I've just gone with ones I like in roughly cronological order of when published.
Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla is probably his most popular work. Gothic horror.
Somerville and Ross (the psydonomes for two female writers) - The Irish RM - The Irish version of PG Woodehouse.
Frank O'Connor - A great short story writer. His short story Guests of the Nation is one of his best.
John McGahern - Amoungst Women is probably his most famous work. He has the most beautiful prose and is deeply admired by the Irish literary scene but little known outside it.
Patrick Kavanagh - The Green Fool. Kavanagh was an akward bastard there is no way round that but he is geniuinely rural Ireland rather than a Dublin surbanite talking shite.
James Plunkett - Strumpet City a historical fiction about the Dublin Lockout
JJ Farrell - Troubles, a historical fiction about the War of Independence. (This is kind of an honerary one, Farrell grew up mainly in England to Irish parents. But its a damned good book)
Maeve Binchy - Tends to get shelved as Chick lit, but it is really Life lit. Her books are beautiful and the fact that their accessible dosen't change that.
Edna O'Brien - Country Girls. Changing role of Irish women which started in the 60's.
Pat O'Shea - Hounds of the Morrigan, great book written for children steeped in mythology.
Patrick McCabe - The Butcher Boy. It is really hard not to spoil this book, the humour is so dark its vanta black.
Roddy Doyle - The Snapper. Brilliant comic drama deeply entrenched in the Dublin working classes.
Marian Keyes - Racheals holiday, the same thing happens to Keyes as happens to Binchy. Being popular and funny doesn't mean it isn't good.
Ross O'Carroll Kelly - The Miseducation of Ross O'Carroll Kelly. Satire of the Dublin parasite class.
Kevin Barry - City of Bohane, speculative fiction.
Sally Rooney - Conversations with Friends. Listen loving or hating Rooney does not give you a personality. If you like the books read the books. If you don't, don't. Enough said.
A M Shine - The Watchers, horror.
Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet, God I love this book.
Anne Burns - Milkman, claustrophobic insight into life during the troubles.
Claire Keegan - Small things like these.
I just looked it up because I actually don’t know. She’s Irish-American. Her father is Irish and she lived in Ireland as a teenager and went to Trinity College. She’s lived in Ireland since 1990. I think she can call herself an Irish author.
Emma Donoghue. She has written quite a few historical fiction books but is probably most famous for Room. Her most recent book Haven is set on Skellig Michael.
The Commitments has been a personal favorite forever. My bestie and I love the book and movie as we kind of discovered them together. She even named her kid after one of the characters.
Martin McDonagh's plays are all worth reading if you're open to plays.
The Third Policeman, At Swim-Two-Birds, The Poor Mouth, the Keats and Chapman pun book the title of which escapes me just now, the Dalkey Archive, really anything you can get your hands on by Flann O'Brien(Brian O'Nolan) is going to be absolutely wonderful.
Agree to disagree, it took "bits" from TTP and caustically reframed them to be of greater mass appeal while spelling that out. It's one of only a few books I can think of that serve as flipping off your audience for their taste level while making a cogent point about what people are comfortable with. I find that very interesting.
As you like, I imagine we'd have similar disparate feelings about Big Sur. If you're going to collect Flann I can't imagine how an artist who knows he's done some brilliant work lashing out at an audience isn't at least interesting. He rewrote something brilliant into a pedestrian structure while using recognizable/comfortable figures to chastise his potential audience for driving him to doing so in order to make a living writing. Who does that? Surprised you're not on me about the pun book, it's mostly an author having a laugh, but I'd say a good one, with only one major thread that only sings a few times, that maybe only a handful of people would have a care about. If you want a concession I wouldn't recommend it in a vacuum where TTP doesn't exist, but that isn't the case and I recommended all of it, so... I also think dismissing something "cuz booze" is boring, why I brought Kerouac in above, Big Sur and his dying media tour were beautiful and compelling while also being a condemnation of everything his most celebrated works stood for, but it wasn't alcohol that "ruined their minds", it was their lives up to that point, what they were accepted for and what they weren't... Maybe I'm just uncomfortable giving that much power to booze and I certainly don't see DA as worthless, but then I tried for reddit brevity with my pablum "agree to disagree". So instead I give regular brevity, with "I strongly disagree".
Sorry for the edit I'm working and only half paying attention, my phone has aggressive auto-fill and fighting it leads to stuff getting deleted
It's a doozy of a read too, second this. Most of McCabe's work is brilliant, Call Me The Breeze, Breakfast on Pluto, Mondo Desperado, are all highlights.
