they were just labourers of the local lord. Those were still aristocractic days.

Very true, actually , thats something that really interests me, how the ordinary people got on in these wars, because almost all the evidence is about the upper classes. Btw, I meant, "one jokes", not slaggin you off. Reading about Aughrim recently, because I was planning to write about it here, some historians will tell you that the Jacobites could really only have won a hlding victory there, ie they could have sent the Williamites reeling back towards Balinasloe direction with heavy losses, but because they were dug in on that ridge, couldn't really have pursued them. In any case, defeat was probably inevitable in the war by then anyway. Of course, if that pass had been held then there wouldn't have been the massacre where all those people died - which I'm sure was quite important to the people who were there! Tell me this, how did you get interested in these times? I did a few courses on it uni and got hooked on it. Jdorney

Well, we'll never know now one way or the other, will we? Historians have indeed said so, and they may well be right, but very few people truely realise how little the wheel of fortune actually turns on. I mean when you think about it, what were the odds of Ste. Ruth actually being in that spot, at that precise time, as the cannonball? Against all the infinite odds, and yet he was, and the battle was lost. Nothing is inevitable, not even fate, untill you let it be so.

Personally, I think we really lost out forty years before, when we failed to fully unifiy behind the Confederacy. The only description of the actual assembly at Kilkenny (October 1642) that I am aware of, written by a participant, is a letter by a member of my family. Am trying to get it published in the local historical journal. I found it years ago in a memoir published in the 1700's, now long out of print.

How did I get interested? Well, I always had an interest in history, and once upon a time because aware of the history of my purported family. That provoked two responses in me: one, wanting to learn more about them; two, wanting to find out if I was a member of the family. Well, I have, and I am. In many ways I have ended up as the seanchai of the family, and its not unusual to have other descendants from all over Ireland, as well as the UK, Australia and elsewhere, consulting me on their own individual enquiries. Its similtaniously personal, enlightening, gregarious and educational. I look upon it as my vocation. Fergananim

Tairrdelbach Vs. Turlough, Ruaidri Vs. Roderic[edit]

Dear Postdlf. Can you please give me a good reason as to why on earth you have changed my recent edits on the Ua Conchobhair Kings of Connacht? It is immensely frustrating to work flat out on the likes of this and then find within minutes that someone has changed it without even the courtsey of saying why. I do not have a problem with editing, but please tell me why and thus demonstrate that you know what you are talking about. Otherwise I am at a loss to understand your motives and frankly very pissed off. Sincerely, Fergananim

The Confederate period is very interesting, what do you think of the articles I've contributed here about it? Re accounts by participants, most of them were destroyed either an a fire in the customs hse in the1700s or the during the civl war. But there are some surviving ones left, like Richard Bellings, a Supreme Council member, who wrote a book aout his experiences. The other main source is the letter collections of the earls of Ormonde and Clanricarde, who had people like Patrick Darcy and loads of others constantly writing about what was going on in the assemblies. Also, there's a collection of writings by Rinuccini and his assistants, who tell us about their time in Ireland. There's been great work done on this time recently by people like Micheal O Siochru and Padraig Lenihan, but I don't know if any of it has really penetrated to the Irish public at large. Maybe someone should write a general narrative history - you fancy it?! Jdorney

Revisionist history[edit]

