Wikipedia:Cleanup Taskforce/Chiefs of the Name
The subject is a legitimate historical topic; Irish Chiefs. It is a subject with perhaps 800 years worth of history. However, Mr. Sean Murphy wrote a book on a recent fraudulent chief, and due to his work on the Wikipedia page, the entire subject is now based on his book and the controversy he claims to have started.
Suggest that Murphy's links and unbiased opinions are deleted and more level discussion on this interesting subject takes its place. Murphy wrote a book on the subject and his quotes dominate. Wikipedia should not be a medium for authors to self-promote their books.
Check out the "talk" portion on the disputed page, it is full of complaints.
Murphy replies: The subject of Irish Chiefs at this stage is inextricably linked with controversy, not least because of the number of bogus and questionable claimants to these titles. If there is self-promotion involved, it lies in the abuse of the Wikipedia article to validate spurious claims by adding names to the lists of chiefs. On a point of accuracy, my book Twilight of the Chiefs deals not only with the MacCarthy Mór hoax, but with Irish chiefs in general, as is evidenced by the list of contents: 1 The Case of Tanistry/ 2 An Empty Dish/ 3 The Office of the Chief Herald/ 4 The Mac Carthy Mór/ 5 Cashel of the Kings/ 6 The Italian Verdicts/ 7 The Cyber-Kingdom of Desmond/ 8 Exposure/ 9 More Questionable Chiefs 10 Freedom of Information/ 11 Epilogue/ Appendix 1 Succession to the Title of Mac Carthy Mór/ Appendix 2 A Register of Irish Chiefs/ Appendix 3 Irish Heraldic Officials/ Appendix 4 Glossary/ Sources.
It would be ironic indeed if references to my scholarly publication were to be deleted, and the field left clear for fantasists. A link to my supplementary website has already been removed, so the next step will for me be a test of Wikipedia's commitment to scholarship and truth. - Sean Murphy, 15 May 2006.