A Short History of Ireland

by Jonathan Bardon

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 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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Ireland, Irish Literature

MP3 Book

First published March 14, 2008

Reviews

[Jacob Deasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thorough overview of the entire history of Ireland up to 1945. The audiobook acting and production is of high quality and immersive, particularly re-enactments of songs from each era. Unfortunately, some chapters are rather esoteric explorations of niche industrial developments and I found this history to be anything but short.

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

[image error] BBC7 - History

A Short History of Ireland started on 27 March, 2006 and ran for a total of 240 episodes, taking an historical journey spanning the Ice Age, the arrival of Christianity, the Viking era, Brian Boru, the Norman invasion, the plantation and the famine through to the creation of the Irish Free State.

Written by Dr. Jonathan Bardon OBE, QUB, each programme was read by local actors Frances Tomelty, James Greene and Richard Dormer, who interweave eye-witness accounts, letters and diary extracts from the times with the historical facts.

[Tim]

Excellent overview of Irish history, originally based on series of radio broadcasts. I was worried that the episodic nature of it would detract from the flow, but if anything the opposite is the case, providing for shifting perspectives (native Irish, Norman, Ulster Protestant, landlord, etc. etc.) in a way which would be difficult in a more linear narrative.

[Meaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well done. The program covers Irish history from prehistory to the outbreak of the Second World War. I wish it went a little further but I really enjoyed it.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes a bit slow, but mostly a really good overview of history before I visit Ireland again.

[Harshal Patil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed A Short History of Ireland in audiobook form. It was very long—240 episodes and 21 hours or so —but the audio format made it engaging. The enactments were excellent, with different people voicing different parts. That brought the stories to life and helped me better appreciate Irish culture and history.

The book showed how Ireland has strong cultural ties to both the Vikings and Scotland. Later, a major part of Irish identity formed around Catholicism. But the UK, which was expanding its empire, conquered Ireland and tried to impose Protestantism. This led to deep resistance from the Catholic population.

I noticed strong parallels with how the British ruled India—using divide-and-rule tactics, treating the country like a distant colony, extracting taxes, and giving little in return. One example in Ireland was a law that made property inheritance very difficult for Catholics. Only the eldest son could inherit land, and anything left over was split among the other children. This caused land holdings to shrink so much that farming became unsustainable. Over time, the British rulers used laws like these to reduce Catholic land ownership and allow people from the UK to buy up land, often to help cover Britain's tax deficits.

At one point, Ireland's population was around 8.5 million. Then came the Great Famine, and about 25% of the population either died or emigrated—mostly to America. It was tragic.

The book also covered how France supported Ireland’s independence during the French Revolution. Later, Germany supported Ireland too, though that connection was tied to fascism. It seems there was even a fascist movement in Ireland at that point.

interesting to see the connection of the american great depression around 1930s to Europe and Ireland.

Interesting: the importance of potato and porridge in Ireland.

I found the stories of figures like Parnell or O’Connell and cities or areas like Coombe, Kilmainham jail, Belfast, Belfast, Cork, or Limerick interesting.

There were parts about Ireland’s pagan past, and how St. Patrick, a Roman Catholic missionary, worked hard to convert people to Christianity.

The deep divide between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland was mainly due to religion. I got to know about the foundation of Ireland’s first schools from hundreds of years ago.

The story ends a couple of decades after independence. The independence story confused me a bit, but I could still see strong similarities with India’s freedom movement—things like the Home Rule push, civil disobedience, emigration, boycotting British goods, and encouraging people to support Irish businesses. However, at one point, Ireland and Britain even seemed like one cohesive country with democracy. Then Ireland fought what felt like a civil war—a kind of internal war—to finally separate as a state. I realized I need to read more about Irish history to fully understand it.

I’d rate the impact of this book as 4 out of 5. The storytelling was powerful, and it gave me meaningful context about the country I now live in.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relatively fun and light hearted, but skimmed over a few events that left me wanting more info -- well, it does say 'a short history', I suppose. Quiet easily digestible, with an interesting cast of voice actors and sound effects. It did get a little odd around the middle, when I realised narrative song was going to be a recurring thing. I went into this with very little knowledge about the history of Ireland but a long held fascination with the country. I'm somewhat disturbed by how much civil war and bloodshed seems to have been in its make up. Religious purity continues to be senseless in my view. But it was interesting to see how Gaelic stronghold Ulster and English-tied Dublin switched their positions over time. It's easier on this side of history to recognise the events that changed the future of Ireland, but hearing the events as they happened, I couldn't help but feel for the people who had such aspirations in their time.

[Deborah Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this audiobook in order to have an introduction and overview of the history of Ireland. It does an excellent job of this although this particular history only goes through to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. That said, it is an incredible achievement. It is almost impossible to cover everything but the book moves through the timeline skillfully. The audiobook has multiple voices and this helps to vary and lighten what, at times,is a traumatic read.
Some people have found the chapter/ part heading announcements which repeat the title each time an annoyance or distraction. I enjoyed this. It kept me on track and broke up the narration. It was also pleasant to have music and songs relevant to the timeline brought in occasionally.
It gave me a thorough grounding, filled in a lot of gaps for me and put me in a much better position to move on and find more detailed analyses of specific parts of Irish history.

[Matthew Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up while planning a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland, as I wanted to get a bit more familiar with the history. I found it very informative, and was surprised just how in depth some of the ancient history was.

