“Says who?” is often my reaction when presented with any “Best of ...” list in the media. Mindful of this and the knowledge that any verdict is only as trustworthy as the calibre of the jurors, I invited more than 60 experts (authors, critics, academics, booksellers and festival curators – their names are listed at the bottom) to submit an unranked list of their 50 favourite Irish novels or short story collections of the century so far, either titles they loved or ones they felt were too significant to overlook.
My colleague, data analyst Cathal Stack, collated the results into a list of the 100 most broadly popular titles, ranked in descending order based on the number of nominations each received.
I then asked the panel to fine-tune the list by re-ordering the titles from 1 to 100, to reflect their own personal preferences and thus to establish which books had inspired the deepest love.
On Friday, we will publish numbers 50 to 26 and on Saturday we will reveal the top 25 Irish fiction titles of the century so far.
100
Oh My God What a Complete Aisling by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen (2017)
The novel that arose from a Facebook page sharing real-life examples of the quintessential country girl working in the big smoke, or “just a small-town girl living in a notions world” as the book’s subtitle says. When Aisling’s boyfriend from “down home” fails to propose, she ditches him and her commute from her parents’ house to move to the big city with stylish Sadhbh and the mysterious Elaine.
99
Service by Sarah Gilmartin (2023)
Set in a high-end Dublin restaurant, and told from the perspectives of the waitress, the chef and the chef’s wife. When Daniel Costello is accused of sexual assault, he fears he could lose everything over an incident he can barely remember while his wife Julie laments spending two decades in a supporting role and his former employee Hannah is forced to confront memories of the tense summer she spent as a waitress. Read our review here
98
Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen (2020)
In a fictional town in the North, the death of her grandmother shatters Majella’s predictable, quiet existence – of working in the local chip shop and living with her alcoholic mother – and prompts her to question whether there could be more to life. Described as “Milkman meets Derry Girls”. Shortlisted for Costa First Novel Award and Irish Newcomer of the Year. Read our review here
97
This Hostel Life by Melatu Uche Okorie (2018)
A collection of three short stories that give voice to women’s experiences within the direct provision system, of encountering daily racism in Ireland and in a Nigeria of the past where a woman’s life is destroyed by ancient superstitions. Uche Okorie was nominated for Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Read our review here
96
Snowflake by Louise Nealon (2021)
Debbie White must navigate the different challenges presented by her new world at Trinity College Dublin and her home life on a dairy farm with her mother and uncle in Nealon’s debut novel. It was chosen for One Dublin One Book 2024 and Nealon won Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Read our review here
95
Fallen by Lia Mills (2014)
Against the backdrop of political upheaval in 1916 Dublin, Katie Crilly falls in love with a comrade of her twin brother, who was killed on the Western Front. Read our review here
94
Nora by Nuala O’Connor (2021)
A retelling of the love story between James Joyce and his wife and muse Nora Barnacle. It’s told from Barnacle’s perspective as she struggles to balance her unwavering love for “her Jim”, rear their children and exist hand-to-mouth while Joyce pursues literary greatness. It was chosen for One Dublin One Book 2022 and was shortlisted for the RTÉ Audience Choice Award at the Irish Book Awards. Read our review here
93
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes (2022)
Paul Howard described the sequel to Rachel’s Holiday “a serious story told with all of [Keyes’s] trademark wit, compassion and deftness of touch”. The novel revisits Rachel Walsh 25 years on. Her life is settled following a stint in rehab until a love interest reappears. It won Popular Fiction Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction. The story of the Walsh sisters is being adapted for TV by RTÉ. Read our review here
92
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue (2023)
A story of two twenty-something best friends screwing up and growing up together over a year in Cork City. It was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and nominated for a TikTok Book Award. Channel 4 has announced an eight-part adaptation. Read our review here
91
A Line Made by Walking by Sara Baume (2017)
Twenty-five-year-old Frankie quits her anxiety-ridden life working at a gallery and living in a bedsit in Dublin to move into the home of her deceased grandmother close to her family in the countryside, from where she encounters the beauty of the everyday. Read our review here
90
Havoc, in Its Third Year by Ronan Bennett (2004)
Irish Novel of the Year winner. Superb historical fiction. In civil war-torn 17th-century England, a principled governor, discomfited by zealous puritanism, hides his affection for his pregnant wife’s young ward and refuses to convict a vagrant Irishwoman.
