Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Irish Historical Fiction

c18913
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: May 2009

Irish Historical Fiction

Post by c18913 » Fri May 8th, 2009, 11:30 pm

I'm looking for suggestions about Irish historical fiction....I've already read the following

Rutherford - Princes of Ireland
Uris - Trinity
Delaney (?) - Ireland

Anyone have any other suggestions? My sons and I have a 45-minute trip each way and we listen to books on tape. They're asking for Irish historical fiction. (BTW, we've "read" -- listened to -- almost all of Bernard Cornwell's books, Iggulden's Genghis, Shaara books, etc. so they're pretty much ready for anything).

Thanks so much, I'm a new member and I'm looking forward to contributing.

User avatar
Misfit
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 9581
Joined: August 2008
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by Misfit » Fri May 8th, 2009, 11:45 pm

I haven't read it yet, but I've heard raves about Galway Bay. Its finally on the hold shelf at the library waiting for pickup, and many more waiting for their turn as well so I'd take that its creating quite a buzz.

While it's better classified as a novel in a historical setting and not a historical novel, I loved Susan Howatch's Cashelmara a great deal - this has the added bonus that she parallels the lives of her characters with those of England's first three Edwards.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Fri May 8th, 2009, 11:47 pm

I'd suggest Morgan Llywelyn's books, maybe starting with "The Lion of Ireland", the story of Brian Boru.
There's a list of her novels here:
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/morgan-llywelyn/

If you enjoyed Rutherfurd's time-sweep novels you might like Frank Delaney's "Ireland"

Hard to come by now, but very good are Patricia Finney's 2-book series about the Tain, "A Shadow of Gulls" and "The Crow Goddess"

User avatar
juleswatson
Avid Reader
Posts: 259
Joined: January 2009
Location: now Washington DC
Contact:

Post by juleswatson » Sat May 9th, 2009, 7:20 am

I second Morgan Llywelyn. She did a good story on The Tain called Red Branch (It might have been called something else in the US) She has loads of books covering all eras in Ireland and they are not that long (the earlier ones anyway). My own book The Swan Maiden is set in Ireland based on an ancient Irish myth, however it is a romance too and has some sex in it so don't think your sons would be too impressed with that!! Perish the thought.
Author of Celtic historical fantasy
New book "THE RAVEN QUEEN" out Feb 22 2011: The story of Maeve, the famous warrior queen of Irish mythology.
Out now, "THE SWAN MAIDEN", the ancient tale of Deirdre, the Irish 'Helen of Troy'
http://www.juleswatson.com

User avatar
stu1883
Avid Reader
Posts: 293
Joined: April 2009
Location: I live in Bristol, England with my wife Nicki & our kittens Boomer & Magic
Contact:

Post by stu1883 » Sat May 9th, 2009, 8:43 am

Whilst not strictly Irish, try "Dublin" by Edward Rutherford.

The bloke writes many different books, but his stories telling the history of cities are really good. Sarum, Dublin & London are the ones I've read.

Stu

User avatar
stu1883
Avid Reader
Posts: 293
Joined: April 2009
Location: I live in Bristol, England with my wife Nicki & our kittens Boomer & Magic
Contact:

Post by stu1883 » Sat May 9th, 2009, 8:49 am

[quote=""c18913""]I'm looking for suggestions about Irish historical fiction....I've already read the following

Rutherford - Princes of Ireland
Uris - Trinity
Delaney (?) - Ireland

Anyone have any other suggestions? My sons and I have a 45-minute trip each way and we listen to books on tape. They're asking for Irish historical fiction. (BTW, we've "read" -- listened to -- almost all of Bernard Cornwell's books, Iggulden's Genghis, Shaara books, etc. so they're pretty much ready for anything).

Thanks so much, I'm a new member and I'm looking forward to contributing.[/quote]


If you like Conn Igguldens genghis books, try the Emperor series. They are all about Julius Caesar and utterly absorbing.

Welcome to the forum!
Last edited by stu1883 on Sat May 9th, 2009, 8:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Forgot welcome note

User avatar
Leo62
Bibliophile
Posts: 1027
Joined: December 2008
Location: London
Contact:

Post by Leo62 » Sat May 9th, 2009, 12:21 pm

Any particular period you're looking for? If you're open to something more recent, I've read a couple of very good novels set at the time of the Easter Rising/Civil war:

The Story of Lucy Gault
by William Trevor
A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle

There's also The Star of the Sea, Joseph O'Connor's wonderful novel about escapees from the 1840's potato famine.

User avatar
Lauryn
Reader
Posts: 175
Joined: April 2009
Location: Vancouver, CA

Post by Lauryn » Sat May 9th, 2009, 4:42 pm

Wow - I think I'm going to search out some of these titles myself :D

Just a question though - Was Rutherford's novel not issued under two titles for differing markets? I was under the impression that Dublin and The Princes of Ireland were the same book, but I could be wrong. TPI is certainly all about Dublin!

I loved Morgan Llewelyn's The Lions of Ireland, about Brian Boru. I have another title, Finn Mac Cool, on Mount TBR, and have read a few more, but they were library books whose titles escape me now :D
Even the mighty oak was once just a nut that held its ground.

User avatar
Susan
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3746
Joined: August 2008
Location: New Jersey, USA

Post by Susan » Sat May 9th, 2009, 6:09 pm

[quote=""Lauryn""]Just a question though - Was Rutherford's novel not issued under two titles for differing markets? I was under the impression that Dublin and The Princes of Ireland were the same book, but I could be wrong. TPI is certainly all about Dublin![/quote]

There are two different books and the North American titles are The Princes of Ireland and The Rebels of Ireland. Elsewhere the books are known as Dublin: Foundation and Ireland: Awakening. The Princes of Ireland deals with the years 430-1533 and The Rebels of Ireland deals with the time after that.

I very much liked The Princes of Ireland, but there was something about The Rebels of Ireland that caused me not to finish the book. I can't recall what. My husband read both books and enjoyed them very much.

http://www.edwardrutherfurd.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin:_Foundation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland:_Awakening
Last edited by Susan on Sat May 9th, 2009, 6:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Sun May 10th, 2009, 1:36 am

I was going to suggest Morgan Llywelyn's novels, but Annis and Jules beat me to it! Browsing my website at www.HistoricalNovels.info might turn up some other novels you would enjoy. There's a separate section for Ancient Ireland on the Ancient History page, and a separate page for the Medieval Celts that includes Ireland in the Medieval section. Otherwise, novels set in Ireland are generally included in the "British Isles" sections in the other time-period categories.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

Post Reply

Return to “By Country/Continent”