Irish war mix-up draws an apology
Source: Agencies |
February 5, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ENCYCLOPEDIA Britannica Inc apologized on Wednesday for mangling the history of the Irish Civil War in past editions, but said Ireland's 4,000 schools have access to the corrected version.
Irish radio stations received irate calls this week complaining that the Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia describes Ireland's civil war as a 1919-21 fight between the Catholic south and Protestant north. The war actually happened in 1922-23, took place entirely within the south, and was fought between the Irish army and Irish rebels.
The Chicago-based publisher launched an investigation on Tuesday after hearing of the complaints. It determined the errors exist only on older versions of its concise edition, and survive today chiefly on handheld electronic devices.
"We're obviously sorry that we ever got this information wrong in any edition, ever," said Encyclopaedia Britannica spokesman Tom Panelas. "But I want to reassure Ireland that what its schools will be getting will not contain that information."
Earlier, the managing director of the encyclopedia's London office, Ian Grant, said: "It's important to get this thing right."
Panelas said the criticism from Ireland had spurred the company to hire scholars of Irish history to review and revise its current listing on the Irish Civil War.
He said changes had been made but he couldn't immediately describe them.
The civil war took place entirely south of the border in the months following the birth of the Irish Free State, the precursor to today's Republic of Ireland.
The army, which enforced the 1921 Anglo-Irish treaty creating the state, defeated rebels who had rejected the treaty for failing to deliver total independence from Britain.
Irish radio stations received irate calls this week complaining that the Britannica Concise Encyclopaedia describes Ireland's civil war as a 1919-21 fight between the Catholic south and Protestant north. The war actually happened in 1922-23, took place entirely within the south, and was fought between the Irish army and Irish rebels.
The Chicago-based publisher launched an investigation on Tuesday after hearing of the complaints. It determined the errors exist only on older versions of its concise edition, and survive today chiefly on handheld electronic devices.
"We're obviously sorry that we ever got this information wrong in any edition, ever," said Encyclopaedia Britannica spokesman Tom Panelas. "But I want to reassure Ireland that what its schools will be getting will not contain that information."
Earlier, the managing director of the encyclopedia's London office, Ian Grant, said: "It's important to get this thing right."
Panelas said the criticism from Ireland had spurred the company to hire scholars of Irish history to review and revise its current listing on the Irish Civil War.
He said changes had been made but he couldn't immediately describe them.
The civil war took place entirely south of the border in the months following the birth of the Irish Free State, the precursor to today's Republic of Ireland.
The army, which enforced the 1921 Anglo-Irish treaty creating the state, defeated rebels who had rejected the treaty for failing to deliver total independence from Britain.
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