IN response to your query I inserted this here..I also answered in my user page....so you can delete this if you wish...Historically speaking, I am conservative. As an example...George Washington. I find it unfair if he is judged to be an immoral character due to his ownership of slaves. In the modern world, slavery is illegal everywhere. But in the era of Washington, it was a norm in the American colonies, the subsequent American republic, many places in Europe and so forth. I have seen it written as a condemnation on Washington even though he was progressive for his times, ensuring that upon his death and the death of his widow Martha Washington, his slaves would be freed. Though that seems not so grand a thing in todays world, in 1799 it was a noteworthy issue. Another example....the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki....now, this is a much more recent event that was witnessed and dealt with by many people still alive today. An analysis of the justifications of the atomic attacks made by many then and today would find very polarizing viewpoints on this issue...my concern is that the U.S. would end up being condemned for the decision to use these weapons in the future if we end up ridding the world of nuclear weapons...there must be a full understanding of the reasons of why the bombs were dropped and put in the perspectives of the events and politics of the day, not based on current dogma which finds the issue to be more and more of one opposed to their use at that time. Understanding that my attitude is the use of those weapons actually saved lives for the U.S. and Japan...all indications are that this is true. I do not think Bill Clinton should have apologized for the use of those weapons, but understand why he did so. Naturally, one must provide a historically accurate picture of the person or event in history to be scholarly and I agree with this. My problem, and the problem some have is when history is essentially rewritten based on moralities of the present age, and fail to take into account that these events of the past were acceptible in the ages they occurred.--MONGO 11:43, 13 Mar 2005 (UTC)

For my own part I don't think its fair to call Washington immoral simply because he owned slaves, as he was very uneasy about the whole institution, and his later actions on that issue were laudable.

As regaurds Hiroshima et al: War is industrialised murder, and every death that occours in a war is both a tragedy and a crime. The idea that you have to take life to save it is like fucking for virginity.

The USA won't rid the world of nukes anytime soon.

Murder has never being accectable in any age.

Thanks for getting back to me. Fergananim

Well, interesting point about Hiroshima...but war is fought to be won...I doubt many Americans (or British for that matter) could have cared about how many Japanese died, and could have cared less about how they would die, so long as the allies won. It doesn't make it right...but war must be brought to a conclusion and the Japanese weren't going to surrender without the motivation...the possiblity of total elimination. Hence my argument that the use of the bombs was done based on the attitudes of the day and has only relatively recently been moralistically challenged.--MONGO 07:49, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

You are right in that wars must be brought to a conclusion, but better for them not to be fought in the first place. We can but try.

"the Japanese weren't going to surrender without the motivation." Maybe. Who knows? Here's a few links with you can make up your own mind.

http://www.dannen.com/decision/index.html http://www.doug-long.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki http://www.lclark.edu/~history/HIROSHIMA/ If we choose to fight a war and justify it by expressing our fight in moral statments, is it not incumbunt upon us to act morally at all times?

Otherwise, what difference is there between 'us' and 'them'? Fergananim

If facts serve me, the need for the U.S. to fight a war with Japan in the 1940's wasn't a choice but a necessity. I do not think the use of the atomic weapons on Japan was an act that was immoral in any way. I appreciate the links, but my understanding of the use of the atomic bombs is derived from an education on the events, not from any blind opinion. There is no good evidence with which the allies had in 1945 that would outweigh the evidence that pointed, in all directions, to an overwhelmingly costly amphibious invasion resulting in the loss of up to 250,000 allied troops and perhaps millions of Japanese. Some have suggested that the use of the weapons was also a show of strength for the Russians to see...and some argue that there was bigotry against the Japanese which was so pervasive that no one really cared one way or the other how we defeated them, so long as we won. Those issues are noteworthy, but fail to surmise the basic facts of the issue and they were primarily around Truman's desire to end the war as quickly as possible and minimize losses of allied troops. Regardless of the perhaps hundreds of analysis's and issues the allies dealt with regarding how to end the war with Japan, the main goal had always been to do so quickly and at the least cost to the allies.--MONGO 13:43, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Irish stuff[edit]

Thanks for getting back to me. Those really are interesting articles! It's great to see someone expanding this site with something they find so interesting in turn. - Lucky 6.9 04:22, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Freedom is'nt cheap ... neither is Citizenship[edit]

I, along with many more, cannot see the connection you make, Mongo, in using war as the principal means for obtaining freedom.

Leaving aside the point that freedom is rapidly becoming a vauge badly-defined word, you utterly ignore the ways any society can bring about change within itself without resorting to armed combat. Black civil rights were not gained in the 50's and 60's by warfare; neither were women's rights, nor freedom of thought and expression.

Any given word may have different connetations to several different people. And that's assuming they all speck a mutually intelligible language. Not all of us do; look at all the words you and others here have exchanged without really communicating.

