A spectacular tour of Ireland's history for younger readers, from the ice age to the present day. Beautifully illustrated and a great read, this award-winning book is essential for every classroom and library: as well as being the perfect gift! Available both as large format and pocket sized hardback.
Category: History
Themes:
History, Information
We are going on a long mysterious journey to find out what we can about the Island of Ireland…
The Story of Ireland begins ‘After the Ice’ and lasts 9000 years. It tells the story of the whole island and its people. The book’s 27 chapters chronicle the big picture of invasions, wars, Christianity, famine and a divided island, mixed with tales of Celtic head hunters, mysterious stone tombs, the Vikings, the black death, life in castles, the Titanic tragedy, music, mobiles and computers. When it ends a new story is just beginning.
The Story of Ireland won the Irish Children's Book of the Year Award (Irish Book Awards) in 2008 and was in the International Youth Library’s White Ravens 2008 selection.
Available in both the original large format hardback and a pocket-sized hardback edition.
Brendan O’Brien reported on Northern Ireland as RTÉ’s senior current affairs reporter beginning in 1974, and he made three major documentaries about the IRA. He won many awards for investigative journalism, including European Journalist of the Year 1998 and the Amnesty International Award 2001. Since retiring from RTÉ he has lectured extensively on the Northern Irish conflict and peace process.
He is the author of The Story of Ireland, a children’s book illustrated by Cartoon Saloon; The Long War: The IRA and Sinn Féin; and the revised and updated edition of A Short History of Ireland (by the late Breandán
Ó hEithir). He lives in Wicklow with his family.
Cartoon Saloon is a Kilkenny-based animation studio formed by Paul Young, Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey in 1999. They are best-known for their Academy Award-nominated feature-length animations The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea, but have also done a wide range of television programmes and some lovely illustration work for O'Brien Press books.
'Clever, informative and above all entertaining.'
'Written in a lively, informal style, its attractive pages are full of informative facts broken down into child-friendly, bite-sized pieces, ideal for internet-savvy modern youngsters . . . Every household in Ireland should have a copy, not to mention libraries and schools. I can’t recommend it highly enough. A triumph!'
'This is a beautifully presented book which brings the History of Ireland to life for young children. It is lively and colourful with plenty of stories, people and places.'
'Filled with fun facts on everything from the Stone Age to the Celtic Tiger and is illustrated in a way that will delight children. A great gift for any curious child.'
'A family must-have . . . each page is a treasure of knowledge, cleverly fragmented with illustrations, photos and brilliant cartoons that provoke the reader to dip in and be hooked!'
'Deserves a place in every school and home library . . . such a quality that its appeal ought to endure for many years and many readings to come’
Robert Dunbar’s top 30 Books of the Year 2007. 'Some 9,000 years of Irish history are colourfully and humorously delineated in an ambitiously conceived and successfully executed 'story'.'
'Most impressive in its inventiveness, wealth of witty illustration, mixture of fun and serious history. It is great to see work of this quality from an Irish publishing house in these straitened times. This book deserves to be in every home and school.'
'A fun way to present history to children and O’Brien are to be commended for doing a fine job in condensing 900 centuries worth of history.'
'A sophisticated production.'
'Absolutely wonderful.'
'A joy to read and look at - bright, lively and informative.'
'Some kids thought that Irish history would never be enjoyable, but that’s before The Story of Ireland was written!!! With all its funny illustrations and its cool facts, its very easy to read and makes Irish history much more interesting.'
'Every house in Ireland should have it.'
'Without any question this is the Children’s Book of the Year.'
'This book is a significant breakthrough in the writing and presentation of history to Irish children and ought to be in every school library, if not in every home.'
'history is vividly brought to life … this new format will surely make the book a hit all over again in the run up to Christmas'
'will delight younger readers interested in history but more importantly it will appeal to those who are not'
'an entertaining gallop through centuries of history in a way which will appeal to the younger reader but still manages to get everything in'
'Without any question this is the Children’s Book of the Year.'
'A joy to read and look at - bright, lively and informative.'
'Every house in Ireland should have it.'
'Deserves a place in every school and home library . . . such a quality that its appeal ought to endure for many years and many readings to come’
'Some kids thought that Irish history would never be enjoyable, but that’s before The Story of Ireland was written!!! With all its funny illustrations and its cool facts, its very easy to read and makes Irish history much more interesting.'
'Absolutely wonderful.'
'for young fact-lovers, try the excellent stocking-sized Story of Ireland by Brendan O’Brien, a pictorial guide to Irish history with lively illustrations'
Download Activity sheets: Best of Ireland: Activity 1
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Download Activity sheets: Footprints in the Future: Activity 1
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Download Activity sheets: History Detectives: Activity 1
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Download Activity sheets: Saints & Pagans: Activity 1
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Download Activity sheets: Statues with a Story: Activity 1
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Download Activity sheets: The Celts: Activity 1
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Download Activity sheets: Time Travel: Activity 1
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Download Activity sheets: To School: Activity 1
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