Summer reading hitlist: New novels, classics and nonfiction books recommended by writers
Gripping thrillers, sport memoirs and the best recent fiction to pack in your holiday suitcase
Joseph O'Connor
30 years since Nuala O’Faolain’s Are You Somebody? ‘Vibrating with hurt. It leaves a mark’
In her best-selling memoir the Irish author and journalist ‘excavated her own soul and, in so doing, helped us look more closely at ourselves’
How brilliantly cheeky of RTÉ to essentially launch their version of Who Do You Think You Are?
Review: The programme brings a satisfyingly human touch to our understanding of the 1926 census, showing the complicated lives behind the raw facts and figures
Proud to be Irish: Aidan Gillen, Joe O’Connor and more on their cultural treasures
What underrated or unheralded Irish film, book, TV show, art or music do you tell your friends about?
Joseph O’Connor on Anthony Cronin: ‘Tension between content and style is where his wonderful energy arises’
Dead as Doornails ‘hugely important as a picture of its times, of the desolate condition of Irish writers and artists and the society around them’
One big idea: Fintan O’Toole, Maria Steen, Joseph O’Connor and others offer a to-do list for Government
Voices from across Irish life choose a single thing the Government should – and could – try to accomplish in its second year in office
The Let Them Theory is Ireland’s bestselling book of 2025
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan and The Ghosts of Rome by Joseph O’Connor are bestselling Irish titles
Joseph O’Connor wins Irish Book of the Year 2025 with The Ghosts of Rome
Sequel to My Father's House is the second in the Escape Line trilogy, inspired by the true story of Fr Hugh O’Flaherty
Joseph O’Connor on Bread of Angels by Patti Smith: Vive la reine
Lucid new memoir – a sort of sequel to Just Kids – gives fascinating insight into the worldview of one of the greatest living artists of our time
I’m always surprised at the whiff of condescension that greets historical novels
Historical fiction is a broad church, spanning detective fiction, romance, family sagas, war stories, feminist polemics, political thrillers and more
Irish Book Awards: Brenda Fricker, Leo Varadkar, Manchán Magan and Andy Farrell shortlisted
Awards ‘remain the cornerstone of Ireland’s literary calendar’ and will be held on November 27th in Dublin
The best books for summer 2025: our critics’ top picks
Sarah Moss, Joseph O’Connor, Wendy Erskine, John Banville, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne and other authors and reviewers choose their top reads for the holidays
Good books: The 20 best holiday reads this summer
Chillers, thrillers, romance, comedy, a GAA travelogue and Chekov in the west of Ireland
Joseph O’Connor: ‘I don’t know what modern Ireland is yet. I’m suspicious about the new sacred cows’
The Irish novelist on taking instruction from Vincent Browne, finding his way in fiction as a young man and coming to understand that the best writing has an inherent musicality
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices