In Irish tradition, May, or Bealtaine, signifies the return of the light after winter. At Wikimedia Community Ireland, we are definitely feeling revitalised and energised with the sunny weather and the grand stretch! This month, we bring you a snapshot of some of the activities we have been up to this spring, along with important news and an exciting open call for anyone interested in digital activism as Gaeilge.
Last week was National Volunteering Week in Ireland, so to mark the occasion, we have a guest blog post from a visiting Wikimedian in residence and we must say a huge thank you to our community of volunteers and editors who tirelessly work to increase knowledge about Irish hertiage in all forms and content in the Irish language. THANK YOU!
On top of that, in this month’s newsletter, you will find a new podcast, a collab with Ulster Wildlife, the Wiki Loves Folklore 2025 winners and more! Don’t forget to join our community meeting too! More info below. Let’s jump into it!
Annual fire festival on the historical centre of the island of Ireland: the Hill of Uisneach, County WestMeath.
LookLookNoHands, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Calling all Irish Wikimedians! Community Meeting tomorrow (May 27th) at 6pm
We are delighted to invite new and existing community members, or anyone interested in getting involved in our work, to join us for our online Community meeting tomorrow Tuesday, May 27th at 6 pm.
This is a time for us to share any news and updates, and for us to discuss all things Wikimedia as a community, bring your ideas, challenges and feedback. We will also be voting on our Strategy Paper, which will guide our work in the coming years. You can read the draft strategy ahead of the meeting on Wikimedia Commons here. Have your say, it’s not to be missed!
Find meeting link to join here.
Wiki Loves Folklore 2025 Winners Announced!
We’re thrilled to bring you the national winners of Wiki Loves Folklore Ireland 2025! This year, we had 254 entries overall, which meant our wonderful judges had their work cut out for them.
You can check out the winners here.
The judges were thoroughly impressed by the creativity and vibrance displayed in each photograph, and every entry is a step closer toward the preservation of Irish intangible heritage, past and present, for generations to come. Thank you very much to everyone who entered!
I would like to extend a huge thank you to our fabulous panel of judges: Fáin of Hog and Dice Productions, Rita O’Loughlin, founder of My Brat Bhríde, and last but certainly not least, Tura Artura. You can find out more about them here.
Wiki Loves Earth Ireland Partner with Ulster Wildlife
We are delighted to be partnering with Ulster Wildlife for Wiki Loves Earth 2025.
Ulster Wildlife aims to protect and restore nature on land and at sea. They strive to play their part in ending the climate and ecological emergencies, and advocate for a society where nature is valued and is part of our daily lives.
By working in partnership with local people, community groups, landowners, farmers and businesses they aim to ensure that at least 30% of land and seas are protected, connect and managed for nature by 2030. Read more about the collaboration here.
The Wiki Loves Earth international photo contest invites you to capture the stunning natural beauty of protected areas across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Whether you’re a seasoned photographer or just love snapping nature on your walks, you can get involved! The contest will run until July 31st 2025 with lots of prizes to be won. Find out more here.
Celebrating Africa Day in Waterford with Wikimedia: Guest Talk by Khadija Iddrisu
Wikimedia Community Ireland was proud to partner with the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group as part of the Africa Day celebrations that took place in Waterford City on Saturday, 25th May 2025.
We were delighted to welcome Khadija Iddrisu as our guest speaker for the day. Khadija is a PhD student at Dublin City University, funded by the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics. She also serves as IT Lead for the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group in Ghana and is a co-lead of the Accra chapter of Women in Machine Learning and Data Science (WiMLDS). Her work focuses on digitalisation, open knowledge, and promoting female participation in STEM.
Her talk, titled “Revitalising Indigenous Languages in Ghana on Wikimedia – A case study from the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group,” explored how community-led initiatives used Wikipedia and its sister projects to preserve and promote indigenous languages such as Dagbani and other Gur/Mabia languages. Through strategies like content development, community engagement, and capacity building, the Dagbani Wikimedians created sustainable digital spaces for linguistic and cultural heritage.
Khadija Iddrisu, presenting for Africa Day 2025 in Waterford
New Podcast: Digital Activism and the Igbo Language with Lucy Iwuala of the Igbo Wikimedians User Group (Nigeria)
On the latest episode of the Wikimedia Community Ireland Podcast, we spoke to language activist Lucy Chinyeaka Iwuala about protecting and revitalising the Igbo language. In this new podcast episode, Lucy explains how the online space is a global village and presents a vital opportunity for minority language advocacy and digital preservation. She also provides insight into how the language contains cultural identities, history and is dynamic and ever-changing.
The Igbo Wikimedians User Group is one of our collaborators for the Rising Voices Digital Activism for Minority Languages project we are involved in. This project explores the question: how can we protect, promote, and sustain our minority language in the digital age.
