User:Matt Lewis/Nationality within the British Isles (including the United Kingdom and Ireland)

Nationality within the British Isles (including the United Kingdom and Ireland)

This essay covers the "opening paragraph" nationality for people from the archipelago of the British Isles (which includes the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland).

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

The United Kingdom
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"):


 * England
 * Northern Ireland
 * Scotland
 * Wales

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
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
The British Isles 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
The British Isles 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:

(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
Various "unifications" have happened throughout the history of the British Isles. 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.

Present-day examples of use
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:

No variation is particular to any one nationality.

Guide to finding an appropriate nationality
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: 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
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:


 * 1) Consider why the existing nationality was chosen.
 * 2) Examine the article for details that support the existing label.
 * 3) Look for existing consensus on the discussion page, and in any archives that may be present.
 * 4) 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
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"!
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?
If you are still uncertain how your biography nationality is best labelled, you may wish to follow this course of action:


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

UK terminology
Various terms have been used to describe the different countries of the United Kingdom. This fact is illustrated by the following two tables of reliable sources, which presents a maximum of 36 references per country or example of use.

"Countries of the United Kingdom"
The following table presents 36 reliable sources that use the term "Countries of the United Kingdom".

Other terms in use
The following table presents reliable sources for the terms most commonly-used to describe the countries of the United Kingdom. The references are listed per country, and in some instances are used more than once, when more than one country is referred to in the source. To avoid duplication, individual examples have been found wherever possible. Each term is restricted to 36 examples per use. Some of the table is still under completion.

Legal terminology
There is no term in UK law for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as a group of individual parts. Terminology has evolved out of usage and preference. The countries of the United Kingdom were legally united by a series of statutes; the Acts of Union. The distinct continuance of the former states was not contemplated in these statutes; each one was a complete incorporating union. Nevertheless for various purposes they do refer to the areas of the former states. These are listed below:

Terminology in the Acts of Union

 * The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 annexed the legal system of Wales to England to create the single entity commonly known today as England and Wales. Wales was described as the "Country, Principality and Dominion", "Dominion of Wales" or the "Dominion, Principality and Country" or "Dominion and Principality" of Wales . Outside of Wales, England was not given a specific name or term.
 * The Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a "Part of the united Kingdom"
 * The Acts of Union 1800 use "Part" in the same way. They also use "Country" to describe Great Britain and Ireland respectively, when describing trade between them
 * The Government of Ireland Act 1920 does not use any term or description to classify Northern Ireland nor indeed Great Britain.

WikiProjects and notice boards

 * UK Wikipedians' notice board
 * WikiProject England
 * WikiProject Northern Ireland
 * Scottish Wikipedians' notice board
 * WikiProject Wales

Discussions

 * The archived discussion of late 2007 - British, or English, Scottish, Welsh, (Northern) Irish?
 * The current discussion on this essay - Discussion on draft essay "Wikipedia:Nationality of people from the United Kingdom".