One of my main points of interest was understanding England's colonial history and its lasting legacy during Ireland's fight for independence, as well as the ongoing division and tension in Northern Ireland. It was incredibly helpful context, and had a huge impact on how I processed the many memorials and murals throughout Northern Ireland.

One of the best things a book can do is help you to reexamine a specific idea in a way that leads to a broader examination of how it applies to other instances or areas of life. That was certainly the case here. It challenged my perceptions and beliefs about not only England's colonialism, but about America's as well, and the broader impacts and unintended consequences of colonialism.

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure this was a very interesting and thorough insight into the history of Ireland and I was really looking forward to it, however I found I was constantly distracted (maybe this says more about me than the story). But I think what didn't help was the constant use of random sound effects/vocalisation. I know the use of these is to enhance the story and immersion for the reader/listener but honestly I found most of them annoying. And the Kolimba (I think?) sound effect at the start/end of most episodes got so irritating!! Who chose that?! What in the world does it have to do with Ireland??
Not sure if this is available in print, but if so, I'd recommend it over the audio.

[reoccurrence]

I originally thought this was going to be an audiobook but it was actually a series of 240 short podcast episodes starting from the Ice Age and ending in the beginning of World War Two. Throughout the series there are song re-enactments, diaries, journals, and eye witness accounts to bring these historical events to life. Obviously an entire history of a people cannot be contained in a single series or book but I think this was a good place to find important events in Irish history that I can do further research on. It was a great listen.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable as an audio book, but I doubt it's much of a read. . . . I suspect the "book" was created after the radio show.

Book ends at the beginning of WWII. Irish Free State (sort of a commonwealth state) is trying to establish itself. More radical Catholics and Northern Ireland want to see it fail. Poverty related to world-wide depression is rampant in all of Ireland. I will find another book to bring me from 1939 to the present day.

[Tom Brennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book/dramatization is exactly what it represents itself to be - a radio format, piece set, short history of Ireland spanning many episodes. I'm planning a trip to Ireland in a few years and I want to bone up on my Irish history. I wanted to start with something simple. That's what this is. If you are looking for an academic, period, in-depth, or even well-written book on the subject keep looking. That doesn't make this bad; it makes it what it is.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! It finally gave me a better grasp of the wide sweep of Irish history - which has been pretty tragic taken as a great big whole. Helped me to better understand why irish culture and institutions are the way they are.

[Roxie McClaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy-to-follow historical audiobook that does a good job of summarizing Irish history as a whole, made enjoyable by semi-dramatization, with several performers recreating important quotes, journals, letters, and speeches.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

History delivered in brief snippets. Unfortunately, it ends with WWII, so it doesn't deal with "the troubles", but it does do a good job of explaining the years of injustice from the British. It's interesting but not entertaining in the traditional sense. But it does provide a good education.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 23 hours long, this audiobook is not exactly "short", but it's very well-produced and decently entertaining. DNF at 60%, but I still enjoyed it enough to give it 4 stars. Great for a history buff or a long road trip through Ireland.

[Michael Lowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a dash through Irish history from the earliest inhabitants to WWII. It is entertaining and well paced but lacks depth and nuance. However, for those new to the often tangled knot of Irish history, this is a great introduction to some of the recurring themes such as sectarian antagonism and conflict with their nearest neighbour and colonial power: Britain.

[Iain Hamill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this as an Audible recording, moves along at relative pace finishing with the outbreak of the second world war.

[Jason Madden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was okay. Some of the sound effects were weird and distracting.

[Mise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that triggered a desire to learn more about every chapter of Irish history.

Great pitstop tour of the history of an island and all its peoples

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really a 4-star book in amazing-ness or anything, but for what it was intended to be (brief episodes summarizing Ireland's different periods), it was well done.

[Laurence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview, some really great scenes which will need further delving.

[Mishmitakin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very wonderful audio book. Informative, and I was sad to have it end in the year1939 and hoped there was some continuing of the story in a sequel.. I found none. This has awaken my desire to get a more firm grasp on the history of Europe and the UK.

[Koit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very decent (brief) overview of Irish history, ending with Mr Chamberlain's declaration of war in '39 - which I figured would be good to highlight as I originally thought that it would go further into the 20th century.

Ireland is one of the many places in Europe where the last thousand years have been spent in constant conflict. Including that even the present situation is very complex, it can be quite difficult to give a decent unbiased (or, equally biased) overview. I am not qualified enough to say whether this work achieved that measure of equal bias, but I think it tried to get there.

I also have to add that I very much enjoyed the direct quotations from diaries, letters, etc. These gave the narrative the required character to prevent a historical work from becoming too overbearing.

[Maciej Bliziński · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book gives an interesting historical overview, starting with prehistoric times, and surprisingly ending in year 1939; I hoped for more of the recent history. I liked the division into small chunks, and thought voice acting made it enjoyable. The book lacked cues into Ireland's geography: the text would mention regions and city names, but wouldn't tell where they are, and what sort of distances were at play. Overall, time well spent.

[Rosey Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the read though the audio recording was strange (they started out doing the whole into for EVERY segment and then stopped doing it at all as we got into the 100s?).

Lots of info I didn’t know.

Not very in depth but what would you expect from an overview?

[Deirdre E Siegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy listen, nation’s history should be this format for school children,
no gratuitous opinions, some definite descriptions of inhumanity to humanity.
A definite read again, thank you Jonathan Barton :-)

[Stevieg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read

[Lisa Rosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an audio book/program--brilliantly narrated--that managed to keep me riveted for more than 22 hours. An excellent overview of Irish history.