BOOK LIST
Books by Irish Authors
I have not a drop of Irish blood in me, but I do enjoy books by Irish authors and books set in Ireland. When I saw a chat group on Instagram dedicated to reading books by Irish authors in 2025, I knew I wanted to join in the fun.
Here are the books I’ve rounded up. I hope to read most, maybe all, of them this year. Edna O’Brien is first up because she’s waited on my shelf the longest. But I also want to try the Donan Ryan book because he is new to me and apparently hugely popular in Ireland.
See any I absolutely shouldn’t put off?
- Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan
- The Woman Who Walked Into Doors by Roddy Doyle
- The Barrytown Trilogy by Roddy Doyle
- The Commitments
- The Snapper
- The Van
- At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien
- Castle Corner by Joyce Cary
- The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien
- The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O'Brien
- The Country Girls
- The Lonely Girl
- Girls in Their Married Bliss
- History of the Rain by Naill Williams
- Dr. Copernicus by John Banville
- The Untouchable by John Banville
- Athena by John Banville
- The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry
- Farewell Companions by James Plunkett
These are just the books I found on my unread fiction shelves. I'm sure I missed a few and if I find them, will add them to this list. The bigger lacunae are crime fiction and nonfiction. I was afraid my list would overwhelm me if I included those, especially mysteries and thrillers.
If I get around to it, I might make a long list of all the Irish books I can think of, read, unread, literature, crime fiction, nonfictions, whatever. That list would be like the French Connections and Venice Books lists I keep.
I'll come back and update this as I go.
If you have ideas for other Irish books I should read, please leave a comment and tell me about them!
Gilion, one of my all-time favorite books (which doesn't mean anyone else's) is My Dream of You, by the noted (an understatement) Irish author Nuala O'Faolain. As a writer of historical fiction and nonfiction myself, I was mesmerized by the protagonist's search for the truth about a mid-19th century woman who got a really bum rap in a divorce case. And I was equally mesmerized by the protagonist herself, an achingly flawed woman who this reader by turns wanted to scold, console, smack, buoy up, chastise and empathize with--at the same time. A rocky but authentic "heroine's journey."
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