OPEN CALL: Gníomhaíocht Dhigiteach & an Ghaeilge / Digital Activism & the Irish Language: Ar mhaith leat páirt a ghlacadh? Líon isteach an suirbhé seo!
Rising Voices is a Global Voices outreach project that supports underrepresented communities who want to tell their own stories using digital media. By offering training, resources, microgrants, and mentoring, the initiative helps these communities, especially those speaking endangered or indigenous languages, join the global conversation and share their perspectives online.
Wikimedia Community Ireland recently joined their campaign that brings together a diverse group of Wikimedia Affiliate Groups to co-organise local workshops focused on digital activism for Indigenous, minoritised, or low-resource languages.
These workshops will incorporate elements of the Rising Voices – UNESCO toolkit project “Digital Initiatives for Indigenous Languages,” which has been adapted to a number of virtual and in-person workshops over the past several years. The workshops will bring together people working with Irish in digital contexts – content creators, journalists, educators, artists, language technology workers, community organisers, and more.
This survey is the first step in getting involved – we’re gathering ideas and interest from potential participants to co-design the event with us.
The workshops will include lightning talks, group discussion/brainstorming and skill sharing. We also hope to invite some relevant guest speakers or experts to the workshop. If you are interested in attending or contributing to this workshop, please fill out this form to register your interest and help us to shape the programme.
Register your interest here.
National Volunteering Week 2025: From Tokyo to Trinity College Dublin as a Wikimedian in Residence
This National Volunteering Week, we are celebrating all of the volunteers who contribute to Wikimedia Projects, enhance information about Irish heritage and culture and help increase content available as Gaeilge online. Thank you!
When more people can access and contribute to free knowledge, the better that knowledge reflects the world. We are committed to helping grow and sustain a healthy community.
To celebrate Sae Kitamura, who was a Wikimedian in residence at Trinity College Dublin this past year, shares her experience as a volunteer Wikimedian during her time here in Ireland.
She talks about the highs and lows of volunteering, travelling to Wikimedia conferences and organising her first edit-a-thon for Art + Feminism with WCI support. You can read all about it now and find links to some of her other publications here.
Nuacht ón Oifigeach Gaeilge
A chairde,
Tá sé i gceist againn tús a chur le samhradh lán le gníomhaíochtaí pobail agus ar líne – agus tá cuireadh oscailte againn daoibh bheith páirteach!
Le tacaíocht ón tionscadal idirnáisiúnta Glóir Aníos (Rising Voices), táimid ag forbairt dhá cheardlann faoi ghníomhaíocht dhigiteach agus an Ghaeilge. Beidh an chéad cheann ar siúl ar líne i rith mhí an Mheithimh, le spás do phlé, smaointe agus comhoibriú idir daoine atá ag úsáid na Gaeilge ar líne. Idir chruthaitheoirí ábhair, oideachasóirí, iriseoirí, gníomhaithe pobail agus go leor eile. Is cuma má tá tú nua don ábhar – tá fáilte roimh chách!
Táimid ag bailiú smaointe don cheardlann seo anois tríd an suirbhé seo – más maith leat páirt a ghlacadh, scéal a roinnt nó fiú smaoineamh a chur chun cinn, bí i dteagmháil linn!
Ag an am céanna, tá Wiki Loves Pride 2025 (Is Breá le Vicí Bród) ag tosú go luath, agus táimid ag lorg grianghraif, ailt, agus ábhar cruthaitheach eile a chuireann stair, cultúr agus eispéiris LADTA+ in Éirinn chun cinn. Tá fáilte roimh gach rannpháirtí – is cuma cén taithí atá agat! Beidh roinnt imeachtaí ag teacht i rith an tsamhraidh, agus má tá aon samoite agat nó fonn imeacht a eagrú i do cheantar féin téigh i dteagmháíl liom!
Agus ar ndóigh, má tá suim agat sna forbairtí is déanaí nó más mian leat do thuairim a chur in iúl faoi straitéis nua (dréacht anseo) Pobal Éireann Wikimedia, ná caill an cruinniú pobail ar líne ar siúl Dé Máirt, 27ú Bealtaine ag 18:00. Pléifear ann an dréacht-straitéis 2025–2028, smaointe nua, agus do chuid aiseolais féin. Mura féidir leat freastal, is féidir rphost a chur chugam le do mholtaí: oifigeach.gaeilge@wikimedia.ie.
Tá do ghuth tábhachtach – bí páirteach!
🔗 RSVP here
Don’t forget to RSVP to attend our meeting on Tuesday May 27th at 6pm. Interested in getting involved with Wikipedia editing or digital activism, but not sure where to start? Drop us an email if you would like to get involved!
