Talk:Disappearance of Larry Griffin

Introduction

This was my introduction:

The missing postman of Stradbally is a mystery which has remained unsolved since Larry Griffin disappeared without trace from a village in the south-east of Ireland on Christmas Day, 1929. The story went round the world at the time, while the people of the village gave ever-changing and conflicting information about what they knew of Larry's last movements to the Gardai investigating the case.

I feel it gives a better overview than the current one. Opinions?Epzcaw (talk) 08:28, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

Much better, though there probably should be mention that he was intoxicated when last seen. Dimadick (talk) 08:54, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

For an article of this length the WP:LEDE should really touch on most of the topics mentioned. I would expect at least two if not three paragraphs to do the lede justice. Do remember the lead is not actually an introduction but a stand-alone resume of the whole article. I don't have much time but if I get some I'll try to do something. ww2censor (talk) 10:08, 13 July 2018 (UTC)

I am also very busy just now but hope to find time next week. In the meantime, I have amalgamated the original and new versions to provide a bit more information Epzcaw (talk) 10:59, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

I've now done further additions and think is satisfies the requirements. Opinions?Epzcaw (talk) 08:09, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

I will remove the "lead too short" tomorrow unless anyone raises an objection. Epzcaw (talk) 20:28, 1 September 2018 (UTC)

Major update

Hi. I've just made a major update to this article.

Main summary of changes:

• Tone made more encyclopedic: An intro like "The Disappearance of Larry Griffin is a mystery about a postman who disappeared without trace on Christmas Day 1929" might sound more interesting and mysterious but it's not how these articles on Wikipedia work. There's a format that must be adhered to.
• Shortened the intro/lead: The intro was far too long. An intro should give a brief overview of the key points as concisely as possible. There is no correct length - it should be as long or as short as it needs to be.
• Removed unsubstantiated info: "Over the years, several of the people who had been arrested made substantial sums of money by suing newspapers which published information about or relating to the affair, and it was only after the death of the last of these in 1997 that it was possible to publish or broadcast information about it. Even then, the authorities refused to make files about the investigation available until 2009. Several people visiting Stradbally who asked about the case have been subject to verbal abuse, even in recent times." Statements like that need references, and even then should be written factually - as is, that sentence seems quite biased.
• Libel: Added references for all claims. Accounts of what happened in Whelan's pub were never officially proven, and stating them as fact still constitutes libel. Please ensure you reference a source for all of these claims in future. This case has led to litigation in the past.
• Added honours: Added a table showing Larry's military honours, to bring his bio section into line with articles on other servicemen.
• Removed original research: Wikipedia doesn't allow original research. The section which cited census data was original research and has been removed.
• Removed excess info: A lot of info, like Larry and his wife living at her father's farm, is too in-depth and not suited for Wikipedia.

Klock101 (talk) 22:18, 24 September 2018 (UTC)

The information about Larry having been a farm servant will need to be removed since this came from the census information - unless you can provide another source. Not quite sure why census information constitutes research - it is a publicly available source of information.

Also, the last three sentences in the first paragraph of your introduction read as if they are reporting facts. However, one lot of people made these allegations but another lot, including the publican, the local police the schoolmaster, all denied this. You make the same criticism yourself about the original article. Suggest something along these lines:

Information from statements obtained by the Gardai claimed that Griffin visited a local pub after work where he was injured in a drunken altercation but it was unclear whether Griffin died immediately from his injury or shortly afterwards in the adjacent Garda station. It was alleged that his body was quickly disposed of to hide the fact that the pub was illegally serving alcohol on Christmas Day, a move which would have protected the publican, several members of the local police force and other local people, had they been drinking there. These statements were refuted by the people who were alleged to have been involved.

I increased the length of the introduction becuase someone said it was too short. When doctors disagree....... Epzcaw (talk) 14:31, 26 September 2018 (UTC)