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Irish Historical Fiction

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boswellbaxter
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Location: North Carolina
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sat July 16th, 2011, 3:54 am

[quote=""Richard Sutton""]Redemption, from what I've heard, was not met with much acclaim. It made the mistake of trying to bring the two families (Irish and Ascendant Irish) together in the trenches of war -- WWI, I think. Uris' characters are quite memorable, but I'm not sure I'll take the time to read the sequel. Thanks for the troubles links -- those are new titles for me anyway![/quote]

Hey, Richard! Welcome to the board. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introductions thread if you're so inclined.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Sat July 16th, 2011, 12:27 pm

I haven't read it yet, but there's The Tenants of Time by Thomas Flanagan. Picked it up a while ago at a *free* used book sale. Big fat one, small font.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

annis
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Post by annis » Sun July 17th, 2011, 1:19 am

I loved Flanagan's Irish trilogy. Tenants of Time is the middle one, though it can be read as a stand-alone. My personal favourite is the first one, The Year of the French, which is about Wolf Tone and the tragic Irish Rebellion of 1798 - a brilliant piece of writing.

Good luck with the small print - how ever did we manage to read all those old books without going blind? Uh, come to think of it, maybe that's the reason why my eyesight's nothing to write home about these days!
Last edited by annis on Sun July 17th, 2011, 4:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Sun July 17th, 2011, 1:32 am

[quote=""annis""]I loved Flanagan's Irish trilogy. Tenants of Time is the middle one, though it can be read as a stand-alone. My personal favourite is the first one, The Year of French, which is about Wolf Tone and the tragic Irish Rebellion of 1798 - a brilliant piece of writing.

Good luck with the small print - how ever did we manage to read all those old books without going blind? Uh, come to think of it, maybe that's the reason why my eyesight's nothing to write home about these days![/quote]

Annis, thanks for that. I had no idea it was a trilogy.

As for the small print - as much as I love these older books I just cringe when I crack them open and see it :(
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

Richard Sutton
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Post by Richard Sutton » Tue July 19th, 2011, 7:46 pm

Done! Finally found it! Thanks for the tip.

PeterKralic
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Posts: 10
Joined: November 2015
Currently reading: A Christmas With The Dodger by Charlton Daines
Interest in HF: A teacher put a Historical Fiction book in my hands when I was ten and I immediately looked for more. It brings history to life!
Favourite HF book: Cannot choose!
Preferred HF: Ancient Egypt, Barbarian invasions of Europe c.200-400, Victorian England
Location: UK

Re: Irish Historical Fiction

Post by PeterKralic » Thu November 19th, 2015, 2:13 pm

This is an old thread, but I recommend the author Ali Isaacs for Irish Historical Fiction. She brings the old tales alive very well.

Baylou
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Posts: 19
Joined: December 2017
Currently reading: The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor
Interest in HF: I’ve always loved fiction and history, so historical fiction is my happy reading zone. I think the books that cemented hist fic as my favourite were Random Passage and Waiting for Time by Bernice Morgan. I have a special interest in: WWII, Ireland, England, Italy, Canada (especially Newfoundland and Labrador), women’s history/herstory and folklore.
Favourite HF book: Can’t pick one. Recently enjoyed The Good People by Hannah Kent.
Preferred HF: I have a special interest in WWII period, especially relating to women’s history, codebreaking work, Bletchley Park. I tend to most enjoy literary fiction rather than comercial or popular fiction, but read a range.
Location: Canada

Re: Irish Historical Fiction

Post by Baylou » Tue December 19th, 2017, 7:59 pm

Everything by Sebastian Barry, starting with The Secret Scripture and continuing through the McNulty Family series. Excellent.

Baylou
Scribbler
Posts: 19
Joined: December 2017
Currently reading: The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor
Interest in HF: I’ve always loved fiction and history, so historical fiction is my happy reading zone. I think the books that cemented hist fic as my favourite were Random Passage and Waiting for Time by Bernice Morgan. I have a special interest in: WWII, Ireland, England, Italy, Canada (especially Newfoundland and Labrador), women’s history/herstory and folklore.
Favourite HF book: Can’t pick one. Recently enjoyed The Good People by Hannah Kent.
Preferred HF: I have a special interest in WWII period, especially relating to women’s history, codebreaking work, Bletchley Park. I tend to most enjoy literary fiction rather than comercial or popular fiction, but read a range.
Location: Canada

Re: Irish Historical Fiction

Post by Baylou » Tue December 19th, 2017, 8:03 pm

My fave hist fiction of 2017 includes a hist fic novel by an Irish writer featuring an Irish-American immigrant protagonist (Days Without End - Sebastian Barry), a novel set in Ireland in the 1850s (The Good People by Hannah Kent) & a novel featuring Irish writers Samuel Beckett & James Joyce (A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker). I have a thing for Ireland and Irish lit.

Baylou
Scribbler
Posts: 19
Joined: December 2017
Currently reading: The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor
Interest in HF: I’ve always loved fiction and history, so historical fiction is my happy reading zone. I think the books that cemented hist fic as my favourite were Random Passage and Waiting for Time by Bernice Morgan. I have a special interest in: WWII, Ireland, England, Italy, Canada (especially Newfoundland and Labrador), women’s history/herstory and folklore.
Favourite HF book: Can’t pick one. Recently enjoyed The Good People by Hannah Kent.
Preferred HF: I have a special interest in WWII period, especially relating to women’s history, codebreaking work, Bletchley Park. I tend to most enjoy literary fiction rather than comercial or popular fiction, but read a range.
Location: Canada

Re:

Post by Baylou » Tue December 19th, 2017, 8:10 pm

Misfit wrote: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.
I’ll have to look that one up for sure. The title reminds me of a folk song poplar with my family.

Baylou
Scribbler
Posts: 19
Joined: December 2017
Currently reading: The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor
Interest in HF: I’ve always loved fiction and history, so historical fiction is my happy reading zone. I think the books that cemented hist fic as my favourite were Random Passage and Waiting for Time by Bernice Morgan. I have a special interest in: WWII, Ireland, England, Italy, Canada (especially Newfoundland and Labrador), women’s history/herstory and folklore.
Favourite HF book: Can’t pick one. Recently enjoyed The Good People by Hannah Kent.
Preferred HF: I have a special interest in WWII period, especially relating to women’s history, codebreaking work, Bletchley Park. I tend to most enjoy literary fiction rather than comercial or popular fiction, but read a range.
Location: Canada

Re: Irish Historical Fiction

Post by Baylou » Tue December 19th, 2017, 8:16 pm

The Wonder by Emma Donaghue, Irish-Canadian author of The Room and other novels, including hist fic title Slammerkin. The Wonder is set in later 1800s Ireland, when a Florence Nightengale-trained nurse goes to an Irish village to tend to a girl who appears to be miraculously serving without food.

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