Ireland Historical Fiction

In 12th-century Ireland, four rival kings fought ferociously, leaving scorched earth and bloodshed as the Church’s saints tried to intervene. In the end, death and destruction rendered the country unable to defend itself from invaders across the sea. Who were the kings and how did sixty years of desperate wars set in motion the events leading to a divided land? Based on the actual events recorded by monks, this novel tells a compelling story about the most pivotal event in Irish history.

January, 1932: Ben MacCarthy and his father watch a vagabond variety revue making a stop in the Irish countryside. Ben's father, mesmerized by Venetia Kelly, the troupe's magnetic headliner, makes a fateful decision: to abandon his family and set off on the road with Miss Kelly and her caravan. Ben's mother, shattered by the desertion, exhorts "find him and bring him back", thereby sending the boy on a Homeric voyage into manhood.

Jack and Annie are off in search of another story in jeopardy, this time at a monastery in ancient Ireland. Trouble arrives when Vikings land, and Jack and Annie must find a way to escape!

Super sleuth Sister Fidelma returns in Smoke in the Wind, the 11th perplexing historical mystery by Peter Tremayne. Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, are on their way to visit the new Archbishop of Canterbury when their ship is blown off course and they land on the coast of the Welsh kingdom of Dyfed.

As they are preparing to return to Ireland, Fidelma and Brother Eadulf receive a mysterious summons. Eadulf's childhood friend, Brother Botulf, has requested their presence at Aldred's Abbey at midnight on the old pagan feast of Yule. Fidelma and Eadulf battle against the harsh winter storms to arrive in time, only to find they are too late. Botulf is dead - killed by an unknown hand. As they struggle to comprehend this staggering news, it soon becomes clear that the murder of this young monk is not the only trouble facing the abbey.

February, AD 668, and Cashel is full of distinguished visitors. Under the old Irish custom, Fidelma of Cashel and Eadulf of Seaxmund's Ham, having been joined together for a year and a day, are to be married. But on the eve of the ceremony, the pious Abbot Ultán is found murdered in his chamber. Worse still - one of the most distinguished guests, the King of Connacht, is seen fleeing from the scene and charged with the murder. He demands his right to appoint Fidelma in his defence.

AD 670. An Irish merchant ship is attacked by a pirate vessel off the coast of the Breton peninsular. Murchad, the captain, and a prince from the kingdom of Muman are killed in cold blood after they have surrendered. Among the other passengers who manage to escape the slaughter are Sister Fidelma of Cashel and her faithful companion, Brother Eadulf. The prince was Fidelma's cousin, and she is determined to bring the killers to justice....

On a storm-driven night, wreckers drive a ship onto rocks off the coast of Ireland. An Abbess leading a pilgrimage is killed and the young religieuse with her abducted. An aging scholar is murdered in the Abbey of Ard Fhearta. Do these events have a connection? Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf go to Ard Fhearta to examine the mystery. But the abbey stands in the territory of the Uí Fidgente, enemies of Fidelma and her brother, the King of Cashel, and danger threatens Fidelma and Eadulf from the moment of their arrival. What is the link that connects the crimes?

It is AD 670, and Bishop Leodegar has called the church leaders together for an emergency meeting. But a fierce row breaks out, and the assembly descends into chaos. Later that evening one of the delegates is discovered murdered, his skull brutally smashed. Sister Fidelma and her companion, Brother Eadulf, unwittingly find themselves in the middle of a shocking murder investigation involving the most powerful religious leaders in the land. The disappearance of women and children and rumours of a slave trade indicate malevolent forces at work.

Suspicion falls on three dark strangers from the distant land of Aksum (Ethiopia), who are guests at the Abbey of Finbarr. A panic-stricken mob attacks the abbey, leaving the religious in fear for their lives. Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf are called in to restore order and find the killer, but it soon becomes clear that the three mysterious strangers are hiding a dark secret. And what about the ageing Laig, a hermit-like apothecary, who is known to have instructed all three victims about the magic and power of the moon....

