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The Ballad of Ronan McCoy
- Author
- Colin Morgan
- Narrator
- Colin Morgan
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Publish Date
- 18 June 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 11 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
'A painfully optimistic book that does the favour of making you laugh as it breaks your heart' Kenneth Branagh
'A tender, elegant novel about the beauty and importance of friendship…One of the most moving books I’ve read in some time' John Boyne
***
Brendan's best friend, his only friend, is Ronan McCoy. He knows things about Brendan that no one else does: about his job washing the cars at Feeney’s Funeral Home, about the loneliness he sometimes feels even when surrounded by hundreds of others at school. But Brendan never told Ronan about the dark feeling that sits at the bottom of his stomach, the feeling that tells him something bad is coming. It never comes when Ronan's around.
Ronan is smart and sporty and popular, totally comfortable in his own skin: all the things that Brendan himself isn't. But Ronan always makes him feel like a good friend, a good person, a better Brendan.
Standing at the school gates on the first day of term, the dark feeling begins to form in Brendan's stomach. And when Ronan doesn’t turn up, Brendan learns that something terrible happened to his best friend over the summer and he'll never be the same again. Over the course of the final year of school, Brendan will have to learn to navigate the new shape of their friendship and find a place for himself in the world without Ronan to protect him.
The Ballad of Ronan McCoy is a beautifully written, tender coming-of-age story about friendship and first love, loss and letting go, and the hopes and fears of a young man standing on the cusp of the rest of his life.
*****
Readers LOVE The Ballad of Ronan McCoy
'Without a doubt my book of the year'
'Absolutely beautiful!'
'Made me laugh and cry in equal measure'
'Nothing can prepare you for the love you will feel and the tears you will shed'
'This book will touch your heart and make you grateful for all you have'
*****
‘An empathetic and thoughtful debut’ Irish Times
‘Soaring, lyrical and heart-breaking’ Michelle Gallen
‘A fresh and authentic voice is found in this impressive and original debut about grief, loss and the enduring power of love’ Christine Dwyer Hickey
‘A gripping, clear-eyed, moving look at loss and love in a country town in a post-Troubles Northern Ireland’ William Wall
Critics Review
-
‘Written with exquisite tenderness, wisdom and heart, this is a truly impressive debut. A rhapsody and requiem for adolescent innocence, told with sharp intelligence and a compassionate Irish wit. The steel-hooped bonds of youthful friendship, and adolescent love are indelible in vivid characters that ache with human-ness. This is a painfully optimistic book that does the favour of making you laugh as it breaks your heart’ Kenneth Branagh
-
'This book is a gift. So sad and kind and beautiful' Ericka Waller, author of Dog Days
-
‘A tender, elegant novel about the beauty and importance of friendship. Colin Morgan’s debut is one of the most moving books I’ve read in some time’ John Boyne
-
‘An empathetic and thoughtful debut from a writer clearly invested in the emotional possibilities of storytelling and in the belief that compassion itself can be a form of endurance’ Irish Times
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‘Soaring, lyrical and heart-breaking. A tender and important new voice in Irish writing’ Michelle Gallen
-
‘A fresh and authentic voice is found in this impressive and original debut about grief, loss and the enduring power of love’ Christine Dwyer Hickey
-
‘An emotional rollercoaster of a book, an elegantly restrained account of how a bright young teenager comes to terms with his best friend’s devastating accident. A gripping, clear-eyed, moving look at loss and love in a country town in a post-Troubles Northern Ireland’ William Wall
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‘A tender coming-of-age story’ RTE
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‘I loved this alternately heartbreaking and heartwarming story about friendship and hope’ Daily Mail
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‘Be prepared to have your heart twisted and ensure there's tissues beside you when you read’ Belfast Telegraph
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‘A deeply emotional read that brought me to tears on more than one occasion’ My Weekly
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Colin Morgan
- Narrator
- Colin Morgan
- Duration
- 10 hours 11 minutes
- Release Date
- 18 June 2026
- ISBN
- 9780008765064
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Contemporary lifestyle fiction, Narrative theme: coming of age, Rural communities / rural life, Relationships: friends / friendship and peer groups: advice, topics and issues
Synopsis
The instant Sunday Times bestseller 'A painfully optimistic book that does the favour of making you laugh as it breaks your heart' Kenneth Branagh 'A tender, elegant novel about the beauty and importance of friendship…One of the most moving books I’ve read in some time' John Boyne *** Brendan's best friend, his only friend, is Ronan McCoy. He knows things about Brendan that no one else does: about his job washing the cars at Feeney’s Funeral Home, about the loneliness he sometimes feels even when surrounded by hundreds of others at school. But Brendan never told Ronan about the dark feeling that sits at the bottom of his stomach, the feeling that tells him something bad is coming. It never comes when Ronan's around. Ronan is smart and sporty and popular, totally comfortable in his own skin: all the things that Brendan himself isn't. But Ronan always makes him feel like a good friend, a good person, a better Brendan. Standing at the school gates on the first day of term, the dark feeling begins to form in Brendan's stomach. And when Ronan doesn’t turn up, Brendan learns that something terrible happened to his best friend over the summer and he'll never be the same again. Over the course of the final year of school, Brendan will have to learn to navigate the new shape of their friendship and find a place for himself in the world without Ronan to protect him. The Ballad of Ronan McCoy is a beautifully written, tender coming-of-age story about friendship and first love, loss and letting go, and the hopes and fears of a young man standing on the cusp of the rest of his life. ***** Readers LOVE The Ballad of Ronan McCoy 'Without a doubt my book of the year' 'Absolutely beautiful!' 'Made me laugh and cry in equal measure' 'Nothing can prepare you for the love you will feel and the tears you will shed' 'This book will touch your heart and make you grateful for all you have' ***** ‘An empathetic and thoughtful debut’ Irish Times ‘Soaring, lyrical and heart-breaking’ Michelle Gallen ‘A fresh and authentic voice is found in this impressive and original debut about grief, loss and the enduring power of love’ Christine Dwyer Hickey ‘A gripping, clear-eyed, moving look at loss and love in a country town in a post-Troubles Northern Ireland’ William Wall
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