"I see little precedent for any neocolonialism aside from what happened in Japan in 1945 when MacArthur essentially wrote their constitution for them."

This quote of you is utterly dishearting; do you really know so little of the history of your own country's actions in the world???

One advantage of coming from a small nation is that we have a lot of experience dealing with bigger powers, all of whom have used us for their own ends. I hear you speck, and well-meaning as your words are, they are almost the same as those used by the British used when justifying imposing themselves on my nation.

As an American, of course you cannot understand this. Not once in your history has your country being taken over and gang-raped by another. I am of course delighted that such a thing has not happened to the USA; however, I do wish people like you would get more perspective than seeing things from a purely American-centred point of view.

America is not the World, and the World is not America.

Therefore it follows that the concerns of non-Americans are not the same concerns as Americans.

Both have the right to their views.

NEITHER have the right to impose their ways on the other.

You state that you have never travelled outside the USA. Please, for the love of God, do, and soon. And not just to Canada or Mexico; Europe is only a few thousands miles from you and has dozens of countrys and cultures within a small geographical area. We're as good a place as any to start. And we all speck English in addition to our own languages.

You NEVER understand your own country completly until you see it through the eyes of other people. I have being lucky enough to do a reasonable amount of travel in my time, and the old cliche is true - travel does broaden the mind. Listening to you reminds me of what I was like in my late teens, before I began to travel and see just how big the world actually is.

And tell us what it is you do instead of alluding to it mysteriously. Its childish. Either that or simply declare the subject off-limits.

I adore your passion. But please, listen to what people are saying; engage with them, and once in a while take and defend points of view that you are utterly opposed to. LEARN.

Fergananim

Lecture, lecture, lecture. You assume I am unworldly due to my not having been outside the western hemisphere. I remmmber when I was a Park Ranger and this guy from The Netherlands and I struck up this conversation and for some reason it became a heated discussion. He ended up telling me that Americans are afraid of the outside world and I told him that all Americans were afraid of was having to finish a war someone else starts...again. My current occupation is definitely off limits and I am sorry...I can't even create or edit articles remotely related to my vocation. So I try to contribute to the Parks, etc. I am convinced of one thing and that has been stated by me in the past...and that is the vast majority of contibutors to Wiki are liberals due to the nature of the medium. I listen to what they have to say quite well, but I disagree and to feel that this makes me wrong, even though I oftentimes am only a divergent opinion, is condescending on your part. I am well aware of what the outside world thinks of the U.S. and mostly it is a combination of respect, fear, distrust, feeling dominated, and in some circl;es, that the U.S. is crude, unestablished, a spinoff of the real deal. Let me put it this way and this explains in some degree why Kerry lost the election....the west, midwest and the south of the U.S. feel that they are looked down upon by New Englanders and especially that "cradle of American intellectualism: New York"...Americans oftentimes feel as though Europeans especially look down upon us....Kerry had the misfortune to be seen as an eliteist by the MOB...the MOB meaning the greater mass of U.S. citizens. BUt now I have to be the ugly American and this will piss you off. If the U.S. didn't exist, the world would quickly descend into an new dark age. Don't assume I am ignorant just because I have a different viewpoint. Equating a potato famine to the current events in Iraq ia absurd. Furthermore, I suppose Europe would have been better off without the Marshall Plan...I remember a silly movie with Peter Sellers in which he was a leader or such from a small somewhat impoverished country somewhere in Europe and they decided that they should invade the U.S. and then lose becuase their reasoning was that all countries that lose wars to the U.S. get rebuilt and become prosperous...though the movie was a farce, it's premise was based on a concept that is true and that is the U.S. does help to rebuild countries it wages wars with...can you name an example in which this didn't happen? Even Mexico after the war 1845-1846 enjoyed a periood of economic growth after they were defeated (which I freely admit was one of the worst wars the U.S. ever fought and for the worst reasons.)--MONGO 10:37, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I respect Fergananim, his experience, and the knowledge that he has acquired. I don't see anything objectionable or logicaly disputable in what he says, with the exception of "As an American, of course you cannot understand this." As an American, I understand it. I think what he meant was, as an American, we may not have had the experiences of other countries, which yes, are different, by definition, and therefore do have valuable knowledge and experiences that other countries (such as the U.S.) do not have, just as you and me probably have different academic backgrounds, and thus each of us knows some things that the other person doesn't. That's why we communicate. What would be the point of communicating if that wasn't the case? What he said that it may be more difficult for people who have been in quite different situations to understand, and that it therefore may require a greater degree of effort and imagination to really understand. He is asking you to make that effort. I don't see anything objectionable or offensive about that request. Kevin Baas^talk 20:19, 2005 Mar 17 (UTC)

