1793 and James Burke is under cover in Ireland, spying on Irish Nationalists. His objective: to discover any plots to conspire with the French to bring down English rule in Dublin. Dublin is full of plotters. Finding them is easy. Staying alive is not as straightforward. A tale of spying, love and death against the […]
Why I wrote about Irish history
Tom Williams’s Burke series of novels set during the Napoleonic Wars takes the spy James Burke across continents as he pursues adventure, love – and the French. But when it came to sending his character, a historical figure born in Ireland, back to his native land, Tom found himself asking: why write about Irish history? […]
Blood’s Campaign by Angus Donald
August 25, 1689. The English Army is besieging Carrickfergus in Ireland. Brilliant but unusual gunner Holcroft Blood of the Royal Train of Artillery is ready to unleash his cannons on the rebellious forces of deposed Catholic monarch James II. But this is more than war for Captain Blood, a lust for private vengeance burns within […]
The never-ending Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne. It’s one of those events in Irish and British history that’s loaded with significance (think Orange marches and gable-ends) even though not many people know much about what actually happened. As Angus Donald confesses he discovered when writing the third of his Holcroft Blood novels. We’ve all see them on […]
Full of Grace by Orla McAlinden
Returning to the beloved characters who populate Orla McAlinden’s award-winning debut The Accidental Wife, and introducing many new ones, Full of Grace probes deep into stories of love, betrayal, survival and belonging in a changing land
Review: Death and Nightingales
Locals will tell you that for six months of the year the lakes are in Fermanagh, and for the other six, Fermanagh is in the lakes. Rain sweeps in quickly in this small corner of Ulster. Waters rise and landscapes change. Frontiers are always on the move and borders once thought traversable can suddenly become […]
The Normans: Conquest Through Adaptation
Ruadh Butler explains how Norman military prowess relied on adopting and adapting ideas from conquered cultures. Thanks to a 12th century ancestor I find myself an Irishman bearing an English version of a Norman word for a Frankish court position as a surname. While identity in Ireland always makes an interesting subject, the background to the […]
On the Trail of the Vikings
On a recent visit to County Wicklow, Ireland, I checked into a B&B just a few miles from where the History Channel’s Vikings series is filming at Lough Tay. I was hoping that I might catch a glimpse of Ragnar and Co. Or better yet, I might have a jolly sit-down with series creator/writer Michael […]