10 Books by Irish Authors to Read this St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2024

Literature

Nesha Ruther

Writer at Bond & Grace

This St. Patrick’s Day, what better way to engage with the rich and fascinating history of the Emerald Isle than perusing their impeccable literary canon? From classic icons like Oscar Wilde and James Joyce to modern-day heavyweights like Sally Rooney, the Irish have long since proven they know how to write a book. With their signature wit and scathing social observation, consider this collection of authors your tour guide through the rolling green hills and salt-stricken cliffs of this beautiful country!

Dubliners by James Joyce

This chronicle of early twentieth-century Dublin was intended by Joyce to be a moral history of Ireland. Featuring heartbreak, tragedy, and a raucous cast of characters, many of whom would later appear in Ulysses, Joyce succeeded in writing one of the most renowned English-language short story collections of all time.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

First performed in London in 1895, and initiating the tragic downfall of Oscar Wilde’s career, this play is Wilde at his most scathing. Poking fun at marriage and polite society, Wilde lambasts what he sees as Victorian conformity in a hilarious series of misadventures.

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

Merging the genres of travel writing with the fantasy of magical realism, Jonathan Swift was a pioneer in using the perfect balance of fantasy and realism to create a book that is hilarious, heart-stopping, and ultimately profound. Journey to the legendary lands of Lilliput, Brobdingnag, and Laputa…if you dare.

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett

One of the most renowned and enigmatic plays of the 20th century could only have been written by an Irishman. Two presumed homeless men, Vladimir and Estragon spend the entire show waiting for a man named Godot to appear, and the script chronicles their discussions and encounters with strangers as they wait.

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

McCourt’s legendary memoir follows young Frank, his mother Angela, and father Malachy from Depression-era Brooklyn to poverty-stricken Limerick in a story that is distinctly Irish-American. Frank endures extreme poverty, near-starvation, and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors, but inherits a love of stories from his parents and a determination to tell his own.

The Country Girls by Edna O’Brien

Originally published in the 1960s, audiences were shocked by O’Brien’s depiction of Irish girlhood and womanhood. The coming-of-age story follows best friends Kate and Baba as they leave their small town for the bright lights of Dublin and all the chaos, calamity, and joyous discovery that ensues.

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Connell and Marianne are nothing alike when they meet in high school. He is popular and athletic while she is a social outcast, yet they are inexplicably drawn to one another. In sparse yet evocative prose, Rooney charts the lives of two young people who impact one another deeply, to the point that when together, they become something entirely new.

Foster by Claire Keegan

When a young girl is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, she does not know when she will see her family again. And yet under their care, she is treated with affection and warmth, until an exposed secret threatens to disturb the precarious new life she has built.

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

In a masterful work of non-fiction that reads like a mystery, Say Nothing follows the curious case of Jean McConville, a 38-year-old widow and mother of 10, who was taken from her Belfast home in 1972 by masked intruders and murdered. Jean’s murder is the crux of the story, but also a vehicle through which we gain a larger picture of the devastating effects of the Troubles on Northern Ireland.

We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole

Using his own adolescence and young adulthood in Ireland as a prism, O’Toole deftly chronicles the history of a country that, despite a violent and painful history, refuses to be defined by one experience. Within the pages of this book, we see Ireland's journey from a struggling backwater to a pinnacle of arts, culture, and activism, and the challenge to define a national identity that accompanies such a momentous transition.