Donal Donnelly has narrated 4 audiobooks on Listento.it by 7 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 26 ratings. The most-rated is Ulysses.
Ulysses
Summary
The first authorized, unabridged release of this timeless classic and exclusively available from Recorded Books. Ulysses records the events of a single day, June 16, 1904, in Dublin, Ireland.
Public Domain (P)1995 Recorded Books
How the Irish Saved Civilization
Summary
A book in the best tradition of popular history - the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe. Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars" - and thus preserve Western culture while Europe was being overrun by barbarians. In this entertaining and compelling narrative, Thomas Cahill tells the story of how Europe evolved from the classical age of Rome to the medieval era. Without Ireland, the transition could not have taken place. Not only did Irish monks and scribes maintain the very record of Western civilization - copying manuscripts of Greek and Latin writers, both pagan and Christian, while libraries and learning on the continent were forever lost - they brought their uniquely Irish world-view to the task. As Cahill delightfully illustrates, so much of the liveliness we associate with medieval culture has its roots in Ireland. When the seeds of culture were replanted on the European continent, it was from Ireland that they were germinated. In the tradition of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, How the Irish Saved Civilization reconstructs an era that few know about but which is central to understanding our past and our cultural heritage. But it conveys its knowledge with a winking wit that aptly captures the sensibility of the unsung Irish who relaunched civilization.
©1995 Thomas Cahill (P)1999 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, a Division of Random House, Inc.
The Dork of Cork
Summary
Frank Bois is 43 years old and 43 inches tall, but his yearnings are as wide and deep as the night sky he contemplates from his rooftop in Cork, Ireland. The Dork of Cork is his story, a fictional autobiography that captures the emotions of the listener from its provocative opening line to its surprising, but touching, ending. With intelligence and vision that rise far above his diminutive size, Frank shares his engaging meditations on beauty: in the stars, in lovely and unattainable women, and even in mathematics.
©1993 Chet Raymo (P)1995 Recorded Books
The Aran Islands
Summary
J.M. Synge, one of the greatest English language playwrites of the 20th century, immortalized the Aran Islands and its people with vivid written portraits that are among the greatest in modern literature. Synge’s vibrant language and earthy themes breathtakingly capture the folklore and way of life that has since perished on these remote northern islands. As an aspiring writer in 1897, Synge was commanded by William Butler Yeats to, “Go to the Aran Islands. Live there as one of the people themselves; express a life that has never found expression.” Synge captures his first four visits to the islands in this magical book. However, their influence continued to permeate his work, including The Playboy of the Western World. Filled with the exuberant energy of an artist coming into his own, The Aran Islands provides an unforgettable look at a land that holds Ireland’s ancestral language, culture and uncorrupted heart. Synge’s lyrical glimpses into the past, coupled with Donal Donnelly’s rich, lilting voice transports listeners to these tiny Emerald Islands.
Public Domain (P)1997 Recorded Books, LLC