Showing results by narrator "Aidan Kelly" in All Categories

Seamus O'Mahony charts the realities of work in the 'ministry of bodies', that huge complex where people come to be cured and to die. From unexpected deaths to moral quandaries and bureaucratic disasters, O'Mahony documents life in the halls and wards that all of us will visit at some point in our lives with his characteristic wit and dry and unsentimental intelligence.

James Joyce's disillusion with the publication of Dubliners in 1914 was the result of ten years battling with publishers, resisting their demands to remove swear words, real place names and much else, including two entire stories. Although only 24 when he signed his first publishing contract for the book, Joyce already knew its worth. Joyce's aim was to tell the truth — to create a work of art that would reflect life in Ireland at the turn of the last century.

A local businessman’s plane crashes into bogland killing all three occupants.... Galway’s detectives investigate. It’s not long before experts establish that the small aircraft’s engine had been tampered with. From dealing with a tragic accident, senior DI Maureen Lyons is suddenly launching a murder inquiry. The initial police investigation centres on the pilot, the local property development tycoon, Gerald Fortune. The other occupants are seen as unfortunate bystanders.

Following the end of the First World War, Eneas McNulty joins the British-led Royal Irish Constabulary. With all those around him becoming soldiers of a different kind, however, it proves to be the defining decision of his life when, having witnessed the murder of a fellow RIC policeman, he is wrongly accused of identifying the executioners. With a sentence of death passed over him, he is forced to flee Sligo, leaving behind his friends, family and beloved girl, Viv.

Opening five years before the start of A Woman of Substance, A Man of Honour begins with 13 year-old Blackie O’Neill facing an uncertain future in rural County Kerry. Orphaned and alone, he has just buried his sister, Bronagh, and must leave his home to set sail for England, in search of a better life with his mother’s brother in Leeds. There, he learns his trade as a navvy, amid the grand buildings and engineering triumphs of one of England’s most prosperous cities and starts to dream of greater things.

Fintan O'Toole was born in 1958. His life covers Ireland's journey out of underdevelopment and domination by the Church, to the country's transformation into the relatively prosperous and tolerant society that it is today. But, along the way, there was a sectarian civil war in the North, which cast a dark shadow over the whole island, and bitter struggles for intellectual, civil and sexual freedoms. This is a very personal history by a writer who is considered by many to be the country's leading public intellectual.

A body found below a cliff is not what it seems, and a deadly heist is underway in this enjoyable Irish murder mystery. Whilst junior detectives rush to the scene of a potential murder near Roundstone, Connemara, an informant lets on to DCI Mick Hays that a big robbery is about to take place. With a large part of Galway’s police force mobilised to catch the felons in the act, resources are stretched. Will the robbers walk into the trap? Is the information reliable? Are they sufficiently prepared?

A story of survival set in 600 AD Ireland; a parable of patriarchy, destruction and religion at sea, by Emma Donoghue, the bestselling author of Room. 'Everything a novel should be: compassionate, unpredictable, and questioning. Haven is Donoghue at her strange, unsettling best.' - Maggie...

Filled with roller coaster emotions and explosive revelations of covert operations, Charlie One provides a unique, detailed and unbiased account of the secret war fought in Northern Ireland. Seán Hartnett grew up in Cork in the 1970s where he observed the worst of the northern Troubles. Despite his family’s republican ties and his own attempt to join the IRA, Hartnett shocked family and friends when he joined the British Armed Forces.

When a successful bookmaker is robbed and killed during the annual Galway Races, the motive seems clear. But when the money turns up untouched, more questions are raised than answered. Top Brass want the case wrapped up. The pressure is on DI Maureen Lyons to find the killer. However, the police didn’t count on having to deal with a troublemaker within their own ranks. Rigorous detective work will be needed to find the culprit. But with more than a few suspects, the police are stretched to their limit.

When a violent incident in his stationed town led John Sweetman into the Garda Technical Bureau with incriminating evidence, the course of his life changed dramatically. As a young garda struggling with personal demons, he went from being on verge of leaving the force to finding his true calling...

As the train rattled westward on the outskirts of Dublin, James Berry didn’t stand out amongst his fellow passengers, but they couldn’t see the long, Italian silk rope coiled in the black leather bag by his side, nor the white cap and pinion straps, nor the revolver in his coat pocket. Galway, the winter of 1885. The violent murders of John Moylan, killed on a dark country lane, and Alice Burns, shot dead in the dining room of the Royal Hotel, have shaken the county. Now, following painstaking investigations and charged courtroom drama, justice beckons for the guilty parties.

The Irish Classics Collection is a wide-ranging collection of 9 classic works of fiction and poetry by Irish authors, read by an award-winning cast of narrators. Included here are stories by some of the greatest writers of all time, including James Joyce; Bram Stoker; Oscar Wilde; W.B. Yeats; Elizabeth Bowen; and more.

Aspiring actress Elizabeth Smart lands her centre stage role: her mutilated body is found dumped in North London’s red light district. Clasped in her hand is a piece of human hair belonging to an unidentified body of a woman murdered two weeks ago. Aspiring actress Elizabeth Smart lands her...

A tragic death, a murder trial and a 170-year-old mystery - but what really happened? Shortly after Maria Kirwan died in a lonely inlet on Ireland’s Eye, it was decided that she had drowned accidentally during a day spent with her husband on the picturesque island. This inquest verdict appeared to conclude the melancholy events that consumed the fishing village of Howth, Co Dublin, in September 1852.

‘An intoxicating Thriller’ SUN Irish runaway. Insomniac. Functioning alcoholic. Life is about to get complicated for DC Donal Lynch. When a young woman is kidnapped, Donal is brought in to deliver the ransom money. But the tightly-planned drop off goes wrong, Julie Draper is discovered dead...

It's Dublin, June 1995, the hottest summer since records began. But Billy Sweeney, a middle-aged salesman with a failed marriage, a faltering career and a tumbledown house, has more than weather on his mind. His youngest daughter lies in a coma in hospital following a mysterious attack on the petrol station where she worked. Devastated by the unfolding consequences of that hot, violent night, frustrated by officialdom and failed by the system, Billy finally tires of seeking legal justice. He decides to take the law into his own hands..

‘Impeccable descriptions made the story come alive…Exhilarating stuff’ THE SUN The first in an electrifying new British detective series starring PC Donal Lynch. Meet PC Donal Lynch. Irish runaway. Insomniac. Functioning alcoholic. Donal is new to working the beat in London, trying his...

Barry Geraghty is an Irish horseracing legend. From his first win in 1997 he has gone on to ride almost 2,000 winners, making him the fourth most accomplished rider of all time. With more wins at Cheltenham than any other jockey riding today, he has worked with all the greats - Moscow Flyer, Kicking King, Monty’s Pass. But while they have retired, he has kept on going....

Lost: Six-foot-two Irish man who answers to the name Samuel McLaughlin. Has weak shins and enjoys show tunes. If found, please return to Sophie Williams. Before Sophie met Samuel she saw the world in grey. Before Samuel met Sophie, he never believed in love at first sight. When they first meet, something tells them they are meant to be. But fate has other ideas. Now they have lost each other and can't see a way back.