Talk:Christmas in Ireland/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Xx78900 (talk · contribs) 14:20, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)

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Hi there, Smirkybec (talk · contribs), I'll be reviewing this article for you. I'll have a quicks sconce now and report back with preliminary feedback.Xx78900 (talk) 14:21, 19 April 2023 (UTC)

• Following a week with no response, I have elected to fail this article's nomination.Xx78900 (talk) 09:10, 26 April 2023 (UTC)

  Apologies! I didn't see the initial notification as I have been moving house IRL. I will take another sweep of the article in the future using your feedback and hope that it can be improved :) Smirkybec (talk) 09:24, 26 April 2023 (UTC)

  Not at all - if you want to ping me / drop a line on my talk page I'll happily come back for the next go round and spare you waiting in the GA queue for all eternity - I know that pain all too well! Xx78900 (talk) 09:14, 27 April 2023 (UTC)

===First things of note:===

• I'm not entirely convinced that this article warrants a short description, perhaps {none} would be more appropriate?
• "Lá Nollag" in the infobox translates as "Christmas Day", while "Nollaig" translates as Christmas. Also languages other than English should be sourced as good practice.
• Are portals still widely used in wikipedia? Obviously not a problem for GA review, but I haven't seen one in years.
• Below are initial issues. Honestly, I think they're fairly substantial. I'll put it on hold, and if there's a timely response to the issues outlined below, I will continue reviewing, but I am skeptical of whether or not this article can be brought up to standard in a week.

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a. (prose, spelling, and grammar):

   I have a number of issues with the prose. Is "Christmas spend" an appropriate phrase? Would expenditure fit better?

   • "There was also an early morning Christmas Day mass" when? What century? I also think it's odd that there's a bunch of history under the traditions section, instead of getting its own section.
   • "It is regularly the most watched television programme of the year by Irish audiences, and is broadcast live, meaning anything can and has happened." First of all, 8 citations are unnecessary for this statement. Second of all, what is going on in the latter half of the sentence? "anything can and has happened"?

   Not sure who "they" refers to under the "Christmas Dinner" section.

   b. (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

   I have particular issue with the lead of this article. The third paragraph isn't related to anything in the body, and doesn't cite anything in the lead. This is particularly striking when both translation and IPA are involved, as you would really need a reference for both. I also think that calling it "Little Christmas" in the lead is odd, as (in my experience at least) Women's Little Christmas or Women's Christmas is much more common. Or perhaps I'm wrong? I also think that the lead should mention that Christmas in this context is a season, not a day. The other headings are all fine, though when it comes to layout,

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a. (reference section):

   No problems here.

   b. (citations to reliable sources):

   I am unconvinced that the dailyedge.ie, described as the "gossip and entertainment" site for thejournal.ie group is a reliable source, though I am open to being convinced otherwise. I hold similar reservations about IrelandsHiddenGems.com and guide-to-nireland.com.

   Also, reference 33 is tagged as a permanent deadlink, and I have now verified that none of the archived copies on archive.org lead anywhere.

   c. (OR):

   No problems here

   d. (copyvio and plagiarism):

   I haven't done spotchecks yet. Once I see some of the other issues start to be correct, I will gladly return and have look at that too.

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a. (major aspects):

   Giving this a low pass. I think some areas could do with expansion, but it does generally touch its bases. As a Cork man though, the exclusion of Spiced Beef from dinner traditions is an unforgivable oversight ;-)

   b. (focused):

   Just how relevant are "Fanning's Fab 50 Christmas Trance Tunes" to this article?

   The main problem for me here is the inclusion of the sections "Holiday period" and "After Christmas Day". Why aren't these together? Also, there's almost no mention of the Advent period (or a cheeky advent calendar mind you)

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

   No clear problems here.

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a. (images are tagged and non-free content have non-free use rationales):

   b. (appropriate use with suitable captions):

   None of the photos have alt captions. The captions that are there could, I think, benefit from some wikilinks. The first photo, of the Dublin lights, should mention A) the street they're on and B) a transliteration of "Nollaig Shona Duit", with a translation provided. Aside from the captions (and this certainly wouldn't keep it from attaining GA status), I wonder about the photo of the crib. It's not particularly high quality, and I think it's odd that the article mentions that churches would have large scale versions but then the photo given is credited to a church and is not a large scale version. I suspect there are better choices out there?

7. Overall:

   Pass/fail:

(Criteria marked are unassessed)