Historical Literature Ireland

In 1846 a baby girl is born to a young Irish fisherman and his wife. It is the second year of the Great Hunger and the young couple choose to remain in Ireland, while family and friends are leaving. Their story takes place in the fishing village of Blackrock, Dundalk, but with the cities of Liverpool and Sunderland playing a critical part in their lives. Is their love for each other and their homeland enough to sustain them, or will they be forced to join the one and a half million who emigrate?

Ireland, AD 670. When the body of a murdered young noble is discovered not far from Cashel, the king calls upon his sister, Fidelma, and her companion, Eadulf, to investigate. Fidelma, in addition to being the sister of the king, is a dailaigh - an advocate of the Brehon Law Courts - and has a particular talent for resolving the thorniest of mysteries. But this time Fidelma and Eadulf have very little to work with - the only clue to the noble's identity is an emblem originating from the nearby kingdom of Laign.

Pencraft Awards 2019 , First Place Winner- Hy Brasil: Island of Eternity is inspired by the mythical island of Hy Brasil, said to have existed off the west coast of Ireland. In this beautiful novel Kearns takes us on an adventure to the mythical island of Hy Brasil. There we discover an advanced society faced with an unexpected event that Olan is worried might destroy their civilization. The story begins in present-day Ireland then travels back in time to an ancient and mysterious country that is populated with a people of Irish extraction. The citizens of Hy Brasil have evolved to the ...

When Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy left London four years ago, Europe was facing war and Billy Cavendish, the man she loved, had told her he could never marry her. Now, as London stands a shell of its former self, Kick returns to volunteer with the Red Cross, determined to do what she can for the city that holds a part of her heart, and to reconnect with Billy - despite what London society thinks of her.

Fidelma of Cashel - sister to the king of Muman, a religieuse of the Celtic Church, and an advocate of the Brehon courts - returns in this new collection of fifteen tales. These stories of murder, mayhem, and mystery are not merely spellbinders but also provide insight into the ways and mores of the complex, fascinating society of seventh-century Ireland as well as heretofore unrevealed background details of Fidelma herself.

Following the critically acclaimed success of Dublin, this riveting sequel takes the story of Ireland from the 17th century onwards, picking up at the Reformation, and with it the devastating arrival of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell heralds the inauguration of 200 years of Protestant dominance, throughout which many of the Irish people were impoverished and dispossessed. Dublin is made a Protestant capital, and Catholics become an underclass. Set against the dramatic backdrop of Irish political history, this powerful saga is brought to its conclusion.

Winter, 670 AD. King Colg has invited the leading nobles and chieftains of his kingdom to a feast day. Fidelma and her companion Eadulf are finally home for an extended stay, and have promised their son, Alch, that they'll be able to spend some time together after months of being on the road, investigating crimes. Fidelma and Eadulf are enjoying the feast when it is interrupted by the entrance of a religieux, who claims he has an important message for the King.

A tale of fierce battles, hot-blooded romances, and family and political intrigues, The Rebels of Ireland brings the story begun in The Princes of Ireland to a stunning conclusion.

In A.D. 670, an Irish merchant ship is attacked by a pirate vessel off the southern coast of the Breton peninsula. Merchad, the ship's captain, and Bressal, a prince from the Irish kingdom of Muman, are killed in cold blood after they have surrendered. Among the other passengers who manage to escape the slaughter are Fidelma of Cashel and her faithful companion, Brother Eadulf.

Circa 2200 BCE: Changes rocking the Continent reach Eire with the dawning Bronze Age. Well before any Celts, marauders invade the island seeking copper and gold. The young astronomer Boann and the enigmatic Cian need all their wits and courage to save their people and their great Boyne mounds, when long bronze knives challenge the peaceful native starwatchers. Banished to far coasts, Cian discovers how to outwit the invaders at their own game. Tensions on Eire between new and old cultures and between Boann, Elcmar, and her son Aengus, ultimately explode.

