[léigh an leagan Gaeilge anseo | read the Irish language version here]
A chairde,
According to Irish folklore, when March borrowed three days from April, the aim was to humble the boastful old brindled cow – the one bragging that she had survived the long winter. The cow died, and March won.
We’re doing something a little different today: taking those three days back, not to fell any cattle, but to give our March newsletter the space it deserves. Here it is, in the early days of April, looking back on a remarkably active month.
Read more about this folklore on Wikipedia and read more below about our adventures since the last newsletter.
Since Our Last Newsletter: CESIcon, Limerick (28 February)
Before March had even begun, Laura, Eugene and Shannon were already on the road. They attended CESIcon at Coláiste Colmcille in Limerick, an educational technology conference hosted at Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh. The conversation centred on AI literacy in schools, and our team were in the thick of it. Read the full write-up here, including the workshop run by our team.
Collaborations
5 March | Art + Feminism, The Hunt Museum, Limerick
We visited The Hunt Museum with Ardscoil Mhuire in Limerick for a social media day as part of our ongoing Art + Feminism collaboration, with a photographer on site capturing student experiences and the project outputs they’d been working on.
7 March | DRI Reproductive Justice Hackathon
On the same day as our Cork workshop, Eugene led a Wikipedia training session as part of the Reproductive Justice Hackathon organised by the Digital Repository of Ireland. A great example of open knowledge practice meeting social justice advocacy.
10 March | Waterford’s Global Women’s Conference
Amy was invited to speak about our work on the Gender Gap and information literacy at the 7th annual Global Women’s Conference in Waterford, hosted at the Theatre Royal by Europe Direct, Waterford Integration Services, Waterford Libraries and supported by and highlighting countless organisations from Waterford and beyond.
Seachtain na Gaeilge
March is always a busy month for Irish language activity, and 2026 was no exception. Seachtain na Gaeilge ran through to St Patrick’s Day, and WCI was active throughout.
7 March | Bí an tEolas Workshop, Cork
Our Bí an tEolas workshop brought together Wikipedia editors in Cork to explore and contribute to Vicipéid. Attendance was modest, but the conversations were open, enthusiastic and genuinely useful, exactly the kind of engaged, group discussion that plants seeds for longer-term participation. We had a selection of Women’s history books in English and Irish, and kicked off our Céiliúradh na mBan monthly Meitheal with a lovely afternoon. Shout out to User: Antiqueight for coming along!
12 March | FÍS2026, Dublin
We had a stall at FÍS2026, Conradh na Gaeilge’s convention for students and educators through Irish. A huge event with hundreds of stalls spanning employment, language technology, culture and community. The energy in the room was something else, and it was wonderful to be part of it. A huge thank you to Vicipéideoir Éamonn for coming along and giving us a hand at the stand.
12 March | Tráth na gCeist, Nancy Hands, Dublin
That same evening, a nice crowd gathered at Nancy Hands for a bilingual quiz night, expertly hosted by Cúán de Búrca. A night full of warmth, laughter, and no small amount of Wikipedia trivia.
Ceiliúradh na mBan
Running alongside Seachtain na Gaeilge and Women’s History Month, our Ceiliúradh na mBan initiative brought a focus on Irish-language women’s history to Vicipéid throughout March. Contributors were invited to create and improve articles about women in Irish history and culture, with the project page on Vicipéid serving as the central hub.
Open Knowledge
1 March | Open Heritage Coalition, Internet Archive HQ, Amsterdam
Amy began March in Amsterdam, attending an Open Heritage Coalition event at the headquarters of the Internet Archive. Representatives from Wikimedia Netherlands and open access organisations from across Europe were in the room. A wonderful opportunity to connect our work to the broader international open knowledge landscape, and a reminder of how much we have in common with colleagues working in open heritage and open access around the world.
11 March | ENGAGED Project Launch, Trinity College Dublin
We attended the official launch of the ENGAGED project, a collaboration between Trinity College Dublin and DCU building a roadmap for open research in Ireland. A project whose values align closely with our own, and one we’ll be watching with great interest.
Education
March was also a busy month for guest lectures, with Amy visiting three third-level institutions.
12 March | DCU, MA in Translation Studies
Amy visited DCU to deliver a guest lecture to students on the MA in Translation Studies, a collaboration that connects naturally to translations and languages on Wiki projects.
18 March | SETU, First Year Irish
A guest lecture for a first-year Irish class at SETU, a lovely opportunity to speak directly with a new generation of Irish speakers about open knowledge, Vicipéid, and what digital participation can look like.
19 March | University of Galway, MA in Media for Social Change
The following day, Amy was at the University of Galway for the MA in Media for Social Change, a programme whose focus on media, advocacy and community sits very close to our own work on open knowledge and representation in digital spaces.
International Collaboration
22–27 March | University of Bari, Italy
One of the highlights of the month, and perhaps of the year so far. Amy travelled to the University of Bari in Italy for a week of collaboration with Wikimedia Italia and the UniBA academic team. The visit included guest lectures and workshops on Wikimedia projects and minority languages on Wikipedia, as well as a rich cultural exchange that stretched well beyond the lecture hall, including Irish traditional music and a shared love of the kind of knowledge that doesn’t always make it into the mainstream.
Community Meeting
31 March | Community Meeting
We closed the month together. Our end-of-month community meeting brought members together to reflect on everything March had held and to look ahead at the development of Vicipéid and our plans for the months ahead.
Upcoming Events
- 7 April / Wiki Loves Folklore deadline — submit your photos!
- 28 April, 6pm online / Community Meeting — join us!
What a month. All of this achieved by a small core team, engaged volunteers, a dedicated community, and wonderful partners across Ireland and Europe. Thank you for your support, your participation, and your time.
Le meas,
The WCI Team 💚