I consider his opinion to matter as well, but also see it as somewhat insulting...to think I will gain, due to his manner in reproachment, invaluable knowledge of my own country by visiting some foreign land is a typical old world looking down on the new world myth. I am also chastised by the rhetoric that I somehow think war is the best means and or only means of solving diplomatic crisises...an all or nothing analysis of my opinions just because I support things like the 2003 liberation of Iraq.--MONGO 20:41, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I had a response here... I don't know what happened to it, if i didn't save it or what. Frustrating! I might find it eventually. The point of it, basically, was: Personally, I would not be the least bit offended if someone said that to me. Up to the "I am also chastised by..." part, that is. There, I sympathize, as noone should like to nor deserves to be viewed in black and white. Kevin Baas^talk 22:09, 2005 Mar 20 (UTC)

Here it is! You censored it with this edit.

Well you come off kind of hawkish to me, as well, FWIW. I understand how you would be offended by that, thou - the fallacy of the excluded middle; to be seen in black and white instead of grey. Regarding the first part of your response, however, I fail to see how gaining knowledge by visiting other countries is neccessarily "old world" -> "new world" or "new world" -> "old world". I would say that it is a rather reasonable and unbiased assertion, like saying that one gains knowledge by reading a book or by talking with someone else. (who, analgously may be thought of as "some foreign land".) I would not be the least bit offended were anyone to suggest that to me. Kevin Baas^talk 21:02, 2005 Mar 17 (UTC)

Possible article?[edit]

Hi Fergananim - could I suggest a possible article that you look just the person to tackle? :) I note that you have done some interesting work on mediaeval Irish history, and was wondering whether you knew enough about the subject to write a small article on The Annals of the Four Masters. It's a subject that I don't know enough about to tackle, but which is dear to my heart - family legend has it that one of my ancestors was involved in the production of the work (my surname is Dignan). Grutness|^hello? 08:36, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Hello again - you wrote: There is an article about the Annals of the Four Masters already, but if you like I can add more detail to it. Certainly what is there suffices but a huge amount of detail can be added.

Ah - my fault for looking it up with the "The" in front! What's there looks like plenty of information for now.

...Or indeed something about the history of the Clan O'Duigenan, their ancestry and descent. As far as I recall they only became ollamhs in the early in the second millenium A.D. (about the 12th/13th century); prior to that they were kings of a region located along the northern border of Hy-Many.

What information I have is that they were ollamhs for the MacDiarmuids. I know that they were centred around Kilronan, north of Lough Key in Roscommon (one of the few Irish articles I've done much about was some additions to the article on Lough Key). Sadly I can only trace my own line with certainty back to Roscommon at the time of the potato famine (although, as I said, there are family legends). I'd be very impressed by any information on them in Wikipedia!

In short, okay, I'll get on it. Glad you like my additions. Shame that theres so few of us working on Irish history prior to 1798. Sadly, I don't know enough Irish history to be of much help, but if I can find a few small bits and pieces to add here and there it will all add to the project! :) Thanks again, Grutness|^hello? 11:23, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Well, for starters you can look up Moylurg, Kings of Moylurg and Kings of Connacht to get some idea of the background of the times and people that they lived in. This link http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlkik/ihm/ire1100.htm and the ones it leads to will give you a geographical idea of where it all was. Your family background might have being Delbhna, but don't quote me on that just yet!

