Talk:List of islands of the British Isles

message: You would think that a list of islands of the British Isles would be a done and dusted topic by now, but there are a number of outstanding problems with this entry. There are over 6000 islands in the British Isles, but the article lists only in the region of 50, and there are in the region of 150 inhabited islands - a lot more than 50. So already by any criteria the article falls far short.
And then the preamble to the list includes this rather confusing general list:
"There are 187 permanently inhabited islands in total:
    Isle of Man: 2
    Republic of Ireland: 62 and part of Ireland
    United Kingdom: 123 and part of Ireland
        England: 19 and part of Great Britain
        Northern Ireland: 1 and part of Ireland
        Scotland: 97 and part of Great Britain (as of the 2001 census, 4 had only a sole permanent occupant, and further 20 had a permanent population of fewer than 10)
        Wales: 6 and part of Great Britain"
I do not know what the numbers following the colons, and the prepositional clauses following these, relate to. The Isle of Man is one island. The islands near to it number more than two. The Republic of Ireland is a nation-state situated on the island of Ireland, and is not an island. What is the 62? The islands that are part of England are not part of Great Britain, which is an island. Northern Ireland can't add one to the total of inhabited islands, since it is part of an island that I suppose has already been counted when we mentioned the Republic of Ireland. 
I suppose we need to ask: can Wikipedia accommodate a list of all the islands of the Isles when there are so many? I would love it to, but I've noticed a dislike among some editors of long lists. If not, we should give up on the idea and delete the article, leaving this knowledge to other parts to the internet to provide, and instead work on a good, clear list of inhabited and partially inhabited islands in the British Isles. Meerta (talk) 00:56, 28 June 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Portsmouth is an island…. Pretty big one at that 2A02:C7E:363D:9C00:3C50:AFC8:E8B5:1E8 (talk) 14:47, 13 August 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Surprisingly poor article? 

message: The latest entries to this discussion are more than 6 months old.  
Is there a consensus?
Should the "Factual Dispute" flag be removed?
Btw: the style book I (seldom) use suggests "republic of Ireland", small "r", to designate the country (26 counties) and avoid confusinon with the island, or the historical country (both 32 counties).
Stephenlegh (talk) 16:27, 27 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Consensus? 

message: Bring your disputes here, gentlefolk. GoodDay (talk) 23:35, 20 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Indeed. That is what I have suggested. But some folk seem to prefer edit-warring. Sarah777 (talk) 23:58, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

text: He didn't (so far as I know) remove anything from here. I spotted that Ireland (Republic) was included in a table in a manner that suggested it was an entity akin to parts of the UK and pointed out it was fundamentally different being a sovereign state. This seems to be either (1) beyond the grasp of or (2) unpalatable to some editors - especially some Anon. Of course it should be "bolded"; you don't lump counties and countries together in a list. Sarah777 (talk) 00:23, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: A quick look at the history shows he has.  Of course the listing should be Ireland; but Scotland, England and Wales aren't counties.  There is no need to bold Ireland's entry; or to make personal attacks, for that matter. BastunBaStun not BaTsun 00:41, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Bastun, I merely reverted to Sarah777's earlier version and made the point in the edit history about the correct and legal term of the country.  And I left an explanatory (and very civil) comment on the editor's Talk page. I did not remove anything.  I did not bold anything.  I did not add or delete anything.  Just a revert.  Bardcom (talk) 09:53, 21 April 2008 (UTC)

text: Eh...come again? Personal attack? Where...exactly? "Mixing counties and countries" is an analogy - a rather apt one at that. And I note you have joined the edit-warring tag-team. That isn't a personal attack btw; a simple observation of fact. Sarah777 (talk) 00:49, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: "This seems to be either (1) beyond the grasp of or (2) unpalatable to some editors..." is ad hominem.  On the actual issue, your new version is okay, as in I can live with it - but really, in my opinion, all this emphasis on "Ooh, look, we're soverign, we are!" just reads to me like Ireland has a point to prove - I thought we'd well outgrown the inferiority complexes of the past? :P BastunBaStun not BaTsun 09:32, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Re the "inferiority complex" -I never was a great fan of psychobabble. If British editors were not trying to "prove a point" by calling Ireland a "British" isle then the table (before I fixed it) might not look so bad. An uninformed reader (apparently the vast majority of Wiki-readers) could be under the impression that Ireland was part of the UK combining the misleading article title with the undifferentiated layout. Sarah777 (talk) 19:42, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Revert battles

message: I've put a three day protection on this article. Please use the time to resolve disputes here amicably, it's such an obscure article and really shouldn't be producing so much heat.  Deacon of Pndapetzim (Talk) 16:02, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Agree. I simply can't understand why a minor edit to clarify a point should generate so much opposition! When that happens I always suspect an agenda. Oh and btw - you have, of course, protected the wrong version. How do ye Admins manage to do that all the time?  Sarah777 (talk) 19:44, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Protection notice 

message: I see "List by Pop" has been merged with "List" - I think. I guess one less article with "British Isles" in the title is a victory for progress. Sarah777 (talk) 15:56, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: well, since the advent of "wikitable sortable", it has become pointless to keep separate lists "sorted by $ITEM". You can just click on the column header to sort by anything you like. dab (𒁳) 15:27, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Merged?????

