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Title details for The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd - Available

The Princes of Ireland

#1 in series

by Edward Rutherfurd
Richard Matthews
Audiobook
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From the bestselling author of London and Sarum, a magnificent epic about love and battle, family life and political intrigue in Ireland over the course of eleven centuries.  The Princes of Ireland brilliantly weaves impeccable historical research and mesmerizing storytelling in capturing the essence of a place and its people.
 
Edward Rutherfurd has introduced millions of readers to the human dramas that are the lifeblood of history. From his first bestseller, Sarum, to the  international sensation London, he has captivated audiences with gripping narratives that follow the fortunes of several fictional families down through the ages. The Princes of Ireland, a sweeping panorama steeped in the tragedy and glory that is Ireland, epitomizes the power and richness of Rutherfurd’s storytelling magic.
The saga begins in tribal, pre-Christian Ireland during the reign of the fierce and mighty high kings at Tara, with the tale of two lovers, the princely Conall and the ravishing Deirdre, whose travails cleverly echo the ancient Celtic legend of Cuchulainn. From that stirring beginning, Rutherfurd takes the reader on a powerfully imagined journey through the centuries. Through the interlocking stories of a memorable cast of characters—druids and chieftains, monks and smugglers, noblewomen and farmwives, merchants and mercenaries, rebels and cowards—we see Ireland through the lens of its greatest city. 
While vividly and movingly conveying the passions and struggles that shaped the character of Dublin, Rutherfurd portrays the major events in Irish history: the tribal culture of pagan Ireland; the mission of St. Patrick; the coming of the Vikings and the founding of Dublin; the glories of the great nearby monastery of Glendalough and the making of treasures like the Book of Kells; the extraordinary career of Brian Boru; the trickery of Henry II, which gave England its first foothold in medieval Ireland. The stage is then set for the great conflict between the English kings and the princes of Ireland, and the disastrous Irish invasion of England, which incurred the wrath of Henry VIII, and where this book, the first of the two-part Dublin saga, draws to a close, as the path of Irish history takes a dramatic and irrevocable turn.
Rich, colorful, and impeccably researched, The Princes of Ireland is epic entertainment spun by a master.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Dublin Saga

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    December 16, 2003

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415950654
      • File size: 758342 KB
      • Duration: 26:19:52

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The bestselling author of SARUM and THE FOREST takes on the massive history of Ireland from 430 to 1537 A.D. in a series of interconnected sketches that blend historical people with fictional characters. Some listeners may find this book less involving than his others, but narrator Richard Matthews does his best--which is very good--to keep us interested. He blends an attentive, well-paced narration in his attractive English baritone with a range of Irish accents that delineate character and class--everything from Druid priests to warrior queens to twentieth-century farmers experiencing potato famine. Matthews is particularly skilled at heightening the narrative drive of the story with an intense, dramatic reading that is never overdone. He makes this book well worth hearing, despite its daunting length. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      As in his earlier sagas, SARUM and LONDON, Rutherfurd evokes the history of a time and place by writing interlocking stories of individual men and women and their descendants over many years. The history of Ireland takes shape as Rutherfurd details the stories of Irish people from the dawn of time through the reign of Henry VIII. It's a pleasure to listen to John Keating as he narrates the complex story line and creates believable voices for the many characters Rutherfurd weaves together in this tapestry of Irish history. While the abridgment is well done, the editing leaves something to be desired--the lack of breaks between scenes can be disorienting. J.D.P (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 9, 2004
      Distinctly evocative of James Michener's all-encompassing recapitulations of history, this lackluster saga by the author of bestselling London
      and, most recently, The Forest
      (2000), is the first of a projected two-volume series billed as the Dublin Saga. Rutherfurd begins his tale of the Emerald Isle in pre-Christian Ireland in A.D. 430 with a tragic romance between a maiden, Dierdre, and a Celtic warrior, Conall, hearkening to the legend of the mythic first-century Celtic hero, Cuchulainn. After Conall is offered up as a sacrifice to the Druid gods, the narrative jumps ahead 20 years to Pat Rick's (St. Patrick's) arrival in Ireland in A.D. 450 and his establishment of a small Christian toehold at Dubh Linn. Five centuries later, the Vikings make their mark, and Rutherfurd skips ahead with chronicles of the monastery at Glendalough, the Book of Kells
      and the death of Brian Boru (founder of the O'Brians) with his Pyrrhic victory over the high king of Tara in 1014. A retelling of King Henry II's arrival in Ireland in 1171 is followed by a cursory account of the reformation of the Irish Church at the Council of Cashel and the story of an obscure 1370 skirmish at Carrickmines Castle (a minor landmark presently doomed to make room for a highway). Rutherfurd sets the last of his ill-connected and artificial sketches in 1537, with Henry VIII hanging Silken Thomas, and Dublin poised at the dawn of the Renaissance. Readers who persevere will glean plenty of historical detail from these pages, but Rutherfurd's uninspiring storytelling makes the journey a slog.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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