Irish Interest Books

Did you know that bees have been around for over 100 million years? Or that the Brehon Laws included judgments about the rightful ownership of swarms? And why Irish beekeepers plant bluebells around their hives? From the perfectio…

Patsy Peril was born in 1943 in Coonagh, a small fishing community on the Shannon, not far from Limerick. His family fished from a traditional gandelow boat, using hemp nets. Further upriver was Ardnacrusha, the enormous hydro-ele…

Immerse yourself in the world of Ireland's ancient magic. Drawing on the faded pages of his great-granduncle Fantasius’s notebooks, John Farrelly reveals the secrets of the Irish Faerie folk. From legendary beings like banshees an…

Throughout his long life of public service, Dr T.K. Whitaker’s contribution to the economic, financial, social, educational, political and cultural evolution of the Irish state was unprecedented. In this new edition of his biograp…

Oranges and lemons, dancing sausages, little kittens, ducks and turtles; golden slumbers, lullabies and Irish eyes – they’re all here, and plenty more. A wonderful collection of nursery rhymes to treasure, songs and poems to share…

In this wonderful selection, spanning fifty years of Seamus Heaney's correspondence, we are given access as never before to the life and poetic development of a literary titan - from his early days in Belfast, through his controve…

No Irish rugby player has ever achieved more, or been a source of more inspiration to teammates and fans alike, than Johnny Sexton. In his hotly anticipated autobiography, Johnny tells the story of his life and explores the source…

Jesuit priest and amateur photographer, Fr Francis Browne is renowned for his images of the Titanic. However, much less well-known are the pictures that Fr Browne took of Irish country houses over a decade from 1946 onward. At the…

An Irish Food Story looks at history, culture and identity in Ireland through 100 foods. From farmhouse cheese to Findus Crispy Pancakes and everything in between, Jp McMahon shows that we truly are what we eat. It’s a story about…

Need a reason to feel mnásome? Look no further! For each day of the year, we celebrate Irish women, their extraordinary achievements and landmark victories. From stone-throwing suffragists, scientific geniuses and intrepid adventu…

In fact, two places called home …For over sixty years, Alice Taylor has lived in the village of Innishannon, the gateway to West Cork. But her childhood was spent on a farm in North Cork, near the Kerry border, and her memories of…

From the author's extensive collection given to Trinity College in 1996, 105 caricatures, political and social, have been selected that poke fun at the Irish during London's golden age of caricature. Some of them lampoon (or, occa…

Ireland has little left of its original natural habitats. Many species, like the curlew, are under pressure due to intensive practices such as farming, forestry and fisheries and some are threatened with extinction. But given a li…

To mark his 70th birthday Michael Harding travelled to Spain and walked the Camino de Santiago.Yet, as he set off on his pilgrimage, he found he wasn't alone. Accompanying him on his 126-kilometre walk in the heat of the Spanish s…

Pulse of the Nation is a celebration of the GAA's 140 years at the centre of Irish life, from its foundation in November 1884 to the present-day institution that has expanded massively at home and abroad. It zones in on the greate…

A captivating compilation of Irish folk tales collected by revolutionary leader Ernie O’Malley.

Bernard Phelan was working for an Iranian tour operator when he was arrested on false charges of spying on 3rd October 2022, becoming a political hostage. He shared "Satan's block" in Mashhad prison with political prisoners and dr…

In A Lethal Legacy, Fin Dwyer charts 200 years of Irish history, opening up our past as never before, by observing the grand societal changes of our times through the intimate lens of eighteen murders and the lives and communities…

What lies beneath? The Great Irish Famine is a story that has been told for several generations and is the single most pivotal experience in modern Irish history.  Now, acclaimed Irish illustrator David Rooney, through the evocati…

A unique presentation of Irish country house interiors, combining well-preserved historic estates with adventurous contemporary restorations, celebrating some of the most characterful houses in Ireland. Forgoing the criteria of st…

Magical images of Ireland's temperate rainforests meet with powerful nature writing on an astonishing journey into the wild, from the award-winning author of An Irish Atlantic Rainforest. In 2023, environmentalist and rewilder Eo…

This book identifies a representative selection of compelling and intriguing artworks by a range of around one hundred of the most challenging and vibrant artists from, or working in, Ireland or whose work addresses Irish landscap…

The Emergency in Colour brings wartime Ireland to life in dramatic colour. Through extensive research, the photos presented here have been painstakingly hand-colourised by photographer John O’Byrne, showing what life on the island…

Loinnir: The sunlight sparkling on the waves, or the merriness you feel after early pints of stout in the morning.  When you speak in Irish, every word is a tiny poem that reveals a new perspective. The Irish language is our inher…

The gripping true crime story of Ireland’s most infamous unsolved murder – the sectarian massacre of six Catholic civilians in 1922.  At 1.20 a.m. on 24 March 1922, five men, four dressed in British police uniforms, broke into the…

In Anarchy and Authority, readers follow contemporaneous accounts of Irish men and women who ventured into the Russian empire during the two long centuries of Romanov rule. Human connections, political intrigues, cultural cross-po…

The Great Famine in Ireland is still a current and emotive subject which draws readers from all spheres. This book tells a story not merely unique to Cork, but of interest to the national population. Famine in Cork City explores t…

GBS was the first great brand – discover how he created this most modern of concepts. The fourth book in the Royal Irish Academy’s award-winning ‘Judging’ series looks at the legacy of George Bernard Shaw, Nobel prizewinner for li…

Reading the Maps is a textbook companion to the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, the successful series which documents and assesses the evolution of Irish towns. To date, over 27 published atlases, three bound volumes and ten ancillary…

From the acclaimed, controversial singer-songwriter Sinead O'Connor comes a revelatory memoir of her fraught childhood, musical triumphs, struggles with illness, and of the enduring power of song.Blessed with a singular voice and …