Princes of Ireland

The Dublin Saga

By: Edward Rutherfurd

Narrated by: Richard Matthews

Length: 26 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listener 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; and 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.

©2004 Edward Rutherfurd (P)2004 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"A tour de force....Breathtaking." (Orlando Sentinel)

"Rutherfurd literally personifies history." (New York Daily News)

"A richly imagined vision of history, written with genuine delight." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Another great novel by Rutherfurd

Great performance with what I believe to be the ideal intonation and voice infections. I found myself laughing out loud at a few parts too. Rutherfurd definitely added a bit of humorous exchanges in the dialog. Next is Rebels of Ireland.

Excellent History Lesson

This book and its follow up were fantastically instructional Irish history lessons. The fictionalized format made it so much more interesting than a text book while providing details which were entirely unknown to me. I'm a huge Edward Rutherfurd fan and the hours dedicated to listening to his books is always time well spent.

Excellent historical fiction of the Dublin area

I listened to this on a visit to Ireland and Dublin which helped immensely to visualize the locations in the story. Even if you haven't been do Ireland and enjoy historical fiction, it is a very interesting story with romance, intrigue, and deception with the background of Irish History. It kept my interest and I found it hard to put down. It is long, but well worth the listen.

A view into historic Ireland

This book is an intriguing mix of historical fact underlaid with invented characters to form a spellbinding storyline.

Needs more action

The first part was interesting with great characters. The last third of the book was unexciting.

Great

I loved the story, the history, the characters and the way in which they were brought to life!

A Classic

This book is extremely well written and masterfully narrated. I have read this author's Sarum and London, and have the hard copy of this, but chose instead to listen to it. I am glad I did as it brought the history to life for me.

If any of you readers out there want more saga's of Ireland, I would encourage you to read Trinity and Redemption by Leon Uris. Audible....you should get both those for 5 star listening like the Prince's.

I am getting ready to listen to the Rebel's and know that it will be as enjoyable as this.

A wonderful listen, a great book.

Princes of Ireland

Wonderfully done. I would not have had the time to read this rich book if it were not for the audio version. Well done

Brilliant!

Rutherfurd took me on a journey beyond my wildest imagination. The lives of so many generations were delicatly and seamlessly woven together that I felt myself traveling through the ages. What else can I say? Brilliant!

Enjoyed it, and learned quite a bit!

Would you listen to Princes of Ireland again? Why?

I don't normally listen to a book more than once.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I enjoyed all of the characters.

Have you listened to any of Richard Matthews’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. I enjoyed him though.

Any additional comments?

This was my first Edward Rutherford book and I really enjoyed the history wrapped into the fiction. I learned quite a bit. I'm moving on to another Rutherford book now, "New York".