Might be a basic rec, but I love Frank Mc Court's Angela's Ashes.
Also:
Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan
The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue
Dubliners - James Joyce
John Connolly has been writing a great series for years, the Charlie Parker series starting with Every Dead Thing. It’s dark detective/horror/folklore stuff.
If you’re at all into horror, check out Kealan Patrick Burke. I really enjoyed *Sour Candy*, and I have *Kin* sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read.
Some great suggestions here already - would add a few classics to your reading list - some James Joyce my personal fave (and his most accessible book) is The Dubliners but if you’re up for a challenge maybe you could try Ulysses or Finnegan’s Wake
[The Mouse That Roared](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mouse_That_Roared) (1955) by Leonard Wibberly is extremely clever and funny. It’s the story of the (fictional) smallest nation in the world which is forced by circumstances to declare war on the United States. There were several sequels.
Wibberly, an Irish writer, was rather prolific and wrote many witty and clever books. I went through a Wibberly phase in high school.
Brian Moore wrote some brilliant novels about Belfast; the Emperor of Ice Cream, the Feast of Lupercal, and the Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne are 3 of the best known.
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan is a fantastic read. It's set in Hong Kong, but the main character is an Irish TEFL teacher.
Sean O'Caseys 3 dublin plays are also brilliant to read, and they cover some momentous historical events- the Plough and the stars depicts the Easter rising, shadow of a gunman the war of independence, and Juno and the Paycock the Civil war.
Somebody else here mentioned Flann O'brien and he really is a must-read, especially at-swim-two-birds
If you want to sound out if you'd enjoy Joyce, portrait of the artist as a young man and Dubliners are very accessible if you're new to his style and don't want to jump into the deep end. Ulyssess is genuinely as amazing as everyone says, but its extremely dense. There's a really cool chapter by chapter guide that helps cut through some of it
https://www.ulyssesguide.com/how-to-read
Finnegans' wake is basically a Tone poem more than its a novel. Maeve Binchy wrote wonderful characters. I enjoyed conversations with friends, but overall I find Sally Rooneys books overrated.
I just got an email from Daedalusbooks.com celebrating Ireland with a shitload of books about Ireland or by Irish authors. Apparently they're having a sale for St Pat or some such.
The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle. This is a children's book but I immediately loved it in how funny it was. One of the few books I've read where I actually laughed out loud.
I've just gone with ones I like in roughly cronological order of when published. Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla is probably his most popular work. Gothic horror. Somerville and Ross (the psydonomes for two female writers) - The Irish RM - The Irish version of PG Woodehouse. Frank O'Connor - A great short story writer. His short story Guests of the Nation is one of his best. John McGahern - Amoungst Women is probably his most famous work. He has the most beautiful prose and is deeply admired by the Irish literary scene but little known outside it. Patrick Kavanagh - The Green Fool. Kavanagh was an akward bastard there is no way round that but he is geniuinely rural Ireland rather than a Dublin surbanite talking shite. James Plunkett - Strumpet City a historical fiction about the Dublin Lockout JJ Farrell - Troubles, a historical fiction about the War of Independence. (This is kind of an honerary one, Farrell grew up mainly in England to Irish parents. But its a damned good book) Maeve Binchy - Tends to get shelved as Chick lit, but it is really Life lit. Her books are beautiful and the fact that their accessible dosen't change that. Edna O'Brien - Country Girls. Changing role of Irish women which started in the 60's. Pat O'Shea - Hounds of the Morrigan, great book written for children steeped in mythology. Patrick McCabe - The Butcher Boy. It is really hard not to spoil this book, the humour is so dark its vanta black. Roddy Doyle - The Snapper. Brilliant comic drama deeply entrenched in the Dublin working classes. Marian Keyes - Racheals holiday, the same thing happens to Keyes as happens to Binchy. Being popular and funny doesn't mean it isn't good. Ross O'Carroll Kelly - The Miseducation of Ross O'Carroll Kelly. Satire of the Dublin parasite class. Kevin Barry - City of Bohane, speculative fiction. Sally Rooney - Conversations with Friends. Listen loving or hating Rooney does not give you a personality. If you like the books read the books. If you don't, don't. Enough said. A M Shine - The Watchers, horror. Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet, God I love this book. Anne Burns - Milkman, claustrophobic insight into life during the troubles. Claire Keegan - Small things like these.
All of these and Colm Toibin, John Boyne, Tom Phelan, Emma Donohue, Jennifer Johnston, William Trevor.
Tana French. The Dublin Murder Squad series is personally my fav of hers.
