Showing results by narrator "Ruairi Conaghan" in All Categories

In a town full of liars, who can you trust? When Detective Finnegan Beck is demoted from his high-powered job in Dublin and relocated in disgrace to the small Irish town of Cross Beg, he predicts boredom will be his biggest threat. But then a beautiful local teenage girl is found strangled in the cold, dark woods a mile from town. The prime suspect is the seemingly gentle drifter who found Tanya’s body. Beck seems to be the only person who can’t escape the feeling that Tanya wasn’t killed at random.

Taking us on an incredible journey across centuries and galaxies, accompanied by his characteristic wit, Professor Luke O’Neill explains how it all began, how it will all end and everything in between. Listeners will benefit from Luke’s insatiable curiosity for life when they dive into this ultimate journey through life and death. Among other fascinating facts, you’ll discover the science behind how we got to be so smart, why sex with a caveman was a good idea, the science of finding love, why we follow religions and how robots will become part of everyday life.

When Manny McDonnell was 12, he awoke to discover British troops surrounding his home in the toughest area of trouble-torn Belfast. Encouraged by a fiercely Republican mother, he took to the streets with other school kids, throwing bricks, bottles and petrol bombs at soldiers. Jailed at 15 for having IRA links, he became a unit commander leading deadly missions for the INLA before joining the IPLO, a group so vicious even the IRA ordered it to disband. But his decades of commitment to a free united Ireland turned to disillusion when bombs killed two little boys in mainland Britain.

Rory Best is widely regarded as one of Ireland's greatest ever captains. Entrusted by Joe Schmidt to lead the side that looked on the wane following the 2015 World Cup, Best's inspirational leadership skills and abrasive qualities proved to be the foundation stones for the most successful period in Ireland's history.

On a cold morning a cyclist finds the brutally-slaughtered body of a woman in her car, on a remote lane leading to the long-abandoned Irish village of Kelly’s Forge. But when Detective Finnegan Beck arrives from the nearby town of Cross Beg to investigate he notices there’s a baby’s seat in the back of the car. A bottle of baby’s milk lying in the footwell. And no child. Little Róisín isn’t the first child to go missing from that same remote location though. There was another baby girl, taken more than 50 years before, who was never found.

Detective Finnegan Beck is called to a crime scene - a remote house near the rural Irish town of Cross Beg - where a dog lies whimpering beside his beloved owner’s body. At first it looks like a burglary gone wrong. But Beck spots something his colleagues didn’t. The victim, Eddie Kavanagh, was wearing his smartest clothes. He’d brushed his hair. And, on closer inspection, a small velvet box containing an engagement ring is discovered in his pocket, along with a letter to a nameless woman, which seems to suggest she’s in danger.

Today was his first climb to the top. He knew if he was there, watching, then she would never leave him. Her name was Bernadette, and he climbed the shed every day. This is a not a football book, as such. Rather, it is a memoir by someone who happened to have superior ability at the sport during his formative years, which led him on a remarkable journey. Paul Ferris became a professional footballer and at the age of 16 was the youngest ever to play in Newcastle United's first team.

In the fascinating new audiobook from the best-selling author of Humanology, Luke O'Neill explores some of the big human questions and tells us what science has to say about topics such as gender, addiction and euthanasia. With his trademark easy wit and clever pop-culture references, Luke is a serious scientist with an amazing knack of making science accessible. If you are curious about us, this bizarre animal called the human being, this is a book for you.

RTÉ journalist Barry Cummins has reported on the unsolved cases of Ireland’s missing for decades. In this new edition of his best-selling book, he examines the latest leads and developments of Ireland’s most high-profile missing cases, including the women who disappeared under eerily similar circumstances in the 1990s and whose bodies have never been found. 

