Irish Ireland

The Burren, the Ring of Kerry, the Giant’s Causeway, the Cliffs of Moher - green Ireland is indeed a tower of intrigue. The nation is home to most of the world’s enchanting sites, and behind the generous bounties of nature lies a history that is all the more enchanting. Prehistoric to modern, this audioook chronicles every prominent event that led to the sculpting of today’s Ireland.

The saga of English predominance in Ireland began in the 12th century following the Norman invasion of England, when a band of Norman adventurers, established on the Welsh mainland, set off across the Irish Sea to test their prospects on the shores of England’s western neighbor. Ireland at the time was ruled in provinces by local kings, each with limited power and authority, and often at war with one another.

In their long history of suffering, nothing was ever so terrible as what the Irish endured during the Great Potato Famine that struck the country in the 1840s and produced massive upheaval for several years. While countless numbers of Irish starved, the famine also compelled many to leave, and all the while, the British were exporting enough food from Ireland on a daily basis to prevent the starvation. Over the course of 10 years, the population of Ireland decreased by about 1.5 million people, and taken together, these facts have led to charges as severe as genocide.

Irish contributions to American life from corned beef and cabbage to submarines: These are just a few of the wonderful things that make America the warm-hearted, good-humored, flag-waving country that it has been for 250 years, and they all came from the grand green land of Ireland. Since Patrick Maguire stepped off the decks of Columbus’ Santa Maria ship in 1492 to drag his dinghy onto the shores of San Salvador, the Irish have had one foot in the muddy black soil and brilliant green grass of Ireland and one on the mountains and lakes and prairies of the Land of the Free.