‘That little sentimental thing’ turned into a bitter and bloody civil war

A CONCISE version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica was about to be finalised when somebody noticed a howler. The encyclopaedia wrongly suggested that our civil war of 1922-23 was fought between the Catholics of the south and the Protestants of the North.

Last month the Department of Education announced an elearning initiative that would provide the country’s 4,000 schools with free access to the databases of Encyclopaedia Britannica and World Book.

Ian Grant, managing director of Encyclopaedia Britannica, did not know how the error occurred, but he suggested an inexperienced editor might have confused the civil war with the recent sectarian troubles in Northern Ireland. The explanation hardly inspires confidence.