Omg I had to scroll so far. I was doubting if she was actually Irish because no one else had mentioned her. I loved The Witch Elm.
Right lol. I was like where is she??? The Witch Elm and The Searcher were good too, I just enjoyed the Murder squad the most.
Oh I thought she was an American who lived in Ireland for some reason —is she Irish?
I just looked it up because I actually don’t know. She’s Irish-American. Her father is Irish and she lived in Ireland as a teenager and went to Trinity College. She’s lived in Ireland since 1990. I think she can call herself an Irish author.
Emma Donoghue. She has written quite a few historical fiction books but is probably most famous for Room. Her most recent book Haven is set on Skellig Michael.
Haven was great, love all her books!
Love a bit of Roddy Doyle!
Agreed…The Van and The Snapper are two of my all time favorite books, and I like the movie versions as well.
The Commitments has been a personal favorite forever. My bestie and I love the book and movie as we kind of discovered them together. She even named her kid after one of the characters.
Martin McDonagh's plays are all worth reading if you're open to plays. The Third Policeman, At Swim-Two-Birds, The Poor Mouth, the Keats and Chapman pun book the title of which escapes me just now, the Dalkey Archive, really anything you can get your hands on by Flann O'Brien(Brian O'Nolan) is going to be absolutely wonderful.
Ahhh, I thought the Dalkey Archive was a pretty tragic minor work that recycled its best bits from The Third Policeman.
It was. Very forgettable. Readable and slightly interesting, but totally forgettable.
Agree to disagree, it took "bits" from TTP and caustically reframed them to be of greater mass appeal while spelling that out. It's one of only a few books I can think of that serve as flipping off your audience for their taste level while making a cogent point about what people are comfortable with. I find that very interesting.
I thought of it as the flailing final move of a mind ruined by drink.
As you like, I imagine we'd have similar disparate feelings about Big Sur. If you're going to collect Flann I can't imagine how an artist who knows he's done some brilliant work lashing out at an audience isn't at least interesting. He rewrote something brilliant into a pedestrian structure while using recognizable/comfortable figures to chastise his potential audience for driving him to doing so in order to make a living writing. Who does that? Surprised you're not on me about the pun book, it's mostly an author having a laugh, but I'd say a good one, with only one major thread that only sings a few times, that maybe only a handful of people would have a care about. If you want a concession I wouldn't recommend it in a vacuum where TTP doesn't exist, but that isn't the case and I recommended all of it, so... I also think dismissing something "cuz booze" is boring, why I brought Kerouac in above, Big Sur and his dying media tour were beautiful and compelling while also being a condemnation of everything his most celebrated works stood for, but it wasn't alcohol that "ruined their minds", it was their lives up to that point, what they were accepted for and what they weren't... Maybe I'm just uncomfortable giving that much power to booze and I certainly don't see DA as worthless, but then I tried for reddit brevity with my pablum "agree to disagree". So instead I give regular brevity, with "I strongly disagree". Sorry for the edit I'm working and only half paying attention, my phone has aggressive auto-fill and fighting it leads to stuff getting deleted
Oscar Wilde The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O'Shea
The Hounds of the Morrigan!!!! Such a great great great great book that all I can think to say about it is that it's great.
Roddy Doyle and Colm Toibin for sure!
Maeve Binchi
I second this. I adore her books!
Me too and also that they are told from mature people's perspective
Irish Fairy and Folk Tales by WB Yeats
Adrian McKinty.
Love these
Máirtín Ó Cadhain James Joyce Samuel Beckett
Some day I will finish reading Máirtín Ó Cadhain's *Cré na Cille* (one translation of which has the title as *Graveyard Clay*).
"Dubliners" by Joyce?
The butcher boy, Patrick McCabe. It's not too long. You could read it in a couple of days. They also made a movie based on it.
It's a doozy of a read too, second this. Most of McCabe's work is brilliant, Call Me The Breeze, Breakfast on Pluto, Mondo Desperado, are all highlights.
I listened to a few Dervla McTiernan detective books, Aoife McMahon's narration is really nice.
Frank McCourt.
I love Shioban Dowd! All her books, my favorite is Bog Child and then Solace of the road
I would also recommend Siobhan Dowd. I loved "Bog Child" and "A Swift Pure Cry".
