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  • An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War

  • An Irish Country Novel
  • Written by: Patrick Taylor
  • Narrated by: John Keating
  • Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (14 ratings)

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An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War

Written by: Patrick Taylor
Narrated by: John Keating
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Publisher's Summary

Long before Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly became a fixture in the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo, he was a young M.B. with plans to marry midwife Dierdre Mawhinney. Those plans were complicated by the outbreak of World War II and the call of duty. Assigned to the HMS Warspite, a formidable 30,000-ton battleship, Surgeon Lieutenant O’Reilly soon found himself face-to-face with the hardships of war, tending to the dreadnought’s crew of 1,200 as well as to the many casualties brought aboard. Life in Ballybuckebo is a far cry from the strife of war, but over two decades later O’Reilly and his younger colleagues still have plenty of challenges: an outbreak of German measles, the odd tropical disease, a hard-fought pie-baking contest, and a local man whose mule-headed adherence to tradition is standing in the way of his son’s future. Now older and wiser, O’Reilly has prescriptions for whatever ails...until a secret from the past threatens to unravel his own peace of mind. Shifting deftly between two very different eras, Patrick Taylor’s latest Irish Country novel reveals more about O’Reilly’s tumultuous past, even as Ballybucklebo faces the future in its own singular fashion.

©2014 Ballybucklebo Stories Corp (P)2014 Macmillan Audio

What listeners say about An Irish Doctor in Peace and at War

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  • R.
  • 2021-12-12

Great!

This was a wonderful continuation of the life story of Dr. O’Reilly. It was also a fascinating history lesson of life on a warship in WWII.

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  • Jean
  • 2017-06-02

Engaging

This is book nine in the Irish Doctor series. It is best to read this series in order as Taylor builds the next story on the past one. In this book Taylor flashes back and forth between Northern Ireland in the 1960s and the Wartime travails of 1939 to 1945 at home and at sea. Dr. Fingal O’Reilly served in the Royal Navy during World War Two. The author tells of O’Reilly’s wartime courtship of his wife, Deirdre. Deirdre was a nurse midwife in training when they met.

I found the part of the story about O’Reilly’s service on HMS Warspite most interesting. Taylor tells of HMS Warspite’s action in the Battle of West Fjord in Norway and later off Italy. Then he covers HMS Warspite’s in time in Alexandria, Egypt. O’Reilly was a medical officer on the Warspite.

The book opens in the 1960s with housekeeper Kinky’s wedding. Young Barry Laverty is back in Ballybucklebo and medical student Jenny is helping out for the summer.

The book is well written and researched. I really enjoyed the various Irish accents, the humor and the pithy insights. In this book, aboard HMS Warspite there is a wide variety of accents from Scottish to Cockney. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

The book is thirteen and a half hours long. John Keating does a fantastic job narrating the book. This series works best as an audiobook because Keating does such a great job with all the various accents and the pronunciations of the Irish words. Keating has narrated the series from the beginning. Keating is an Irish actor and award-winning audiobook narrator.

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  • Michael
  • 2015-03-23

Thoroughly enjoyable

It filled in the war years of Dr Fingal and his coming back married to Kitty.
A disappointing note is that we should have been advised that it should come after Fingal O'Reilly Irish Doctor. Unfortunately I listened to the book and wish I'd realised it was out of sequence in the series.

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  • Kathryn E. Keeling
  • 2015-02-16

Great deeper into life on a warship WWII

A great adventure with Fingal during his first year in battles as some in the British Royal Navy from the historically famous HMS WarSpite. This artfully crafted to progressively teach basic naval terms and tactics in the north Seas throughout the first half then into a major all out naval battle in the Mediterranean. Also, as in other books, the "current" year in the 1960s in the village of ballybucklebo is woven throughout the book. One gets a sense of just pre war and start of war as it was impacting lives in both northern Oreland and the Republic of Ireland during the flashbacks. Simultaneously a small foreshadowing of the outbreak of fighting to come later in the century to the wee North.

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  • James
  • 2015-02-14

Always outstanding

Being Of Irish dissent as well as being in medicine I truly enjoy Dr.Patrick Taylor's gifted writings.mr. Keating's narration it's phenomenal bring so much more pleasure to these books.I am listen to all of them and I am always anticipating the next one. I can say without a doubt that Dr. Patrick Taylor it's my favorite writer. What a winning combination we have between his gifts and Mr. Keating's gifts thank you so very much.

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  • Michael G. Samyn
  • 2020-06-11

Another great book by Patrick Taylor

I have already read all of Mr. Taylor’s books, and have been rereading them again. I have arranged Mr. Taylor’s books by date of publication. Not counting the cookbook, I believe there are 15 books. I am just restarting book #10. I don’t know what I will do when I read all his books for the second time? Are there any more books being added to the series?
Hugs and kisses to Patrick Taylor😘🙏

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  • LY
  • 2022-01-11

Love these stories

Love everything about the Country Doctor series and I could listen to John Keating read just about anything,

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2019-11-02

Great Historical Fiction

Road trips fly by when listening to Patrick Taylor books- always great stories and characters , but the narration by John Keating is world class.
What a talent! He makes all the characters come alive , each with individual nuances . Wonderful !

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  • Terri Driscoll
  • 2019-01-25

Great Series!!!

This is such a delightful Series! The Characters are so fun and the story line awesome. The Narration is awesome!

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  • Sara Hill Lavelle
  • 2018-11-03

Patrick Taylor Does it Again

Using the interaction of personal history and “present,” the movement of these parallel stories injects new depth into Taylor’s characters. I found the story a delightful and insightful escape from the pressures of daily life.

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  • Smiley
  • 2018-09-23

Very entertaining read!

I love the detailed descriptions that Patrick Taylor writes with a poetic flow, I can just imagine being there. The character development is very well done. I find this series to be truly entertaining- a good story, interesting characters, and a fair amount of historical information. The stories leave me longing for the next adventure.