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How many of you know that James Joyce was/is an Irish writer, not British? Or similarly, U2 and Snow Patrol are Irish bands, not British ones.
The point is, it happens all the time with Irish people. People often mislabel or identify Irish writers and musicians as British.
But let’s just get over that and talk about Irish literature exclusively. What makes it so unique is that the country has given so many great writers.
For starters, Irish prose is sharp, emotionally honest, and darkly humorous. Besides, Irish history is unique in how religion, colonization, language suppression, and political struggle have shaped its identity and artistic expression.
This list of twelve great Irish books comes partly from personal readings, but also recommendations by Irish friends. So, it has classics and contemporary works that perfectly complement the great Irish literature.
James Joyce was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He was born in Dublin in 1882, but spent most of his life in exile across Europe. He radically reshaped narrative form and language, using experimental techniques and stream of consciousness to explore identity, memory, and Irish society.
Ulysses is about 3 characters, Leopold Bloom, Stephen Dedalus, and Molly Bloom, over a single day, June 16, 1904, in Dublin. Since Ulysses is loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey, Joyce reimagines epic themes in everyday life.
What’s unique about this Irish literary classic is its experiments with different literary styles. Joyce uses the narrative form of parody, catechism, stream-of-consciousness, and interior monologue for a compelling reading. There is exile, fatherhood, sexual desire, mortality, and nationalism that make the novel deeply personal and political.
Ulysses remains one of the greatest classics and most challenging novels ever written. If you want to read more classics, you can choose from Russian literature books.
Oscar Wilde was/is one of the greatest Irish writers and poets for his sharp wit and flamboyant personality. He was also born in Dublin and was a key part of the 1890s literary scene in London. He is credited with pioneering the Aesthetic movement, which promoted art as independent from moral or political messages.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the great Irish novels in Victorian Gothic fiction. It tells the story of Dorian Gray, a beautiful young man whose portrait is painted by artist Basil Hallward. Under the influence of Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian wishes he could remain forever young while the portrait ages instead.
As Dorian indulges in a life of pleasure, cruelty, and moral corruption, his appearance stays flawless while the portrait grows grotesque, reflecting his decaying soul. Since the novel spans over two decades, there are lots of ruined relationships, mysterious deaths, and mounting paranoia, all while he remains untouched by time.
Interestingly, the novel didn’t receive enough acclaim due to immorality and homoerotic subtext initially, it was heavily edited before publication. However, it has become one of the great Irish historical novels in the Gothic and philosophical fiction category.
Samuel Beckett was one of the greatest Irish authors of novels, plays, and short stories. In 1969, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work in drama and prose. Just like the two writers above, he was also born in Dublin. But he spent much of his adult life in France, writing in English and French.
Waiting for Godot is Beckett’s most famous play of absurdist theatre. There are two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who wait by a tree for someone, Godot. But Godot never arrives. They pass the time in circular, often nonsensical dialogue, interrupted only by two other characters, Pozzo and Lucky.
All of this may seem absurd on the surface, but deep down lies the futility of human existence, meaning, and the loneliness of waiting for something. Its language is comic and intentionally repetitive to create a bleak mood.
Waiting for Godot remains one of the classics of the Theatre of the Absurd movement, alongside other classic plays like The Birthday Party, The Bald Soprano, and The Zoo Story.
William Trevor was/is one of the greatest short story writers of the 20th century. He won the Whiteboard Prize 3 times and was nominated for the Booker Prize 5 times. His work often focuses on quiet emotional lives, social change, and Irish history. Just like the quiet emotional characters, his prose is also emotionally empathetic.
After Rain is a collection of 12 stories about the lives of ordinary people. In the title story, a woman is recovering from a failed affair and reflects on her past during a rainy stay in an Italian pensione. In “The Piano Tuner’s Wives,” an aging blind man remarries, and his second wife struggles to live in the shadow of the first.
“Timothy’s Birthday” is about loneliness and family estrangement, where a middle-aged man’s friends must pretend he has plans so his mother won’t know he’s alone.
As you can tell, the characters in all of the stories are dealing with memory, moral hesitation, and quiet heartbreak. Characters are caught between emotional resignation and hope. If you haven’t read Trevor before, you should read this one of the best Irish Books.
You can also check Will Trevor’s short stories, which he wrote for The New Yorker for well over 40 years.
John Boyne is a Dublin-born Irish writer who is an authority on historical fiction. His topics span from World War II to Irish Catholicism. He has published more than 15 novels. And, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has sold more than 11 million copies, making it one of the best Irish novels of all time.
Bruno is an 8 year old son of a high-ranking Nazi officer. When his family moves to a remote house near a concentration camp, he feels lonely and bored. One day, wandering along the fence, he meets Shmuel, a Jewish boy from inside the fence.
Over time, the two develop a secret friendship to meet regularly and share stories, not knowing much about their surroundings. Things turn when Bruno sneaks under the fence to help Shmuel look for his missing father.
What follows is a devastating recall of the human cost of hatred and ideological blindness. There’s also a 2008 movie adaptation of the same name, which I covered in the best historical movies.
Emma Donoghue is one of the best Irish female authors. Her fiction centers on confinement, survival, and female domestic lives. And to write on these social themes, she often brings psychological drama in her Irish fiction books.
