# Source Quality Rubric

Date created: 2026-09-05

This rubric keeps `O'Luanaigh` research usable for a public heritage microsite without overstating evidence. It should be applied to every source used in research notes and public copy.

## Confidence Levels

### A - Primary Or Archival

Use for original records, archival catalogue entries, digitized manuscripts, civil records, census returns, valuation records, parish registers, official heraldic records, and institutional archive pages.

Examples:

- National Archives of Ireland census records.
- Griffith's Valuation records and images.
- Dúchas item pages and metadata.
- National Library of Ireland catalogue entries.
- Genealogical Office / Chief Herald of Ireland records, if located.

How to use: claims may be stated directly when the source actually supports them, but do not generalize a single record into a surname-wide claim.

### B - Scholarly Or Institutional Synthesis

Use for reliable reference works, institutional biographies, scholarly dictionaries, and authored historical synthesis with citations or editorial oversight.

Examples:

- Patrick Woulfe's `Irish Names and Surnames`.
- Dictionary of Irish Biography.
- MacLysaght, when consulted directly.
- Peer-reviewed or university-published work.

How to use: good for general surname, biography, language, and historical context claims, with attribution where the claim is specific or interpretive.

### C - Reputable Secondary Summary

Use for genealogy platforms, surname databases, library guides, and secondary summaries that appear to derive from stronger published references.

Examples:

- FamilySearch surname pages.
- Ancestry surname summaries.
- Forebears, where it quotes identifiable sources.
- National Archives or IrishGenealogy research guides.

How to use: useful for leads and triangulation. Prefer citing the underlying source directly before using the claim in public copy.

### D - Derivative, Commercial, Or Unsourced

Use for surname gift sites, commercial crest products, unattributed family-history pages, generic clan-history summaries, and copied heraldry graphics.

How to use: treat as leads only. Do not use for factual claims unless corroborated by A or B sources.

### E - Family Tradition Or Oral Context

Use for user-provided family context, family-held images, household traditions, inscriptions, or remembered explanations.

How to use: valuable personal context, but label it as family tradition unless verified through records. It can motivate research questions, but it is not enough to prove origin, entitlement to arms, descent, or historical continuity.

## Claim Rules

- Use the narrowest claim the evidence supports.
- Separate `Ó Luanaigh` and `Ó Luinigh` unless a source explicitly links them.
- Treat spelling variation as expected in historical records; record the exact spelling used by each source.
- Do not state that all Looney, O'Looney, Lowney, Loney, or Lunney families share one origin.
- Do not state that a crest or coat of arms belongs to everyone with the surname unless an authoritative heraldic source supports that scope.
- Present legendary descent claims, including Milesian narratives, as tradition or older genealogical lore, not documentary genealogy.
- Public copy should prefer "documented as," "associated with," "listed by," and "appears in" when certainty is limited.

## Citation Format

Use this format in research notes:

```markdown
### Source title

- URL:
- Accessed:
- Source type:
- Confidence:
- Relevant variants:
- Places:
- Supported claims:
- Limits / cautions:
- Follow-up:
```

Use ISO dates for access dates, for example `2026-09-05`.

## Public Website Citation Pattern

For the microsite, use short linked source notes instead of long academic footnotes:

```markdown
Source: Patrick Woulfe, `Irish Names and Surnames` (1923), via Library Ireland.
```

When using Dúchas material, include the required non-commercial attribution:

```markdown
Folklore data by Dúchas © National Folklore Collection, UCD and licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
```

For full publication rules, item-level Dúchas attribution patterns, excerpt limits, image rules, and the standard site footer, see `research/licensing-attribution-rules.md`.

## Review Checklist

Before a claim moves from research notes to public copy:

- Is the source level A or B, or is a lower-level source clearly attributed as a lead?
- Does the wording align with `research/surname-meaning-forms-brief.md` for name forms and variants?
- Is the claim limited to what the source actually says?
- Are variant spellings preserved?
- Is the geography supported by the cited source?
- Is any uncertainty visible to the reader?
- Are licensing and attribution requirements satisfied?