This month’s newsletter, dear readers, feels very bittersweet, as it will be my last time writing it. I (Sophie Fitzpatrick), will be stepping down from my role as Projects and Communications Manager. I will be finishing up mid-December, so my inbox is open if anyone would like to tie up any loose ends. After that, I will leave you in the capable hands of the Wikimedia Community Ireland team.
However, it is also a time of exciting change. As you may already know, we are in the process of hiring a new Irish Language Officer, with our current ILO, Amy, transitioning into the role of Community Manager.
For the last two and a half years, it has been a huge privilege to work with such a dedicated community both here in Ireland and across the globe. My role at Wikimedia Community Ireland opened my eyes to just how powerful crowdsourced knowledge and digital communities can be.
Since joining the team, I have witnessed Wikimedia Community Ireland go through huge growth and thoroughly enjoyed continuing to build up our reputation here in Ireland and in Europe as a leader in digital heritage and education.
To this wonderful community, thank you for all that you do to continue to highlight Irish heritage and, particularly, our linguistic heritage in the digital realm. Community is at the heart of everything we do, and this group is living proof that it works!
Now let’s wipe away those (happy) tears and get into the November Newsletter. This month, we bring you opportunities to win prizes with Wiki Science, a translation marathon, updates on our collaboration with The Hunt Museum and secondary students, and the fabulous winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2025! It’s been a whirlwind month, so let’s get into it.
Deadline Extended! There’s still time to enter Wiki Science Ireland 2025!
Are you passionate about a science project you are involved with? Do you work in a lab and want to highlight your colleague’s significant work? Did you manage to spot the Northern Lights last winter? Wiki Science is calling you!
Wiki Science, the international photography competition, returns for 2025! Wikimedia Community Ireland is calling upon amateur, professional, and aspiring photographers with a love of science to take photos and upload them to Wikimedia Commons. Photos of scientists, research subjects, and the research process are welcome.
The contest deadline has been extended and will remain open until December 15th, 2025, with lots of prizes to be won!
Upload here!
Wikimedia Community Ireland has signed the Open Heritage Statement
Launched by Creative Commons and the TAROCH Coalition, the Open Heritage Statement is a global call to action developed by more than 60 organisations across 25 countries in the TAROCH Coalition, convened by Creative Commons. It sets out shared values, key challenges, and priorities to close the global gap in equitable access to cultural heritage and to guide future international policy.
It brings together organisations from around the world calling to remove barriers to access to heritage in the digital environment. It champions heritage as a shared resource — accessible, discoverable, and reusable for the benefit of humanity.
The Open Heritage Statement aligns closely with the values of Wikimedia Community Ireland by championing the free and open sharing of knowledge. We value accessibility, collaboration, and community empowerment in preserving and promoting cultural heritage. By advocating for open licences, transparency, and equitable access to historical and cultural resources, the Open Heritage Statement reflects Wikimedia’s mission to ensure that Ireland’s diverse heritage, linguistic, historical, artistic, and beyond, is freely available to all.
Collboration with Hunt Museum and Ardscoil Mhuire
We are delighted to continue our collaboration with the Hunt Museum and Ardscoil Mhuire for Art+Feminism. This month, the students, led by their teacher Sarah Bolger, recently enjoyed their first museum visit, where they explored a range of artefacts and were introduced to viewing art through a gender lens. They have begun researching and drafting articles on works such as Three Cartoons by Evie Hone, Elizabeth Sheridan as St. Cecilia by Lady Diana Jane Perry, and on Gertrude Hunt, co-founder of the museum.
After Christmas, the students will learn how to use and cite sources and will receive Wikipedia training before contributing their work to the online encyclopedia. They will also create original artworks inspired by their understanding of the gender gap and the pieces they encountered at the Hunt Museum. These will be digitally showcased for International Women’s Day 2026. Find out more about the collaboration here.
Wiki Loves Monuments 2025 Winners Announced
Wiki Loves Monuments is the world’s largest cultural heritage photography competition that aims to celebrate and document built heritage from all over the world.Thousands of photographers, heritage enthusiasts, and Wikimedia contributors unite to document and celebrate worldwide monuments, making the knowledge on our cultural heritage available for free on Wikimedia Commons.
