8 brilliant Irish books

I’ve picked a mix of old books that I read and loved as a child, and more recent books that my children have read and loved. 

Sinead writes for adults and children – The New Girl is the first of her children’s books. Safa is the new girl in Ruby’s class. She is a refugee to Ireland from Syria, and her life looks a lot different to Ruby’s. And yet, they find lots in common, in all the most important ways… This is such a light and clever way to tackle big subjects. My daughter read it when she was 13 and absolutely loved it. 

One of my all-time favourite novels. This was published in 1934 and tells the story of Seamus and Eileen who live in a white-washed cottage on the edge of the bog with their parents. Their dad is a turf-cutter. One day they find a donkey, or rather – the donkey finds them – and leads them to a series of magical adventures. 

Not only is this a thrilling introduction to the stories of Old Ireland – Fionn Mac Chuaill, the Fianna, the Fir Bolg – it’s also an incredibly charming insight into what life in this country was like for ordinary people and, most thrilling of all, the delicate interplay of the two things: the magic that lies just below the surface of everyday life. 

I loved this so much as a kid growing up in Brussels. Something about the journey taken by Finn and Derval, from London where they are escaping their cruel uncle, back to Ireland and their beloved grandmother in Connemara, really appealed to me. 

The sheer daring of Finn’s plan – to get them on the boat train and all the way over to Dublin and beyond, without supervising adults, or money and while defying the efforts of the cruel uncle to get them back – was very rousing. 

Manchan Magan​’s books aren’t exclusively for children – anyone interested in Ireland or the Irish language will love them – but Tree Dogs, Banshee Fingers and Other Irish Words For Nature, both a beautiful picture book and a clever insight into Irish culture through the specifics of language, is immediately appealing to kids. 

There are regular complaints here about the way Irish is taught in schools – that it is somewhat dry and irrelevant. Manchan’s books take the language right back to its intense and brilliant basics. 

Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant series (fifteen books, and more set within the ​‘universe’) are energetic and irreverent. The adventures of 12-year-old Stefanie, trying to stop evil forces gaining even greater power, and her wisecracking skeleton detective friend Skuldugery, who was a wizard back when he was alive, are fast, exciting, full of daring, and hilarious. 

Stefanie ages as the series goes on, and the later books are definitely not for 12-year-olds, but my daughter read these in line with her own growing up, and loves them all. 

The stories that Kathleen Watkins started out telling to her grandchildren ended in a very charming picture-book collection. The adventures of a fun-loving pig and his pals around the fishing village of Howth in North Dublin are incredibly sweet – the illustrations are gorgeous – and with just the right amount of drama. 

In the years when my children were being given picture books, this one really made an impression. A little girl called Fiona, wearing a bright red jacket and hood, sets off through Dublin city to her granny’s house, and encounters magical and mystical creatures living in the most famous local landmarks along the way. 

Again, it’s the blend of everyday and fantastical that I love here. 

My youngest brother banned me and my sister from reading this story to him – because we couldn’t get through it without crying. I still can’t. I’m not sure Wilde wrote anything better than this beautiful story of a swallow, left behind when his flock flies to Egypt for the winter, who does the bidding of the beautiful statue of a prince, who asks the swallow to strip it of its gold and jewels and deliver them to the poor people of his city.

And then in the end, the cold comes and the swallow dies and … and I’m bawling already. 

Murder at the Ivy Hotel by Emily Hourican is out now.