message: It is of course particularly important in this article to distinguish between the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland.  As the Manual of Style states, "A large number of Republic of Ireland towns and villages (and other types of articles too) state that they are in Ireland, not Republic of Ireland in the opening paragraph. This is misleading as it creates the impression that the island of Ireland is one state."  While it goes on to mention a possible compromise of piping the link in articles on towns and villages in the Republic, it's not appropriate here as it is downright confusing. Warofdreams talk 09:34, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: You can change it back to appearing as Republic of Ireland if you want. I must admit, it does look confusing (think of how it would look to a person non-familiar with Ireland). GoodDay (talk) 20:56, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Country and island

message: Why are the channel islands discussed in this article as being part of the British Isles (being the geographical area, not the historical geo-political area).  I propose to remove these references.  --Bardcom (talk) 20:50, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Bardcom; you need to read the back issues! There was a major kerfuffle about this exact point 6 months ago and what you might call the 'consensus' decided the CIs were part of the BIs. The same consensus that disallows any name for the islands we live on except "British". (That was my point on the difference between GB&I and what Wiki calls the "British Isles"). Alas, that race is run for now. Sarah777 (talk) 20:56, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi Sarah, if you get a chance, can you point me to the previous debate please?  Was it on this article or a different article?  I don't see any archive pages for this article... --Bardcom (talk) 21:16, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: No - not here. It was on the British Isles article talkpage. In the archives by now - I'd guess about last January. The question was were the CIs part of the BIs or not? The reasons given for inclusion were a bit iffy IMHO but the big numbers won the day. But it did establish that BI wasn't purely a geographical term. Sarah777 (talk) 21:54, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks Sarah. Found them in Archive 12 of the British Isles Talk page  here.  I can't see a consensus to include them given that a consensus has formed that the term is a geographic term.  I see lots to suggest that they are included when referring to culture or history, but this is a old-fashioned use of the term. If, on the other hand, the term "British Isles" is not a geographical term, but a political term, then let's acknowledge it up front.  If there's an elephant in the room, let's just point it out. --Bardcom (talk) 23:44, 25 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Channel Islands]] 

message: The list and the article Geography of Ireland states that the area of Ireland is 84412 sq.km., and elsewhere Wikipedia says the area of Republic of Ireland is 70273 sq. km and of the Northern Ireland 14 139 sq. km. When combined, they make exactly 84412 sq. km. However, some islands, like Achill Island are listed here separately: does it mean their area is included already in the area of Ireland? Are they counted twice? If so, a reader should be warned. Can anybody check what is the area of the island of Ireland WITHOUT smaller island? A curious reader from abroad.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.77.103.56 (talk) 15:59, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Area: double counts? 

message: http://www.sovereignty.org.uk/features/articles/uk6.html  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.113.96.60 (talk) 09:31, 20 April 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  the whole count please 

message: Sorry if I have missed something in the Talk page or in previous edits, but is Rathlin Island missing from this list?  I came on here to see where it ranked size-wise, and am thinking it must be larger than the likes of Bardsey, etc?  Its main Wikipedia article suggests it is around 4 miles by 2 miles.
Blackrock78 (talk) 19:34, 21 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rathlin 

message: 5 islands inhabited off Ireland? There are at least 20, Valentia, Rathlin, Sherkin, Cape Clear, Inis Beag, Inishmaan, Great Island, Clare Island. All not listed!
:Great Island should certainly be listed. The town of Cobh is there, with a population of about 17,000. Does anyone have area and population figures to help complete the table? --Wavehunter (talk) 19:14, 25 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Pretty sure Lambay Island is permanently inhabited, too. BastunĖġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 21:42, 25 June 2015 (UTC)
replies: text:  There are 63 inhabited Irish islands, six of which have only a single inhabitant. 62 are in the Republic and 1 in the North. Lambay is inhabited.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Leanseahy (talk • contribs) 18:33, 8 September 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Ireland???

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Why is Fair Isle not listed?  It appears to have a permanent population of 55 and an area of about 7.6 sq km, both larger than some other islands that are listed.
More generally, are there particular criteria for which islands are included or omitted?  Is the goal that this list should eventually include all 187 (?) of the permanently inhabited islands?
73.203.27.222 (talk) 02:15, 17 June 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fair Isle missing 

message: What modern (say post year 2000) authorities of national or international significance, other than British ones, are relied upon for including the island on which the Republic of Ireland is predominantly situated as one of the British Isles? Republic of Ireland organisations certainly don't include it, and I think the UN also avoids including it. dinghy (talk) 23:03, 9 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Got a citation for that? I mean, Google isn't hard to use (though admittedly they make finding their accurate search settings harder these days). Some Irish sources. Some U.S. government sources. Some sources allowed to use the .int top-level domain (there aren't many), here. All limited to within the past year. The term is a common geographical one, despite what you may have read on Reddit or on :Talk:British Isles. BastunĖġáḍβáś₮ŭŃ! 12:06, 10 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ireland again