Ireland is a country steeped in literary tradition, producing some of the greatest writers of all time. From classic novels to modern works, Irish literature has captivated readers for centuries.
These 10 books are just a small sampling of the incredible literary tradition that Ireland has to offer. Whether you're a fan of classic literature or modern works, Irish books are sure to captivate and inspire. Below is a selection of great Irish books by great Irish writers, some old, some new. What they all have in common is that they give you a flavour of Irish history and Irish life.
Browse through them and why not pick up one of these great books today and experience the magic of Irish literature for yourself?
Flor McCarthy – The President’s Letters
A treasure trove of letters to and from our nine Presidents from 1938 to the present day.
Flor MacCarthy who was born in West Cork is an award-winning author and journalist. A former RTÉ News journalist and anchor, she presents political debates on Oireachtas TV, interviewing politicians, academics, and journalists, both in Ireland and at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Flor is from Skibbereen, County Cork and lives in Dún Laoghaire County Dublin with her family.
With over 400 letters, memos, cards, telegrams, drawings, notes and photographs, The Presidents’ Letters reveals a personal and unexpected story of Ireland since the inauguration of our first president, Douglas Hyde.
Most of these have never been published before and a handful have never been seen by the public. They are letters of congratulations, of resignation, of sympathy. A handwritten note from a president to a queen, a message sent to the moon, a fond farewell from a poet. There are letters of joy and loss, begging letters and threatening ones, sent from palaces, parliaments and prisons, from war zones, refugee camps and homeless shelters. Meticulously researched and hand-picked for this unique book, these correspondences bring to life our presidents, Áras an Uachtaráin and all those who have passed through its doors.
The Presidents’ Letters is a beautiful homage to the art of the letter, exploring how each of our presidents defined their eras and how they strengthened the relationship between Ireland and all who identify as Irish.
An absolute must read!
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Frank McCourt – Angela’s Ashes:
Frank McCourt was born on August 19th, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York. After 30 extensive years of teaching high school English, he decided to put his life in writing. His book Angela Ashes, a story telling novel about his piteous Irish childhood, made McCourt an instant success around the world in no time. The book has won him many awards including the famous Pulitzer Prize.
A Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times bestseller, Angela’s Ashes is Frank McCourt’s masterful memoir of his childhood in Ireland.
“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.”
So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank’s mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank’s father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy—exasperating, irresponsible, and beguiling—does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father’s tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.
Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank’s survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig’s head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbours—yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance, and remarkable forgiveness.
Angela’s Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt’s astounding humour and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.
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