89
Beatlebone by Kevin Barry (2015)
It’s 1978 and maddened musical genius John Lennon flees fame in search of peace in the west of Ireland, guided by his wily Irish driver, Cornelius. Eoin McNamee described it in The Irish Times as “a novel of necessary invention: profound, funny, hard to pin down”. It won the Goldsmiths Prize and was shortlisted for an Irish Book Award. Read our review here
88
Multitudes by Lucy Caldwell (2016)
From Belfast to London and back again, this debut collection comprises 11 stories exploring the many facets of growing up, culminating in the title story. Read our review here
87
Actress by Anne Enright (2020)
Norah tells the story of her mother, a legend of Irish theatre – charting Hollywood stardom and the highs and lows of the stage – and in doing so uncovers secrets and acquires her own. It was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. Read our review here
86
Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent (2014)
Elegant Oliver Ryan has the perfect life, sharing a lovely home with his loyal wife, Alice, who illustrates the award-winning children’s books that have brought him wealth and fame. Until one evening, Oliver savagely assaults her and leaves her for dead. Read our review here
85
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (2024)
An instant classic. Two friends in 412BC Syracuse decide to cast Athenian prisoners in a play. It won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. Read our review here
84
Tenderwire by Claire Kilroy (2006)
After collapsing following her solo debut, New York-based violinist Eva Tyne embarks on a chaotic and dangerous odyssey that involves leaving her partner and falling in love with a mysterious man. Read our review here
83
Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett (2015)
Twenty short stories written from the perspective of an unnamed woman living a solitary existence near a small coastal village, addressing the best way to eat porridge, an encounter with a cow and the ending of an affair. Read our review here
82
The Blue Tango by Eoin McNamee (2001)
Based on one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in recent history, a gripping thriller and a danse macabre through a shadowy world of corruption and sexual intrigue. A darkly lyric narrative of false accusation and savage murder, presided over by the haunted, tragic figure of judge’s daughter Patricia Curran.
81
Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín (2014)
In late-1960s Ireland, Nora Webster must look after her four children and try to rebuild her life following the death of her husband. It was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award. Read our review here
80
Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan (2023)
After a young girl dies in a London housing estate in 1990, suspicion falls on a reclusive Irish family, but Nolan is more interested in the ordinary human failings of a disadvantaged immigrant family than a sensationalist whodunnit. Read our review here
79
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry (2005)
Willie Dunne, as a member of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, finds himself caught between the war playing out on foreign fields and that festering at home, waiting to erupt with the 1916 Rising. Read our review here
78
The Thing About December by Donal Ryan (2013)
While the Celtic Tiger rages, and greed becomes the norm, Johnsey Cunliffe desperately tries to hold on to the familiar, even as he loses those who all his life have protected him from a harsh world. Read our review here
77
Hawthorn & Child by Keith Ridgway (2012)
An edgy, profound London narrative in the Martin Amis mould. “Read Hawthorn & Child. Better still, read it twice: it’s that real, that good, that true,” writes Eileen Battersby. Read our review here
76
The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry (2024)
A majestic Irish western. October, 1891. Butte, Montana. Young Tom Rourke, a degenerate Cork poet, elopes with his true love Polly, the mine captain’s new bride, with Cornish baddies in hot pursuit. Read our review here
75
Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent (2023)
A reclusive woman, after her adoptive father dies, discovers the grim, harrowing story of a childhood she does not remember. Endearingly odd, Sally is forced to come to terms with her past but she is being watched. Read our review here
74
White City by Kevin Power (2021)
The spoiled son of a rich Dublin banker, cut off from a life of heedless privilege, flounders through drugs and dead-end jobs until an old schoolfriend cuts him in on a shady property deal abroad. Read our review here
73
Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry (2019)
In the Spanish port of Algeciras, two fading Irish gangsters wait on the boat from Tangier. A lover has been lost, a daughter is missing, their world asunder – can it be put together again? Read our review here
72
The Alternatives by Caoilinn Hughes (2024)
Four brilliant sisters, orphaned in childhood, scramble to reconnect when the eldest disappears into the Irish countryside. Fiercely witty, unexpectedly hopeful and unashamedly intelligent. Read our review here
71
Love and Summer by William Trevor (2009)
Young convent girl Ellie, who is married to a farmer still in mourning for his first wife, forms an illicit attachment to a stranger who arrives to her small town. It was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Read our review here
70
Apeirogon by Colum McCann (2020)
Consisting of 1,001 short sections, and based on real events, the two central figures, Rami, an Israeli, and Bassam, a Palestinian, bond over the violent deaths of their respective daughters, Smadar and Abir. Read our review here
69
Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan (2007)
Claire Keegan’s second short-story collection observes an Ireland wrestling with its past. In the title story a priest battles with his memories of a love affair while he waits on the altar for a bride. Read our review here
68
The Narrow Land by Christine Dwyer Hickey (2019)
Inspired by the marriage of painters Jo and Edward Hopper, this novel of loneliness and regret, the legacy of the second World War and the American dream, won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. Read our review here
67
The Colony by Audrey Magee (2022)
An English artist and a French academic descend on a remote Irish island in the late 1970s, each determined to capture something of its authenticity. The narrative is punctuated by news bulletins chronicling lives lost in the Troubles. Read our review here
66
Long Island by Colm Tóibín (2024)
This sequel to Brooklyn, 20 years on, also turns on secrets, portrays the plight of immigration and pits duty versus desire. Eilis, betrayed by her husband, returns home and rekindles an old flame. Read our review here
65
Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor (2019)
The origin story of Dracula won Irish Novel of the Year. Bram Stoker is manager of volcanic actor and impresario Henry Irving’s Lyceum Theatre in a London haunted by Jack the Ripper, intrigued by Oscar Wilde and enchanted by Ellen Terry. Read our review here
64
Show Them a Good Time by Nicole Flattery (2019)
“At 70, after suffering several disappointments, the first being my mother, the second being me, my father died.” One of the debut author’s many great opening lines. Her ability to switch, sometimes in the same line, from sorrow to comedy gives the collection depth and momentum. Read our review here
63
Winterwood by Patrick McCabe (2006)
Another virtuoso excursion into a troubled consciousness by the author of a modern masterpiece in The Butcher Boy, this is a masterclass in menace, which won Irish Novel of the Year. Read our review here
62
The Truth Commissioner by David Park (2008)
A veteran republican turned government minister; a retired RUC man; a one-time activist who has fled to the US; and the eponymous commissioner attempt to come to terms with the horrors of the recent past in this multilayered, post- Troubles novel.
