We're not the first to note that Ireland has a rich literary tradition. Whether you love the revolutionary prose of James Joyce , the timeless verse of W B Yeats , the witty epigrams of Oscar Wilde , Sally Rooney’s flair for incisive reflections on contemporary life and love, or the galvanising and clear-eyed social commentary of Emma Dabiri , it’s safe to say that Irish authors and thinkers have helped shape literature of all genres and periods.
With so many brilliant authors originating from Ireland, a list of must-read contemporary Irish novels could – quite literally – never end. With that essential caveat out of the way, here is our non-exhaustive rundown of recent books from some of our favourite Irish authors you should definitely be adding to your TBR pile.
Paul Murray’s Booker-shortlisted tragicomic novel about a troubled family in post-recession Ireland is an immersive, compulsive read in all its 650-page glory. Following the lives of Dickie Barnes, reluctant proprietor of the declining family car dealership who’s more concerned about impending climate apocalypse, his increasingly impatient wife Imelda, 17-year-old Cass discovering boys and booze, and 12-year-old PJ silently grappling with bullies and dubious online friends, The Bee Sting delves deep into the family lore and rich interior lives of each character, culminating in a conclusion that sizzles with jaw-dropping intensity.
Áine and her boyfriend Elliott have just moved into a new flat together, and – from the modest garden to the array of well-heeled neighbourhood amenities – it’s too good to be true. In fact, there’s something off about the place: the windows are draughty, the damp is spreading, vegetables are rotting quickly, and Áine is stuck fixating on the ways everything – literally and figuratively – is crumbling around her as she works from home. This darkly humorous debut by journalist Róisín Lanigan is at once a gripping ghost story and astute satire about the horrors faced by Generation Rent.
With his first foray into fiction, award-winning poet and memoirist Seán Hewitt has created a tender coming-of-age story, told in gorgeous prose, that explores the formative experience of first love. Fifteen-year-old James leads a quiet, withdrawn life in 1990s rural England. That begins to change with the arrival of newcomer Luke. As the pair fall into a close friendship, James’s feelings and desires grow ever stronger – and the unrequited nature of his love for Luke is called into question.
Winner of the 2024 Waterstones Debut Fiction prize, Ferdia Lennon’s novel set against the backdrop of the Peloponnesian war brings a comical and modern sensibility to Ancient Greece, complete with present-day Dublin slang and dialect. Gelon and Lampo, two out-of-work potters in Syracuse, are unlikely friends with a shared love of Greek poetry and plays. When thousands of rival Athenian soldiers are imprisoned in a nearby quarry, the pair soon realise that they can offer food and water in exchange for fragments of Euripides - and hatch an ambitious plan to stage a full-blown production of Medea .
Set in Ballina, County Mayo, this raucous caper of a novel by Booker-longlisted author and short story writer Colin Barrett unfolds over the course of one frenetic, tumultuous weekend. The chaos begins for protagonist Dev when local gang enforcers Gabe and Sketch Ferdia show up on his doorstep with a hostage, and he gets inevitably sucked into the pair's small-town drugs-related vendetta. Meanwhile, across town, Nicky can’t shake her Saturday morning hangover, or the feeling that her boyfriend is in danger, and embarks on a mission to save him as she grapples with her own complicated feelings about her future.
For decades, award-winning author Marian Keyes has made us laugh and cry with her novels about family dynamics, the ups and downs of modern life and love, and, of course, complex characters who feel all-too real and (for all their faults) loveable. My Favourite Mistake revisits Anna, one of the five Walsh Sisters as she swaps Manhattan for small-town coastal Ireland to help an old friend with the PR for an upcoming resort opening. But angry locals, up in arms about the new development, aren’t the only issue she has to deal with, as this project has her working in close quarters with a former flame...
This book can be enjoyed without delving into the Walsh sisters series first, but if you’re new to Marian Keyes, check out our guide on where to start with her novels .
Another of our favourite flawed heroines is Sally Diamond, the reclusive creation of acclaimed Irish crime author Liz Nugent. When Sally takes her late father’s wishes to “put him out with the bins” when he dies a little too literally, she becomes the subject of a national scandal that brings fresh tabloid scrutiny to her traumatic childhood. Strange Sally Diamond is not only a story of intrigue, as Sally pieces together the truth about her past, but also one of finding independence and community – with plenty of quirky small-town characters to boot.
Poet and critically acclaimed author Elaine Feeney returns this year with a sweeping family saga spanning generations. It begins with Claire O’Connor, who recently broke up with her partner Tom and moved to her family home in the West of Ireland to care for her dying father. When Tom unexpectedly comes back into her life, and living in her childhood bedroom inevitably evokes old memories, she must grapple with her own past and with the history, and secrets, that haunt her family.
This multi-award-winning debut novel by Michael Magee offers a deft, unflinching exploration of masculinity, working-class identity, and the unrealised promise of opportunity and prosperity in post-Troubles Belfast. The story follows Sean, a recent graduate who finds himself back home and slipping into his old ways, struggling to make ends meet with precarious casual work and filling his free time with drinking and drugs. Caught between his family and diverging social circles, and the drudgery of a life in stasis, Sean’s story is told with tenderness and realism in a way that will stay with you long after reading.
Roddy Doyle, hailed as “the undisputed laureate of ordinary lives” by The Sunday Times , revisits one of his most memorable characters with this emotive yet nuanced novel. It’s 2021, and Paula Spencer, now 66, has got her life back on track, but everything is upended by a surprise visit from her eldest daughter Nicola, who has abandoned her husband and family in an uncharacteristically reckless move. As the pair talk it out, Nicola confronts Paula with a deep-buried secret that will force them to reconcile with their past as individuals and as mother and daughter.