Beyond the sea lies ancient, Celtic Ireland, a proud land where tradition is everything and travel through the wild can mean slavery or death. There the Roman evangelist, Saint Patrick, carries a message of love, hope, and salvation - a message that threatens kingdoms, rulers, and powerful druid advisors. When Taran mac Teague joins the fight, he promises his beloved Laurna he’ll return. But will he? Can he? Or will the realm of spiritual darkness prove too strong?

Ireland, AD 670. When an eminent scholar is found murdered in his cell in the abbey of Lios Mór, fear spreads among his brethren; his door was secured from the inside, with no other means of exit. How did the murderer escape? And what was the content of the manuscripts apparently stolen from the scholar's room? Abbot Iarnla insists on sending for Sister Fidelma and her companion Brother Eadulf to investigate the killing. But even before they reach the abbey walls, there is an attempt on their lives.

When Sechnussach, High King of Ireland, is found dead in his bedchamber with his throat cut, all clues seem to suggest an all-too-obvious prime suspect. Dubh Duin, the chieftain of the clan Cinél Cairpre, was found with the murder weapon in his hand when the High King's guards entered the royal chamber, before taking his own life. The Chief Brehon of Ireland asks Sister Fidelma to investigate and find out what possible motives could have driven Dubh Duin to assassinate the High King.

An ex-soldier and recovering alcoholic living quietly in Somerset, Stephen Rose has just begun to form a bond with the daughter he barely knows when he receives a summons - to an inquiry into an incident during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. It is the return of what Stephen hoped he had outdistanced. Above all, to testify would jeopardise the fragile relationship with his daughter. And if he loses her, he loses everything. Instead, he decides to write her an account of his life: a confession, a defence, a love letter. Also a means of buying time.

TOOTS is the unforgettable tale of one woman's path to self-discovery. From the time she traveled from the shores of her home in Ireland and crossed the sea to America at the age of ten, Annie Smith worked to support herself. And just when she thinks her life is settled, and it's as good as it gets, she unexpectedly meets a handsome homesteader who sweeps her off to the plains of Nebraska for a life she never could have imagined.

On the mist-shrouded Isle of Hibernia, now known as Ireland, 26 years have passed since the murder of the high king, Fiacha Finnolach. The usurper Elim of Ulster’s promises of peace and prosperity have come to naught, as drought and famine afflict the land. Across the Irish Sea, the Roman Governor of Britannia, Julius Agricola, is met with an intriguing proposition. Fiacha’s son, Tuathal Techtmar, born when his pregnant mother fled into exile, has grown to manhood. He seeks the aid of Rome in avenging his father and becoming High King of Hibernia.

After three failed seasons and a disastrous jilting, Lady Dorothea Beaumont has had more than enough of her family's scheming. She won't domesticate a duke, entangle an earl, or vie for a viscount. She will quietly exit to her aunt's Irish estate for a life of blissful freedom. Until an arrogant, sinfully handsome duke singles her out for a waltz, making Thea the most popular belle of the season. The duke ruined her plans, and he'll just have to fix them.

Lion of Ireland was the breathtaking chronicle of Brian Boru, the Great King who led the bickering chiefs of Ireland in 1014 to unity under his reign. Now, with all the fire and brilliance for which her writing is known, Morgan Llywelyn takes us there, to the battlefield where Brian died, and to Brian's 15-year-old son, Donough, whose mother is the voluptuous and treacherous Gormlaith, with her lust for life and power undiminished by age: Donough, the son who is determined to make the High Kingship of Brian Boru's Ireland his own.

In 12th-century Ireland, young Éilísh Ní Laighin looks forward to the Norman invasion of her small village. Her father hopes she'll become royalty under the new masters. But a series of heartbreaking tragedies at the abbey where she trains begins to shake her worldview. When her husband is falsely accused of murder by the abbot who lusts after her, she turns to Éire's old gods, consumes a dose of psychedelic mushrooms, applies war dye, and becomes . . . The Blue Druid

Number one New York Times best-selling author Susan Wiggs sweeps listeners away to the misty coast of Ireland in an irresistible tale of falling in love with the enemy.