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A Short History of Ireland Part 1  By  cover art

A Short History of Ireland Part 1

By: Dr Jonathan Bardon
Narrated by: Frances Tomelty
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Publisher's summary

In the wake of its 30th birthday celebrations in 2006, BBC Radio Ulster marked the beginning of a new broadcasting era by embarking on the station's most ambitious project to date: a recounting of the history of Ireland.

For easy digestion, the story of the island is told in a series of 240 short documentaries - starting with the Ice Age and the arrival of the first humans through to the outbreak of the Second World War.

©2008 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2008 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
  • Original Recording Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about A Short History of Ireland Part 1

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Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    125
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    60
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Three and a half?

The tone is good, the narration charming, the repetive "This is a short history of Ireland in 240 episodes" every 5 - 15 minutes is highly annoying. The small episodes chop up the content a bit too much for my taste, but I suppose that's a consequence of it being presented via radio.

All of that would take it to a 4 for me, but the distressing part is that the history is mostly about who fought against whom. The oral history of Ireland is covered in the first 5 - 10 minutes; early and pre-conquest Celtic art isn't mentioned at all; the difference in belief, clerical requirements, status of monestaries and abbies, and relationship to the elite families prior to the take-over by the Latin rite is barely mentioned; the impact of Celtic/Gaelic concepts of kinship on the shape of society; the society, culture, and politics of pre-conquest Ireland is hardly mentioned; and, at least through the coverage of Cromwell's activities, there's precious little of even a mention of day-to-day life, even within the elites.

The later part of the presentation may give more attention to culture and society, but the first half (as far as I got) is almost completely battles and massacres.

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42 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Are we listening to the same audiobook?

Some have found this this audiobook lacking in one aspect or another of historical presentation and others were irritated by the repeated announcement: "This is a short history of Ireland in 240 episodes." Try it yourself. It takes about 3 seconds to read aloud. And what the complaints don't focus on is that each announcement is followed by a very brief title, like "Episode 52: Religious Strife and Plantation." It serves as a marker, a preview, a focusing device that helps the reader anticipate what's to come. They are like chapter or section headings in a textbook.

Some listeners have suggested that the announcements should have been removed. Silly BBC didn't have enough sense and left them in. But maybe the BBC Radio Ulster people actually were professionals who really knew what they were doing.

If those subheadings weren't there, the almost 23 hours of history would be a steady stream of information. Imagine how frustrating that would be--trying to sort through an undivided stream of narration. Imagine 500 or 600 pages of text without chapter or subheadings.

The complaints also don't mention that each 5 second announcement is followed by 1,200 or more seconds (about 20 minutes) of history. Right now I am on Episode 60, and I not only don't mind the announcements, I find them helpful.

And about what's missing in the history: Yes, things are missing. But this book is exactly as advertised: a SHORT history. It is ONE book. It cannot possibly cover ALL aspects of history, politics, war, culture, religion, customs, art, literature, and all the other aspects of life in Ireland.

So far I've picked up all kinds of things about Ireland . . . a little prehistory, a bit about what life was like in early and medieval Ireland, about climactic conditions and how they changed, about the source of Yeats' "I am of Ireland," about the plague in the 14th century, about the awful misrule of England in Ireland, about Roman Catholicism in early Ireland and the impact of the Reformation in the 17th century, and so much more. It's NOT all about warfare and battles.

I'd also like to commend the way the narrators--all good readers so far--break up the narration and do so very appropriately. For example, at the beginning of an episode, a man gives a basic idea of what is happening (26 seconds); then further details about the events are given by a woman (almost a minute); the man's voice returns for about 30 seconds, leading up to "King Henry the Eighth received this warning . . ."; the warning itself is read in a tense, more rapid, highly-pitched male voice (15 seconds); and then the narration continues with the original reader. This is a marvelous way to avoid the drone of reading a history that some other audiobooks with only one narrator fall into. And the voice changes are not arbitrary--they are not there just to break up monotony. They set off the meaning of the sentences. The variation, the scripting, the timing are REALLY well done.

OK. I'm only 1/4 way through--episode 60--and I am thoroughly enjoying this audiobook. Maybe I'll feel differently at episode 120. If I do, I'll come back and revise the review.

I felt I just had to say something because the negative comments almost prevented me from purchasing this excellent audiobook.

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38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Good but...

...hearing the phrase, "This is a short history of Ireland in 240 episodes" 240 times will drive most people insane. I made it up to about 40 before giving up. This was doubly frustrating as the content was enjoyable and informative. Surely these "links" could have been expunged before turning a radio series in to an audiobook.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Very interesting read

The reading of the material is well done. The information is fun and given in a very friendly manner that would appeal to just about anyone with a history of Celtic culture.

The only negative I have is that the bedanged thing stops every 20 minutes or so and gives a long (and after 244 times) very tiresome lead in that this is A Short History of Ireland in 244 parts by the BBC or something along those lines. It gets super-old!

Still, it is a good read. We listened to it during a carpool last month with kids from 10 to adults and everyone enjoyed it.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Brings Ireland to life...

...in 240 episodes just like it says. This history is told in an informative, entertaining and very well presented documentary format. By documentary format, it brings a nice mix of theatrical presentation with a succinct storytelling style. The music and background sounds do not overpower the story, they add a pleasant sense of style and/or "feel" for the mood of the times being presented.

It does not attempt to present the history in textbook form. Given that it is trying to provide an overview of Irish history from the Ice Age to the start of World War II, I was not sure what to expect. BBC Radio Ulster has given us an admirably detailed while still broad in scope history of Ireland. What I got may not be all inclusive, but I'm happy with the investment.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Unfortunate

Unfortunately this audio book is just a history text being read in charming Irish accents. It is dry as dust and carries no reference to the oral histories of Ireland. I am very disappointed. I should have listened to more than the first few lines before I bought it.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Needs serious editing

The information in this audiobook is excellent - well presented - BUT there is a really irritating chapter system (240 episodes in fact) each of which is introduced VERY ANNOYING.....needs to be edited so that it flows from one chapter to the next without interruption

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Marred by background music

I'm afraid I'm unable to comment on the content of the book as my attempt at listening was marred for me by the background music.I couldn't concentrate on the spoken word at all. Very disappointing. Unfortunatley, I didn't listen to a preview before buying. I'll learn ....

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Short and Often Too Brief

Short and often too brief of an overview however, it does span 12,000 years so what can one expect? The story line or events are enough to give you the idea of time and events and it does wet the appetite to seek further into the depth of events.
My biggest problem with this book was, it constantly interrupted every 5 min. or so with annoying announcements by saying "this audio BBC twelve thousand years of the history of Ireland - episode 1, then 2 etc. ." 240 times throughout the whole book, by the end of the book you just can't wait to throw it away.

You would think they would of had the sense to break it up by chapters every 45 - 60 minutes but every few minutes is crazy.

I would not recommend this book based mainly on the annoying interruptions.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

horribly horrible almost unlistenable

we are planning a trip to Ireland and thought this would be great. NOPE. RUN AWAY FROM THIS. The last part is worse than the first so don't think "maybe this will get better."

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6 people found this helpful