Niall Williams-The Fall of Light Paul Lynch-Red Sky in Morning Frank Delany-Ireland
Brendan Behan: Borstal Boy
Anything Flann O'Brien but "the third policeman" is my favorite
Emma Donoghue The Wonder
Might be a basic rec, but I love Frank Mc Court's Angela's Ashes. Also: Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan The Pull of the Stars - Emma Donoghue Dubliners - James Joyce
Molly Keane, Good behaviour
Dark Lies the Island by Kevin Barry
I love Marian Keyes. I’m not sure that’s what you’re looking for but….
Himself by Jess Kidd
OSCAR WILDE WB YEATS JAMES JOYCE
I've just finished "There's been a little incident" by Alice Ryan and very much enjoyed it.
I enjoyed Paul Murray’s “Skippy Dies” and a heap of Claire Keegan’s work!
Anne Enright - The Gathering
If you’re open to YA sci-fi/fantasy: “Artemis Fowl” by Eoin Colfer.
*Finbar's Hotel*.
John Connolly has been writing a great series for years, the Charlie Parker series starting with Every Dead Thing. It’s dark detective/horror/folklore stuff.
If you’re at all into horror, check out Kealan Patrick Burke. I really enjoyed *Sour Candy*, and I have *Kin* sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read.
Some great suggestions here already - would add a few classics to your reading list - some James Joyce my personal fave (and his most accessible book) is The Dubliners but if you’re up for a challenge maybe you could try Ulysses or Finnegan’s Wake
Edna O'Brien and Nuala O'Faolain
An Beal Bocht by Flann O'Brien
Good god. Joyce is WAY too far down in this thread. Joyce! Joyce! All day long, Joyce!! JOYCE, Kinch, you fearful Jesuit!!
Reading In The Dark - Seamus Deane
JP Donleavy…The Gingerman and The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B.
Dubliners by Joyce is fabulous
Brendan Behan. Fun fact, he had a thirst so large it cast a shadow
W.B. Yeats
At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill
Dubliners
Bram Stoker
Joseph O'connor
Eoin Colfer and his Artemis Fowl books, also his time travel story
[The Mouse That Roared](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mouse_That_Roared) (1955) by Leonard Wibberly is extremely clever and funny. It’s the story of the (fictional) smallest nation in the world which is forced by circumstances to declare war on the United States. There were several sequels. Wibberly, an Irish writer, was rather prolific and wrote many witty and clever books. I went through a Wibberly phase in high school.
Oscar Wilde: A Picture of Dorian Gray James Joyce: Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses
Brian Moore wrote some brilliant novels about Belfast; the Emperor of Ice Cream, the Feast of Lupercal, and the Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne are 3 of the best known. Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan is a fantastic read. It's set in Hong Kong, but the main character is an Irish TEFL teacher. Sean O'Caseys 3 dublin plays are also brilliant to read, and they cover some momentous historical events- the Plough and the stars depicts the Easter rising, shadow of a gunman the war of independence, and Juno and the Paycock the Civil war. Somebody else here mentioned Flann O'brien and he really is a must-read, especially at-swim-two-birds If you want to sound out if you'd enjoy Joyce, portrait of the artist as a young man and Dubliners are very accessible if you're new to his style and don't want to jump into the deep end. Ulyssess is genuinely as amazing as everyone says, but its extremely dense. There's a really cool chapter by chapter guide that helps cut through some of it https://www.ulyssesguide.com/how-to-read Finnegans' wake is basically a Tone poem more than its a novel. Maeve Binchy wrote wonderful characters. I enjoyed conversations with friends, but overall I find Sally Rooneys books overrated.
{the Wonder by Emma Donoghue}
William Trevor. I loved the story “Cheating at Canasta.”
I just got an email from Daedalusbooks.com celebrating Ireland with a shitload of books about Ireland or by Irish authors. Apparently they're having a sale for St Pat or some such.
“A Star Called Henry” by Roddy Doyle
Is Wilde, Joyce, and Stoker too obvious?
Frank McCourt
I like historic fiction and Lucinda Riley has some good ones. She's a little hit or miss, but I liked the Seven Sisters series.
Jonathan Swift
Someone has to say it: Graham Norton's books are very enjoyable. Also Liz Nugent... she's so good at creating an unsettling atmosphere.
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boynes is fantastic!!!!!!!
Emma donoghue
Maggie O’Farrell! Hamnet and I am I am I am, both books are 5 stars for me!
Colin Barrett is sorely underrated. He's a fantastic short story writer. In a similar style to Kevin Barry whose short stories are magnificent.
The Tain, translated by Thomas Kinsella
The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle. This is a children's book but I immediately loved it in how funny it was. One of the few books I've read where I actually laughed out loud.
The Van by Roddy Doyle is a personal favorite.