This year, Ireland was one of 57 countries participating. You can check out all the participating countries and images here. This year, we had almost 1,000 entries, so the judges really had their work cut out for them!The competition at the national level awards the top entries as selected by our esteemed panel of judges, and the best photos move on to the international contest, where winners will be awarded for their creativity and contribution to open knowledge.
Take a look at the winners here.
The 3rd Place Winner of Wiki Loves Monuments 2025 in Ireland
PLURILINGMEDIA General Conference 2025 in Warsaw
Our Irish Language Officer, Amy, will be travelling to Warsaw to attend the very firs PLURILINGMEDIA General Conference on the 4th of December at the Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences. PLURILINGMEDIA is a COST Action, an EU-funded network of researchers from across Europe who aim to promote collaboration in research on media in minority and regional languages.
Amy will be participating in a panel discussion on media and Language vitality, where she will make a presentation on Vicipéid as a Hybrid Breathing Space for the Irish Language.
Find out more here.
Join the Language Diversity Hub’s Translation Marathon: Many Tongues, One Movement, Voices Across Languages
If you enjoy contributing to Wikimedia projects through translating and adapting content into different languages, this event is for you!
The Language Diversity Hub and the Capacity Exchange (CapX) are hosting their first Translation Marathon dedicated to ensuring linguistic equity in access to this amazing tool aimed at connecting Wikimedians.
Join us in the celebration of the multilingual spirit of the Wikimedia Movement at an event where communities that contribute in diverse languages will be able to share local knowledge and collaborate across borders.
Many Tongues, One Movement: Voices Across Languages
- Date: December 6, 2025
- Time: 12 PM (UTC) – Check the event page for your local timezone
- Location: Online (Meta-Wiki + live session links)
Click here to find out more and register
Maksym Kozlenko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nuacht ón Oifigeach Gaeilge
Bhí mé gnóthach le cúpla seachtain anuas, mar is gnáth! Bhí Oireachtas na Samhna ar fheabhas – bhí sé iontach bualadh le daoine agus comhrá a bheith againn faoi Vicipéid. Léigh an tuairisc iomlán anseo.
Tá athruithe móra ag teacht don fhoireann – beidh mé ag aistriú go dtí ról nua mar Bhainisteoir Pobail san Athbhliain (féach an post seo ó Sophie). Táimid fós ag déanamh agallaimh don phost chun ár nOifigeach Gaeilge nua a aimsiú, agus bhí caighdeán an-ard ag na hiarrthóirí go léir.
Táim ag obair ar roinnt tionscadail faoi láthair:
- Táim ag cur an t-aiseolas ón suirbhé pobail le chéile chun straitéis Vicipéide a fhorbairt – tá súil agam go mbeidh an tuairisc réidh roimh an Nollaig.
- Táim ag ullmhú tuairisc achomair 2025 do Vicipéid a thaispeánfaidh an obair iontach atá déanta ag an bpobal i mbliana. Má tá moltaí agat d’ailt fheabhsaithe nó ailt nua a léiríonn mórfheachtais 2025, cuir scéala chugam le do thoil!
An tseachtain seo chugainn, beidh mé ag freastal ar an gcéad comhdháil PLURILINGMEDIA i Vársá, áit a mbeidh mé ag cur i láthair mar chuid de phainéal leis an Dr Maggie Glass (a bhí mar chainteoir cinn againn ag Celtic Knot 2024) agus leis an Dr Inge Birnie, an Dr Guillem Belmar Viernes, agus an Dr Sebastian Müller. Beidh an painéal ag plé le Pobail Fhíorúla mar ‘Spásanna Análaithe’ (nó ‘Breathing Spaces’, i mBéarla). Inseoidh mé daoibh conas a éiríonn liom nuair a fhillim ar ais!
Táim ag leanúint ar aghaidh le hobair forbartha comhpháirtíochta freisin – beidh tuilleadh nuachta againn faoi seo go luath!
Amy, Éinín (sonóg Pobal Éireann Wikimedia) agus Éamonn at an seastán ag Aonach an Oireachtais
Next Community Meeting: January 27th (No meeting for December)
As usual we will be taking a short break from our community meetings over the festive season and will return in the new year. 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 on Tuesday, January 27th, at 6 pm.