Again family legend suggests even older ancestry in Ireland - Fir Bolg, in fact. But whether there's any truth in that is another matter. Many thanks for the possible leads! Grutness|^hello?

02:19, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Re: Peregrine O'Duignan - I should have realised it was you! Forgot to log in, huh? :) Grutness|^hello?

oops I did it again! Anyway, check out Clan O Duibhgeannain and see if it was worth the wait. Some of the links are espcially interesting, particularly re; the book of ballymote. Quality ancestors you've got there, a mac! Guess good seanchai's don't die, we just get revised ... enjoy!Fergananim

What can I say? Wonderful stuff. If only I could bridge the gap in my genealogy between 1800 in Ballnameen and 150 years earlier and eight miles further north... Grutness|^hello?

10:57, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

You don't really need to bridge the gap, though of course it would be nice to; you have the name, and the history comes with it. Fergananim

Nice way of thinking about it. Thanks for that. Thanks too for Daibhidh_O_Duibhghennain - although you might want to check the dates in the second paragraph! Interesting coincidence, BTW - noting some of Daibhidh's contemporaries on the List of Irish historians - I work part-time for the local newspaper with one Sean Flaherty - his family name (or at least O Flaithbheartaigh) is also nicely represented! Grutness|^hello?

14:06, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)

You're right, it should be AM 2242, not AD. Cheers!

St. Patrick[edit]

Hi there. I noticed your comments on the St. Patrick talk page, as well as in my own page. Can you clarify as to which edits/reverts I did that you disagree with as I can't find them in the edit history? Thanks - Pete C ^(talk) 18:16, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Got your message! No problem at all. The points you've posted made me look a lot further into the whole St. Pat fact vs. myth, which has turned out to be interesting in itself. Thanks again - Pete C ^(talk) 12:06, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

New O Duibhgeannains/Dignams[edit]

Hi Fergananim - you wrote: Saw you added a few more contempory members of the clan; how about writing at least short stubs on them?

Sadly I don't know enough about them. Don't know either whether Campbell Duignan would be big enough to warrant an article. The actors (Basil and Mark Dignam) probably should have articles - Basil anyway - he was a regular in a lot of British movies in the 1960s and 1970s - I might try to write something on him if there's nothing in Wikipedia. Katherine Duignan is already redlinked elsewhere on Wikipedia (Robert_Burns_Fellowship). Wasn't there a 19th century Irish politician involved in the home rule debates called Duignan? Grutness|^hello?

11:56, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Siege of Galway[edit]

Hows it going? I've been working away at the confederate section on the Irish battles page and have got rid of most of the red links, though some of them are just stubs. There's a glaring ommission though, an article about the siege of Galway in 1651-52. I have some info, but probably not enough to write a full article. Since you're the man who knows about Galwegian history, I thought you might know something about it?

What i have in mind for the article is something like the siege of Limerick article, where it has something about the city during the Irish confederate wars and afterr as well as the actual siege.

What I know so far:

Galway had a fort otuside of they city called forthill, garrisoned by English soldiers. The townsmen eventually besieged it and took in in 1643.
Clanricarde tried to keep Galway out of the Confederate war effort becasue he was a Royalist supporter.
The town invested in modern fortifications in the 1640, so was very strongly defended. Afterr 1650 it was garrisoned by Lienster army troops and commanded by Thomas Preston.
Charles Coote came south from Sligo direction afterr his victory at Scarrifholis and blockaded Galway.
Then what?

I know there was plague epidemic and that Preston eventually surrendered on good terms, allowing his men to go France, but thats all I know. A bit skinny for an article about the siege, no? Can you help?? slan Jdorney 23:56, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)

problem with Ireland[edit]