Jack is a five-year-old boy who lives in a locked room with his mother. “Ma” was abducted years earlier and has been kept imprisoned in a small shed by her captor. Now, Jack believes that Room is the entire world. But things change when Ma begins planning their escape.
Once they escape, we see mother and child recovering, reintegrating, and experiencing emotional healing. It is one of the great Irish fiction novels on trauma, maternal love, and the rediscovery of the world.
Room was a bestseller and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and Orange Prize. It was also adopted into a very successful film in 2015. Emma Donoghue was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Joseph O’Connor is one of the modern Irish writers with a journalistic background. He used to write for an Irish magazine before publishing Star of the Sea in 2002. This Irish novel became an international bestseller in the same year. Sinéad O’Connor, one of the great Irish alternative rock singers, was his sister.
Star of the Sea is a historical fiction novel during the Irish Famine in 1847. It follows a group of passengers aboard a famine ship bound for New York. The passengers also include an English landlord, a servant, and a journalist. The novel reconstructs each character’s backstory through diaries, letters, and news clippings.
As the ship crosses the Atlantic, many secrets surface. The landlord is fleeing a scandal, the servant is hiding a violent past, and someone onboard is plotting murder. The suspense builds as each character’s moral choices are tested under pressure.
If you like historical novels, don’t forget to check out my favourite historical fiction books.
Niall Williams is an acclaimed Irish novelist. He began his literary career co-authoring nonfiction with his wife before turning to fiction. His work often explores love, fate, and the mystical beauty of rural Ireland. He was longlisted for the Booker Prize for his novel History of the Rain, one of the best Irish Books.
Four Letters of Love is about 2 characters, Nicholas Coughlan and Isabel Gore. Nicholas is a Dublin schoolboy whose father suddenly leaves his job to pursue painting. It’s because he believes that this call is from God.
Whereas Isabel, who lives on an island off the Irish coast, is a gifted young girl whose brother suffers a life-changing accident that derails her path.
The story follows both characters separately as they grow up with sorrow, loss, and unfulfilled potential, until a fateful intersection. Their lives coincide through art and longing. Though they barely know each other and the novel asks if love is preordained or accidental.
Frank O’Connor was/is another great short story writer. He has a keen observation of everyday Irish life, and wrote with a wit, warmth, and quiet melancholy. His turbulent upbringing and relationship with religion and his experiences in the Irish Civil War, deeply influence his writings.
First Confession is the title story from one of his great Irish fiction books. It follows Jackie, who dreads making his first Catholic confession. Now, he’s terrified by his grandmother’s religiosity and hellfire. Jackie panics as the big day approaches, but the humorous priest isn’t what he was expecting.
The collection also includes other stories, such as My Oedipus Complex and The Majesty of the Law. These are about working-class, rural Irish characters. For his short stories, Frank O’Connor remains one of the greatest Irish writers.
Hugo Hamilton is famous for writing autobiographical and semi-fictional works. His works revolve around identity, language, and belonging. It’s because he was born to a German mother and an Irish nationalist father. And he grew up under strict rules like not to speak English at home, only Irish and German.
So, this is one of his best Irish novels and naturally, it is a memoir. A young boy growing up in 1950s Dublin in a home with trauma, idealism, and linguistic tension. His father idealizes Irish nationalism and bans English from the house, while his mother has post-war German guilt.
As a child, he is caught between two identities. He struggles with trying to make sense of who he is in a country recovering from colonial rule. If you want to explore more how children come of age in such environments, check out coming of age movies.
Claire Keegan is a critically acclaimed Irish author known for her portrayals of rural Irish life. She writes primarily in the short fiction and novella format. Her work often explores silence, moral conflict, and the human cost of societal norms.
The story happens in the weeks before Christmas in a small Irish town in 1985. Bill Furlong is a coal merchant and father of five daughters, who stumbles upon unsettling truths about a local convents. These are the institutions where “fallen” women were hidden and abused under Church authority.
His quiet discovery confronts him with a moral dilemma: speak up and risk everything, or stay silent like everyone else. It is one of the best Irish books as it explores the tension between responsibility and social conformity in a conservatively religious Ireland.
This novella was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. It was also adapted into a same name movie in 2024 starring Cillian Murphy.
Sally Rooney is one of the most prominent Irish novelists of her generation. She is quite famous for writing emotionally intricate portraits of relationships among young adults. She gained international acclaim with Conversations with Friends and Normal People. The second novel was also adopted into highly popular TV series.
Intermezzo follows two brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek. They both are dealing with the sudden death of their father. Peter is emotionally withdrawn philosophy student, while Ivan is a teenage chess prodigy. The narrative moves between their personal experiences of grief and how they connect with each other after loss.
Overall, it is one of the best Irish books about psychological tensions and emotional repressions. Also,this novel is unlike Rooney’s romantic entanglements and has a more somber tone.
They say, the more close to the roots, the more authentic the work. And Irish authors are a perfect example of that. The above discussion of best Irish books shows that how Irish literature is close to the home.
Irish authors don’t shy away from discussing the everyday lives and dark episodes of history. Their writing often reflects place, history, and emotion without relying on drama or exaggeration. And this really makes thier work resonating.
It’s no wonder that many of them also publish regularly in respected literary magazines.
If you have any favourite Irish fiction books, drop a comment!
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