In 1920, Annabeth De Lacy’s father is appointed landlord of Galway Parish in Ireland. Bored without the trappings and finery of the British Court, Annabeth convinces her father to arrange an apprenticeship for her with the Jennings family - descendants of the creator of the famed Claddagh ring. Stephen Jennings longs to do anything other than make a career in his family’s jewelry shop. The past has taught him to no longer believe in love and the “lies” the Claddagh ring supposedly promises. How can he peddle what he now finds offensive?

In AD 670 Fidelma of Cashel is asked to act as an advisor to the Irish delegation to a church council hostile to the Celtic Church. In an abbey in Burgundy, Bishop Leodegar of Autun has assembled church leaders from all over Western Europe - an assembly that soon descends into chaos. That night one of the delegates is found murdered, his skull crushed, and Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, are suddenly in the midst of a murder investigation involving some of the most power religious leaders.

At just 16, Nancy Martin leaves the small island of Cape Clear for the mainland, the only member of her family to survive the effects of the Great Famine. Finding work in a grand house on the edge of Cork City, she is irrepressibly drawn to the charismatic gardener Michael Egan, sparking a love affair and a devastating chain of events that continues to unfold over three generations. Spanning more than a century, Billy O’Callaghan’s Life Sentences weaves together the journey of an Irish family determined against all odds to be free.

As she leaves the United States, Elfie brings with her the most precious, yet most demanding souvenir in the world. Will this little slip of a woman, who is only 18 year old, have the willpower to rise to the challenge? Is it even possible? Will Angus once again save her? Will Oscar Delany, Mrs. King, Lord Wanton, Marina d’Orléac, and Ashlynn become her friends or her enemies? In this fifth Season, everyone must choose sides, even newcomers César de Beaumont and Sister Fiona. In the midst of all this, the freedom Elfie has sought for so long seems further away than ever. Intrigue ...

Aine, a young woman unwillingly pledged to marry, believes the book is a talisman with the power to change her circumstances. When she steals it from her betrothed’s clan, desperate to use it to help her mother’s impoverished people, events tumble out of control. She seeks help from Brigid, the woman who rescued her long ago, but doing so puts an entire monastery at risk as the king deploys his army to get the book back.

In 1846, Valentia McDowell is haunted by dreams of a mystical brooch her grandmother left in Ireland. When she makes the dangerous journey to Ireland, she’s devastated by illness and tragedy. The famine and poverty she encounters force her to reassess her priorities, and she embarks upon a campaign to improve the lives of those she meets.

In 1913, before there is a rumor of war in Europe, Matthias Wrenn and Con Hatchel, lifelong friends from Ballyrannel in the Irish midlands, decide to see the world at the expense of the king of England and join the British army. A year later, while en route to India, their troop ship is recalled and they soon find themselves in the European slaughterhouse that was World War I.

In 410 CE, arrogant 16-year-old Magonus Sucatus Patricius denounces Christianity as a religion for cowards when the Roman legions withdraw, leaving Britain vulnerable to raiders from the west. Determined to wield a sword despite being the grandson of a priest, the affluent young man is taken captive by barbarians and sold into slavery to a cruel Irish king. On a mountaintop in Eire, a shepherd strips him of his grand Roman name and calls him Padraic, marking him a man of no consequence.

Ireland travels through the centuries by way of story after story, from the savage grip of the Ice Age to the green and troubled land of tourist brochures and news headlines. Along the way, we meet foolish kings and innocent monks, god-heroes and great works of art, shrewd Norman raiders and envoys from Rome, leaders, poets, and lovers. Each illuminates the magic of Ireland, the power of England, and the eternal connection to the land.

A dead body washed up after a flood dressed in evening finery is not a sight often seen in the slums of Cork city, Ireland. When Reverend Mother Aquinas discovers the body at the gate of the convent chapel she teams up with former pupil, Police Sergeant Patrick Cashman and Dr Sher, a physician and friend to find out who the woman was - and who killed her.