The Story of Ireland

a comprehensive and flowing look back at 9,000 years of Irish history garnished with delightful illustrations by the Cartoon Saloon

* Irish Examiner *

welcome reprint… despite its ambitious scope – from Stone Age to digital age - it does not disappoint, the Cartoon Saloon’s illustrations ensure a child-friendly whizz through the more engaging moments in 9,000 years of Irish history

* Evening Echo *

'Clever, informative and above all entertaining.'

-- Eoin Colfer

'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!'

-- Sarah Webb - Children’s Books Ireland, BookFest

'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.'

-- Mary Hanafin T.D.

'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.'

-- The Irish Times * The Irish Times *

'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!'

-- Irish Examiner * The Irish Examiner *

'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’

-- InTouch Magazine * In Touch Magazine *

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'.'

-- The Irish Times * The Irish Times *

'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.'

-- Sunday Independent * The Sunday Independent *

'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.'

* Sunday Business Post *

'A sophisticated production.'

* The Sunday Tribune *

'Absolutely wonderful.'

-- The Tubridy Show, RTE Radio One

'A joy to read and look at - bright, lively and informative.'

-- The Newsletter

'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.'

* Kilkenny People *

'Every house in Ireland should have it.'

-- Waterford News & Star

'Without any question this is the Children’s Book of the Year.'

* Irish Independent *

'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.'

* Inis Magazine *

'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'

-- Evening Echo

'will delight younger readers interested in history but more importantly it will appeal to those who are not'

-- Books Ireland

'an entertaining gallop through centuries of history in a way which will appeal to the younger reader but still manages to get everything in'

-- Books Ireland

'Without any question this is the Children’s Book of the Year.'

-- Irish Independent

'A joy to read and look at - bright, lively and informative.'

-- The Newsletter

'Every house in Ireland should have it.'

-- Waterford News & Star

'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’

-- InTouch Magazine

'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.'

-- Kilkenny People

'Clever, informative and above all entertaining.'

-- Eoin Colfer

'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 li

-- Sarah Webb, Children’s Books Ireland, BookFest

'Absolutely wonderful.'

-- The Ryan Tubridy Show, RTE Radio 1

'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.'

-- Mary Hanafin T.D.

'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.'

-- INIS magazine, Spring 2008

'A sophisticated production.'

-- Sunday Tribune

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'.'

-- The Irish Times

'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.'

-- Sunday Business Post

'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.'

-- Sunday Independent

'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!'

-- Irish Examiner

'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.'

-- The Irish Times

'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'

-- Irish Independent

'A beautifully illustrated and well written handbook to the history of Ireland for young readers. The illustrations are created by Cartoon Saloon and the book is written by award winning journalist, Brendan O'Brien. With all of this experience and creativity, you cannot go wrong with this book. It charts the early days of Ireland from the Ice Age and ends at 2000 and beyond. Young readers from second class upwards will enjoy this. The writing is succinct and aimed at a curious mind. It would accompany any history textbook scheme and be very well received in the class/school library.'

* InTouch Magazine *

I liked that because it didn’t get boring. I liked the cartoon guys because they explained the big words that I didn’t know. My daddy loves History so we read it together, a bit each night, and he liked it too

-- Fay, 5th Class, Scoil Naomh Eoin (Killenard N.S. * Seomra Ran