7 Irish Books to Transport You this St. Paddy’s Day

I would like to wish a Happy Celtic American Heritage Day (as my [very proud of his Irish heritage] husband likes to say) to all those who celebrate. As a person with some distant Irish heritage myself, I’ve always found myself entranced by books from Ireland, this small island known both for it bountiful rolling green hills and also for the bouts of violence it has struggled with for much of its recent history. I have not included books specifically about the Troubles or nature writing about the stunning Emerald Isle but instead have included great books with excellent writing and interesting stories to tell. I hope you pick one of these up and let yourself be sucked in to a story for an afternoon before heading off to other St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

The Gospel of Orla by Eoghan Walls

When we went to Fall Forum in October, one of the sessions we attended is a lunch where publishing reps bring in a small selection of books they as individuals are really excited about. Out of probably a hundred books we heard about during that lunch, this is one that I remember because of how passionate the rep’s pitch was. This is the prose debut of Eoghan Walls, a famed Northern Irish poet, and is the coming-of-age story of a young girl named Orla and a man she meets who has an astonishing and unique ability. The two flee Orla’s village together with the intent of resurrecting her dead mother. Absurdist, melancholic, magical, funny and oddly hopeful, Orla weaves a story you won’t want to put down. With a poet’s command and playfulness of language, this paints a convincing portrait of a teenager’s grief and resilience. For an excellent and singular example of contemporary Irish writing, pick up this book.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

It’s not secret that Bookseller Bailey loves Claire Keegan and specifically Small Things Like These, which received a huge boost in popularity after being shortlisted for the Man Booker prize last year. This novella is as contemplative (and beautiful) as it is brief. Bill Furlong, while delivering coal to the local convent, comes face-to-face with the abusive reality of a “magdalen laundry,” an asylum amongst many operated by the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland from the 18th century through the 1990s. His own mother only narrowly escaped that fate, and Furlong must grapple with the complicity of himself and his community—and what he can live with. Exacting, hopeful, spare, and marvelous, this little book will take you through a whole palette of emotions while wrangling with the difficult history of old, storied institutions.

We are the Brennans by Tracey Lange

This story exploring the staying power of shame and the redemptive power of love is one beloved by Bookseller Amy, and is sure to pull on your heartstrings. After Sunday Brennan wakes up in an LA hospital because of a drunk driving accident she caused, she swallows her pride and goes back to her family in New York—who she abandoned without much explanation five years ago. While trying to rebuild her life on the east coast she slowly begins to realize her family needs her just as much as she needs them, and this only becomes more evident when a dangerous man from her past shows up to bring her family’s pub to the brink of ruin. The only way to stop him is to upend all of her family’s secrets—secrets that have damaged her family for generations. The aftermath makes her family confront painful and shameful mistakes, and the only way forward is together. Richly layered, deeply human, and full of heart, you won’t be able to help but love the Brennans because of their flaws, not in spite of them.

Elsewhere by Yan Ge (available on July 11, 2023)

Yan Ge is a favorite of mine and Bookseller Sarah’s for her writing in Chinese, specifically her fantasy short story collection Strange Beasts of China, but I wanted to highlight her as also in the Irish literature conversation. Since moving to Ireland in 2015 after marrying her Irish husband she has decided to foray into English language writing. Elsewhere is her English debut, and is also a collection of short stories, ones in which a young woman bonds with an encampment of poets after a devastating earthquake, another where, against her better judgment, a college student begins to fall for an acquaintance who might be dead. Dancing between reality and dreams, these 9 short stories wander elsewhere, a comforting, frustrating, just-out-of-reach place familiar to anyone who has ever experienced longing. Examining feelings of displacement, this is the next installment in an already remarkable career.

Faithful Place by Tana French

It is a truth universally acknowledged at Dog-Eared Books that our owner, Ellyn is a Tana French Superfan, so it’s only right to include one of her books in a list of Irish literature. Books 3 of the Dublin Murder Squad series and a finalist for the Edgar award, Faithful Place follows 19-year-old Frank Mackey who dreams of escaping his family’s cramped flat and running away to London with his girlfriend, Rosie Daly. But when Rosie doesn’t show the night they were to escape. Frank assumes she dumps him and never returns home—and neither does Rosie. Decades later Rosie’s suitcase is discovered in Frank’s old stomping grounds, and now as an investigator, Frank needs to solve the mystery and return home, whether he likes it or not. French explores themes of love, loss, memory, and murder in contemporary Ireland, and with sharp dialogue and simply brilliant writing, this is a great mystery to tear through on a rainy spring day.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

I read this novel several years ago and still think about it often because of how tender and terrifying it is, unfolding at the pace of a thriller but with the sensitivity and deft prose of great literary fiction. Set in Dublin in 1918 at the height of the Spanish flu, our protagonist, Nurse Julia Power, works in the quarantine maternity ward at an understaffed hospital in the city center when in come two outsiders—rumored Rebel Dr. Kathleen Lynn and a young volunteer, Bridie Sweeney. In the close, dark intensity of this ward, these three women change each other’s lives, giving succor to the dying and shepherding in new life. Tender, humane, and heartbreaking, this is a book of light and survival in even the most desperate of conditions. Featuring a vulnerable queer love story, this is a novel of caretaker heroism and hits even harder after experiencing a pandemic.

The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan

For fans of Ruth Ware or Tana French, The Murder Rule follows a mother-daughter duo, one of whom is running from a horrific truth and one who only wants to reveal it. When Hannah Rokeby discovers the Innocence Project is going to take on the case of Michael Dandridge, a man convicted of brutal rape and murder. Her mother has been running from this man for years, and as a law student, Hannah does her best to earn a valued spot on the team. Everyone thinks she is also there to help free Michael, when all Hannah really wants is to bury him. Jumping between Hannah’s present day escapades and her mother’s journal entries, The Murder Rule is the first standalone thriller from this well-known Irish writer. With a slow, inexorable build-up, you’ll be pulled through all the way to the end in this twisty story inspired by real-life events.