You might be interested in Wikipedia:Categories for deletion/Log/2005 April 30. I am proposing that we rename the category Elections in the Republic of Ireland because the republic was only declared in 1949 and it leaves every election before then in a limbo. Some users want to put everything before then in there anyway, even though the name is wrong. Others suggest creating separate names for every Irish state, so you'd have Elections in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Elections in the Irish Republic (1919-1921), Elections in Southern Ireland (1921-1922) , Elections in the Irish Free State (1922-1937), Elections in Éire (1937-1949) AAAAGH! It would be a tangled mess, with some elections belonging potentially in 3 categories. I fighting a losing battle there to try to make them see sense. (They already decided previously to delete Elections in Ireland!!!) They clearly know very little about Ireland. One individual even is convinced it is a conspiracy in some way to attack Northern Ireland on wikipedia!!! (His evidence, my username is in green and orange! I kid you not!) Some sane Irish contributions from people who know what they are talking about would be a help! FearÉIREANN 22:34, 2 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

James Duane[edit]

The article on James Duane has a link to a portarit at Coumbia University. There is an older copy of a Appleton's Encyclopedia (copyright expired) at [1]. There is also the book listed in wiki's James article under further reading, but it probably won't help in Ireland. I got the info on Anthony from a copy of that book that I found at a half-price books in Ohio. Good luck. Lou I 21:49, 17 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Mathghamhan[edit]

Hi Fergananim, I found that this article (Mathghamhan) was up for deletion on vfd. I've added what little I can find... You're probably the only Wikipedian I know of who might be able to lift this to the point where it's an obvious "keep" vote. Any chance of seeing if you can extend it at all? Grutness...wha? 12:18, 23 May 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Grace O'Malley[edit]

I've heard of Grace O'Malley, but as an Elizabethan-era individual she's somewhat outside my focus time period, plus I have no sources relating to Irish history. Missi

Sieges of Galway[edit]

It looks good - the history is too advanced for me to spot any mistakes (if you like I can go through and check grammar/spelling and the like - although I won't touch the Irish spellings!). I would suggest it needs more illustrations, even if only a map of Ireland showing the location of Galway. Other than that - and of course filling in the sections near the bottom that are currently empty - I do't think it needs much more work done to it. If those things are done, I'd suggest putting the page up for peer review - there are bound to be people here more knowledgeable than I am who would be able to suggest other improvements. Grutness...wha? 01:15, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ó Brían[edit]

Yes, it was I who put in the "nbsp" between the "Ó" and the "Brían".

The reason is that it looks really ugly to separate the "Ó" (or "de" or "fitz" or "mac" or even "von") from the main part of the name, across a line break. ("nbsp" is a "non-breaking space"). I expect that user:Everson can give you the theoretical/typographical basis.

I'm on less solid ground in preferring "Ó" and "Brían" to "O" and "Brian" in an article in English. If you really don't like it, well you wrote the article so it's your call if you want to revert it. --Red King 23:05, 7 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I have reverted my changes - I can't apologise too much. I must have had a brainstorm. I should have used "& nbsp ;" (without the spaces) and I have no idea why I used <nbsp>. Still less, I am baffled as to why I failed to check that it produced the intended effect. --Red King 13:32, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I hope I have repaired the damage I did. I've used the correct form of nbsp and O not Ó. I have, however, left dún rather than dun. --Red King 14:04, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Did you know???[edit]

You can actually edit it yourself at Template:Ireland_portal/Did_you_know, but since Seabhcan has taken personal responsibility for Did you know, I recommend putting it as a suggestion on the Talk page. As there have been no recent suggestions--I'm certain Seabhcan will use yours. ℬastique▼^talk 17:13, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Ireland stubs[edit]

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, I don't come on the English one much and I accidentally skipped over your message(I never though I'd have more than one). Anyway, the best thing to do would be to have a bash at translating the articles yourself. You might want to put 'Féach ar mo chuid gramadaí le do thoil' in the box thing above the 'submit' button. I read some of your articles and, having found them very interesting I probably will translate them in the future. There's alot of basic things still to be done on the ga Wikipedia though, eg. Political Parties, basic history etc. The articles will I'm sure be cleaned up. There's a few people on ga who just go around cleaning articles so I'm sure they'll get to it, the 'Féach ar mo chuid gramadaí le do thoil' would definitely help. I don't mind having a look when I have time either. Thanks for the offer of help. - Dalta 12:33, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)