Showing results by narrator "Ruairi Conaghan" in All Categories

The James Joyce Collection includes Joyce's 2 most celebrated novels, short fiction from Dubliners, and a selection of his poetry. Read by a wonderful Irish cast of Aoife McMahon, Aidan Kelly, and Stephen Hogan.

Tony 10 was the online betting username of Tony O'Reilly, the postman who became front-page news in 2011 after he stole €1.75 million from the Irish postal service while he was an An Post branch manager in Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland. O'Reilly used the money to fund a gambling addiction that began with a bet of one euro and whose debt eventually rose to ten million euro, leading to the loss of his job, his family, his home – and winning him a prison sentence.

The Garden is not thriving. In fact, it is withering away. Once a little orchid haven, now after the worst hurricane ever seen in Florida, it is wrecked greenhouses, creeping mangroves and dangerously idle men. So when Romeo, an expert breeder of the lucrative ghost orchid, arrives from Honduras, keeper of the Garden, Blanchard, and his Irish right-hand man, Swallow, believe the winds of fortune are blowing their way. But Romeo is not who he seems, and Swallow can't shake the feeling that the newcomer will threaten his position in the Garden's flimsy hierarchy.

Recently widowed, Rebecca Parcell is too busy struggling to maintain her farm in Morristown to give a fig who wins the War for Independence. But rumors are spreading in the winter of 1780 that she's a Loyalist sympathizer who betrayed her husband to the British-quite a tidy way to end her disastrous marriage, the village gossips whisper.

When Manny McDonnell was 12, he awoke to discover British troops surrounding his home in the toughest area of trouble-torn Belfast. Encouraged by a fiercely Republican mother, he took to the streets with other school kids, throwing bricks, bottles and petrol bombs at soldiers. Jailed at 15 for having IRA links, he became a unit commander leading deadly missions for the INLA before joining the IPLO, a group so vicious even the IRA ordered it to disband. But his decades of commitment to a free united Ireland turned to disillusion when bombs killed two little boys in mainland Britain.

What do you have in common with the 7.75 billion other people on the planet? This is the question that Professor Luke O’Neill attempts to answer in this exciting new audiobook for young listeners, adapted from his bestselling title for adults, Humanology: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Amazing Existence. Starting with the origin of life and how we as a species evolved on the plains of Africa some 200,000 years ago, Professor Luke explores what makes us interesting as a species, why we sleep, laugh and enjoy music, and our efforts to stop diseas

Former Newcastle United winger Paul Ferris was 51. He had successfully forged a post-football career as a physio, barrister and then a CEO, and his award-winning memoir, The Boy on the Shed, was just about to be published. But then he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. This honest, sometimes brutal and frequently funny book tells the story of what happened next.

Following the Irish coast in a clockwise direction, acclaimed ecologist Richard Nairn travels by boat, on foot and sometimes by air to visit the best remaining wild places, including islands, cliffs, beaches and dunes. The result is a unique mix of nature, history, science and a reflection on the author’s personal experiences of exploring Ireland’s coast. By viewing the Irish coastline from the sea, Richard gains a unique perspective on the island. And along the way, he recalls a lifetime spent studying nature.

Professor Luke O’Neill has become one of the most well-known and trusted voices of Ireland’s COVID-19 pandemic. A world-renowned immunologist, he was thrust into the spotlight as the media and public desperately grappled to make sense of a crisis that saw the country grind to a halt. In these high-octane diaries, Professor Luke reveals what life was like behind the scenes.

RTÉ journalist Barry Cummins has reported on the unsolved cases of Ireland’s missing for decades. In this new edition of his best-selling book, he examines the latest leads and developments of Ireland’s most high-profile missing cases, including the women who disappeared under eerily similar circumstances in the 1990s and whose bodies have never been found.

Five kids with one dream: to become the greatest sports stars in the world! Follow Kim as she trains to be the best at her favourite sport: rugby! Kim has been at the best – and most mysterious – sports academy in the world for a few months now. She and the rest of her class were selected because they all shared a determination and willingness to improve. Now the gang are on their way to Japan for the rugby World Cup – but they’re going to need some more teammates.

Fifteen-year-old Sam plunges to his death whilst building his beloved Titanic. Now as the greatest ship the world has ever seen crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Sam finds himself on board - as a ghost. His spirit roams the ship, from the glamour of first class to the party atmosphere of third class. Sam shares the excitement of Jim, Isobel and their children − on their way to a new life in America.

Joe knows he has no chance of catching the mysterious scout’s eye - he loves football, but he’s the worst player in his club. Despite this, he’s whisked away to a remote island and teamed up with four other kids: Kim, Craig, Ajit and Jess. There’s more to this island than meets the eye: Joe learns it is home to the world’s greatest Sports Academy. With the help of eccentric, genius coaches, he and his new friends are gradually transformed into serious players in their own sports. But the Academy’s secrets are wanted by many others.

Native woodland is one of the most valuable resources for biodiversity in Ireland’s wet climate. Yet Ireland has the lowest forest cover of any part of Europe, with the surviving native woodland covering a tiny area of the country. Ireland lost the majority of its ancient forest centuries ago, but now is when we need it most to help solve the climate crisis. This audiobook is a celebration of Ireland’s native woodlands blended with a personal account of learning to manage a single small wood over a typical year.

In the fascinating new audiobook from the best-selling author of Humanology, Luke O'Neill explores some of the big human questions and tells us what science has to say about topics such as gender, addiction and euthanasia. With his trademark easy wit and clever pop-culture references, Luke is a serious scientist with an amazing knack of making science accessible. If you are curious about us, this bizarre animal called the human being, this is a book for you.

Taking us on an incredible journey across centuries and galaxies, accompanied by his characteristic wit, Professor Luke O’Neill explains how it all began, how it will all end and everything in between. Listeners will benefit from Luke’s insatiable curiosity for life when they dive into this ultimate journey through life and death. Among other fascinating facts, you’ll discover the science behind how we got to be so smart, why sex with a caveman was a good idea, the science of finding love, why we follow religions and how robots will become part of everyday life.

Show Me the Science asks questions like, do we have control over our lives? Can we escape working in terrible jobs? Why do we need vaccinations? Are men’s and women's brains different? Will we destroy the planet? – and encourages children to apply a scientific mindset in attempting to answer them.

1994, the summer of the ceasefire. In the Northern Irish border town of Cross, after decades of violent activity protesting British rule, a community plays out its end game. Francie, a principled elder of the cause, has authorised the murder of a policeman – his teenage henchmen are triumphant at pulling it off. In the town square, the Widow Donnelly protests because her son has gone missing.

It's been over thirty years since Billy last called Northern Ireland home. Back then, his secret love for schoolfriend Conor was the only shining light that kept him going during troubled times. That is, until their romance was tragically cut short when Conor disappeared without a trace. Now a phone call draws Billy back home when his mother falls into a coma. While sorting through old belongings, he stumbles upon an envelope bearing his name. Inside, he finds a mysterious note and a mixtape left by Conor - dated the very day he disappeared in 1989.

Stephen Dedalus is a boy on the edge of transformation—questioning his strict Irish Catholic upbringing, the confines of his family, and the weight of tradition. As he comes of age, his inner world brims with restless ambition and a desire to escape conformity through the power of art. In this bold, lyrical, and deeply introspective novel, James Joyce traces Stephen’s journey from obedient child to fiercely independent thinker, exploring the messy, passionate formation of an artist's identity in a world that demands obedience.