Native woodland is one of the most valuable resources for biodiversity in Ireland’s wet climate. Yet Ireland has the lowest forest cover of any part of Europe, with the surviving native woodland covering a tiny area of the country. Ireland lost the majority of its ancient forest centuries ago, but now is when we need it most to help solve the climate crisis. This audiobook is a celebration of Ireland’s native woodlands blended with a personal account of learning to manage a single small wood over a typical year.

Former Newcastle United winger Paul Ferris was 51. He had successfully forged a post-football career as a physio, barrister and then a CEO, and his award-winning memoir, The Boy on the Shed, was just about to be published. But then he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. This honest, sometimes brutal and frequently funny book tells the story of what happened next.

Following the Irish coast in a clockwise direction, acclaimed ecologist Richard Nairn travels by boat, on foot and sometimes by air to visit the best remaining wild places, including islands, cliffs, beaches and dunes. The result is a unique mix of nature, history, science and a reflection on the author’s personal experiences of exploring Ireland’s coast. By viewing the Irish coastline from the sea, Richard gains a unique perspective on the island. And along the way, he recalls a lifetime spent studying nature.

What do you have in common with the 7.75 billion other people on the planet? This is the question that Professor Luke O’Neill attempts to answer in this exciting new audiobook for young listeners, adapted from his bestselling title for adults, Humanology: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Amazing Existence. Starting with the origin of life and how we as a species evolved on the plains of Africa some 200,000 years ago, Professor Luke explores what makes us interesting as a species, why we sleep, laugh and enjoy music, and our efforts to stop diseas

Show Me the Science asks questions like, do we have control over our lives? Can we escape working in terrible jobs? Why do we need vaccinations? Are men’s and women's brains different? Will we destroy the planet? – and encourages children to apply a scientific mindset in attempting to answer them.

Professor Luke O’Neill has become one of the most well-known and trusted voices of Ireland’s COVID-19 pandemic. A world-renowned immunologist, he was thrust into the spotlight as the media and public desperately grappled to make sense of a crisis that saw the country grind to a halt. In these high-octane diaries, Professor Luke reveals what life was like behind the scenes.

Five kids with one dream: to become the greatest sports stars in the world! Follow Kim as she trains to be the best at her favourite sport: rugby! Kim has been at the best – and most mysterious – sports academy in the world for a few months now. She and the rest of her class were selected because they all shared a determination and willingness to improve. Now the gang are on their way to Japan for the rugby World Cup – but they’re going to need some more teammates.

Fifteen-year-old Sam plunges to his death whilst building his beloved Titanic. Now as the greatest ship the world has ever seen crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Sam finds himself on board - as a ghost. His spirit roams the ship, from the glamour of first class to the party atmosphere of third class. Sam shares the excitement of Jim, Isobel and their children − on their way to a new life in America.  

Joe knows he has no chance of catching the mysterious scout’s eye - he loves football, but he’s the worst player in his club. Despite this, he’s whisked away to a remote island and teamed up with four other kids: Kim, Craig, Ajit and Jess. There’s more to this island than meets the eye: Joe learns it is home to the world’s greatest Sports Academy. With the help of eccentric, genius coaches, he and his new friends are gradually transformed into serious players in their own sports. But the Academy’s secrets are wanted by many others.

Be warned, listener, this audiobook isn’t about a normal spice bag, nor is it about a normal boy. Quite the opposite. This audiobook is about the Spice Bag and our unlikely hero: a 10-year-old boy named George. And then there’s Mr Spicebag’s chipper, which seems to be at the centre of everything. George is about to have the weirdest week of his life. 

The Garden is not thriving. In fact, it is withering away. Once a little orchid haven, now after the worst hurricane ever seen in Florida, it is wrecked greenhouses, creeping mangroves and dangerously idle men. So when Romeo, an expert breeder of the lucrative ghost orchid, arrives from Honduras, keeper of the Garden, Blanchard, and his Irish right-hand man, Swallow, believe the winds of fortune are blowing their way. But Romeo is not who he seems, and Swallow can't shake the feeling that the newcomer will threaten his position in the Garden's flimsy hierarchy.