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)

Ireland through the ages

Enjoyed very much. Matthews was a very good narrator. Would love to hear more about the history of Ireland

Good, but Missing some pages

The book was very well done just like other Rutherfurd novels. However, at the end of the very first section, we are left hanging at a key moment in the story. At first, I thought it was just the author who has done that before making the reader hang and find out what happened to those family members centuries later, but I happen to have a copy of the book, and when I went back and looked at it, they had left off 4-5 pages, which would tell you what had happened at the end of the first family story. Might consider going back and adding that in.

Very pleased

An entertaining blend of history and fiction

A wonderful historical fiction of Ireland

Fully enjoyed this trip in ancient Ireland. I highly recommend it!
The performance is we done and Rutherford has done a fantastic job in creating this entertaining narrative.

Breathtaking

From the start I could not put it down. I looked for excuses to sit in rush hour traffic to get a chance to listen to more. The narration is perfect, and the story is incredible. I enjoyed Rutherfurd's style more than anything. His narrative is beautiful but also direct and clear. I can't wait for more of this author's books to be available in digital audio.

great Irish story

good story. I feel that I learned a lot about the probable history of Dublin in an interesting and entertaining way

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.