61
Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey (2006)
A funny but devastating account of a disturbed childhood and a troubled, drink-damaged Dublin family told through the lively, charismatic, brutally honest voice of a little girl, Tatty.
60
The Fire Starters by Jan Carson (2019)
Magic realism comes to Belfast. Dr Jonathan Murray fears his newborn daughter is not as harmless as she seems. Sammy Agnew is wrestling with his dark past, and fears the violence in his blood lurks in his son, too. The city is in flames and the authorities are losing control. Who will these two fathers choose to protect? Read our review here
59
There Are Little Kingdoms by Kevin Barry (2007)
This brilliant debut collection reimagined the Irish short story and won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Filled with a grand sense of life’s absurdity, the stories are full of humour, darkness and intensity.
58
Sweet Home by Wendy Erskine (2019)
Warm, compassionate and funny, Wendy Erskine’s debut collection for Stinging Fly captures life in contemporary Belfast. An original Northern voice, with a restrained, dry wit, strong characters and stylistic ambition. Read our review here
57
At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O’Neill (2001)
Set in Dublin before and during the 1916 Rising, this is the story of two young men, Jim Mack and Doyler, and their friendship which buds into love. Dickensian in its sweep, Joycean in its language and reminiscent of James Plunkett’s Strumpet City, it is also utterly original.
56
Travelling in a Strange Land by David Park (2018)
An Irish Novel of the Year winner, exploring father-son relationships. Against a whited-out midwinter landscape, a father leaves Belfast to bring his son home for Christmas from university in England, and thinks of his own father. Read our review here
55
Molly Fox’s Birthday by Deirdre Madden (2008)
A playwright reflects on her life and that of her eponymous actor friend. A fine example of the author’s preoccupations with the legacy of the Troubles and the redemptive power of art to transcend the pain of life and history. Read our review here
54
Here Are the Young Men by Rob Doyle (2014)
A rough but powerful debut, interrogating the dark side of the young Irish male’s psyche, and brave enough not to play it for laughs. A lament for the blank generation. Read our review here
53
The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride (2016)
This love story about two damaged people will blow you away. Eily, an 18-year-old Irish drama student, falls violently in love with Stephen, an actor 20 years her senior. Epic and exquisitely intimate. Read our review here
52
The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien (2015)
A charismatic stranger from the Balkans who calls himself a faith healer arrives in a small, west-coast Irish village and puts it under his spell. One woman becomes enthralled in a fatal attraction. Read our review here
51
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams (2019)
A leisurely, nostalgic coming-of-age novel, sweeping in its attention to oral culture, folk stories and local tradition. Narrator Noel looks back on his life, the coming of electricity to remote Faha and a stranger with a lesson to teach. Read our review here
Additional reporting: Jessica Doyle
Panel of experts
Paul Howard, John Self, Fintan O’Toole, Cormac Kinsella, Eugene O’Brien, Claire Hennessy, Henrietta McKervey, Frank Shovlin, Julia Kelly, Peter Murphy, Martina Devlin, Colm Tóibín, Anne Enright, Michael Cronin, Julian Girdham, Eamon Maher, Lucy Sweeney Byrne, John Boyne, Neil Hegarty, Helen Cullen, Alex Clark, Val Nolan, Patricia Scanlan, Sarah Gilmartin, Diarmaid Ferriter, Niamh Donnelly, Bert Wright, Tomás Kenny, Fiona Reddan, Rónán Hession, Patricia Craig, Jessica Doyle, Vivienne Guinness, Emer McLysaght, Martin Doyle, Nadine O’Regan, Patrick Freyne, Róisín Ingle, Bernice Harrison, Peter O’Connell, Declan Burke, Eimear O’Herlihy, Eithne Shortall, Rosita Boland, Kevin Power, Sian Smyth, Caoilfhionn Fay, Colum McCann, Joseph O’Connor, Garrett Carr, Margaret Kelleher, Anne Griffin, Eilis Ní Dhuibhne, Sebastian Barry, Edel Coffey, Sinéad Mac Aodha, Susan Walsh, Hugh Linehan, Sinead McCorry, Rick O’Shea, Louisa Earls.
