An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War

An Irish Country Novel

By: Patrick Taylor

Narrated by: John Keating

Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Doctor O'Reilly heeds the call to serve his country in Irish Doctor in Peace and At War, the new novel in Patrick Taylor's beloved Irish Country series

Long before Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly became a fixture in the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo, he was a young M.B. with plans to marry midwife Dierdre Mawhinney. Those plans were complicated by the outbreak of World War II and the call of duty. Assigned to the HMS Warspite, a formidable 30,000-ton battleship, Surgeon Lieutenant O'Reilly soon found himself face-to-face with the hardships of war, tending to the dreadnought's crew of 1,200 as well as to the many casualties brought aboard.

Life in Ballybuckebo is a far cry from the strife of war, but over two decades later O'Reilly and his younger colleagues still have plenty of challenges: an outbreak of German measles, the odd tropical disease, a hard-fought pie-baking contest, and a local man whose mule-headed adherence to tradition is standing in the way of his son's future. Now older and wiser, O'Reilly has prescriptions for whatever ails…until a secret from the past threatens to unravel his own peace of mind.

Shifting deftly between two very different eras, Patrick Taylor's latest Irish Country novel reveals more about O'Reilly's tumultuous past, even as Ballybucklebo faces the future in its own singular fashion.

©2014 Ballybucklebo Stories Corp (P)2014 Macmillan Audio

Love This Series

Very enjoyable continuation of the series - storyline, characters and narration continue to be pleasing!

o,reilly again

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes this is a great series fun and little drama,s in ballybucklebo

Who was your favorite character and why?

donal donnelly he redheaded rogue who is always trying to make a dollar

What does John Keating bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

he is good all through the series you can relate to the characters

If you could take any character from An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War out to dinner, who would it be and why?

miss sue nolan she sounds like a lovely girl

amazing series

Patrick Taylor's story with John Keaton as narrator is a great duo. I'm addicted to the series. it isn't a super dramatic storyline. it is just clean and fun and well written. I can't even imagine reading the book in lieu of audio book because the narrator has set the voices so well in my mind.

What an perfect switch between war and peace!

What made the experience of listening to An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War the most enjoyable?

What a great book! I liked the switch of stories between the experience Fingal had on his ship during the war and back in his present days. It is easy to figure out whether you will hear the war time or the present time stories. The description of events on the ship in battle is very well done, without being too awful, but you can feel the pain, fear, anger, etc. it must have caused to experience and survive on a ship under attack. The daily stories of his little village are entertaining as usual. And there is not only sunshine for Fingal, as Kitty has something to tell him from her past...

What was one of the most memorable moments of An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War?

The description of Fingal's thoughts about war in general, and how to treat all patients the same regardless of their nationality. Even when he had to operate a wounded man of the "other" side, he made no difference.

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

I have listened to all other "An Irish Country Doctor" audiobooks, and John Keating's performance is always at its best!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When he was thinking of his fiancé who was far away, and who helped him cope with his war experiences.

Any additional comments?

Interesting that quite a few people did not like the switch between the years, although this is not a new concept and is used in books and films all the time. I found it very well done, as there was always something in Fingal's life that triggered his memories. It makes him even more human and alive as he already is and gives more depth to the story.

Engaging

This is book nine in the Irish Doctor series. It is best to read this series in order as Taylor builds the next story on the past one. In this book Taylor flashes back and forth between Northern Ireland in the 1960s and the Wartime travails of 1939 to 1945 at home and at sea. Dr. Fingal O’Reilly served in the Royal Navy during World War Two. The author tells of O’Reilly’s wartime courtship of his wife, Deirdre. Deirdre was a nurse midwife in training when they met.

I found the part of the story about O’Reilly’s service on HMS Warspite most interesting. Taylor tells of HMS Warspite’s action in the Battle of West Fjord in Norway and later off Italy. Then he covers HMS Warspite’s in time in Alexandria, Egypt. O’Reilly was a medical officer on the Warspite.

The book opens in the 1960s with housekeeper Kinky’s wedding. Young Barry Laverty is back in Ballybucklebo and medical student Jenny is helping out for the summer.

The book is well written and researched. I really enjoyed the various Irish accents, the humor and the pithy insights. In this book, aboard HMS Warspite there is a wide variety of accents from Scottish to Cockney. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

The book is thirteen and a half hours long. John Keating does a fantastic job narrating the book. This series works best as an audiobook because Keating does such a great job with all the various accents and the pronunciations of the Irish words. Keating has narrated the series from the beginning. Keating is an Irish actor and award-winning audiobook narrator.

Always outstanding

Being Of Irish dissent as well as being in medicine I truly enjoy Dr.Patrick Taylor's gifted writings.mr. Keating's narration it's phenomenal bring so much more pleasure to these books.I am listen to all of them and I am always anticipating the next one. I can say without a doubt that Dr. Patrick Taylor it's my favorite writer. What a winning combination we have between his gifts and Mr. Keating's gifts thank you so very much.

Great Historical Fiction

Road trips fly by when listening to Patrick Taylor books- always great stories and characters , but the narration by John Keating is world class.
What a talent! He makes all the characters come alive , each with individual nuances . Wonderful !

Patrick Taylor Does it Again

Using the interaction of personal history and “present,” the movement of these parallel stories injects new depth into Taylor’s characters. I found the story a delightful and insightful escape from the pressures of daily life.

Love these stories

Love everything about the Country Doctor series and I could listen to John Keating read just about anything,

Thoroughly enjoyable

It filled in the war years of Dr Fingal and his coming back married to Kitty.
A disappointing note is that we should have been advised that it should come after Fingal O'Reilly Irish Doctor. Unfortunately I listened to the book and wish I'd realised it was out of sequence in the series.