Irish Biography

Just over a month after the 1921 truce that ended Ireland's fight with Britain, Ernie O'Malley longed for a return to war. Ten months later he got what he wanted...

In June 1974 from the stage of the Peacock Theatre in Dublin, Michael Hartnett announced his intention to stop writing poetry in English. He said he would write exclusively in...

His work has long been recognised for its innovation and his reputation for clashes with the so-called gardening 'establishment' are famous. He has won many accolades including Silver Gilt at...

A breakthrough novel for one of the most gifted of the current generation of Irish writers.

A Sunday Times Book of the YearAs featured on the BBC Radio 2 Book ClubDr James Barry: Inspector General of Hospitals, army surgeon, duellist, reformer, ladykiller, eccentric. He performed the...

A Sunday Times Bestseller March 2022 (Ireland)Soon, the lockdown would start. People would die alone, without any proper ceremony. Charlotte's death would be washed away, the first drop in a...

Based on personal testimony, this book was written to show what the term "domestic violence" really means to the thousands of women, children - and sometimes men - who suffer...

'An unforgettable, freewheeling masterclass'MICHAEL MAGEE, Nero Book Award-winning author of Close to Home'Funny, nerve-wracking and utterly compelling'COLIN BARRETT, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Wild Houses'Extraordinary... A writer with a rare gift....

'An unforgettable, freewheeling masterclass'Michael Magee, Nero Book Award-winning author of Close to Home 'Funny, nerve-wracking and utterly compelling'Colin Barrett, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Wild Houses'Extraordinary... A writer with a rare...

Boldly combining the highly personal with the brilliantly scholarly, "In the Dark Room" explores the question of how memory works emotionally and culturally. It is narrated through the prism of...

Takes a critical look at the international aid industry. This book covers topics such as the Peace Corps, debt relief, the aid business, health, food and cultural practices, among many...

Before the 1970s flipped the switch to colour, Irish children ere raised in a world of black, white and an awful lot of grey. But kids, being kids, found endless...

Irish construction workers in post-war Britain are celebrated in song and story. Donall MacAmhlaigh kept a diary as he worked the sites, danced in Irish halls, drank in Irish pubs...

This revised pictorial biography celebrates the life of Tom Crean, a great Irish hero of Antarctic exploration in an age of epics of endurance and survival against the odds. Tom...

Originally published in 1992, this childhood memoir, revised and augmented, now has the status of a modern Irish classic. On his first trip abroad, Adrian Kenny observes that the signs...

One fine April day, Mary Ann Kenny's husband died suddenly while jogging near their family home. In the months that followed, Mary Ann - who had no history of mental...

Born in poverty in Slane, County Meath, Ledwidge worked as a farm hand, copper miner and road labourer. In his twenties he would become a rising star in the Irish...

Ireland's longest-surviving recipient of a heart transplant, Bill Long has been, at various times: in the British Navy, a journalist, a cyclist, a public relations officer, a 'serious' writer, a...

LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITINGTwo days after the Winter Solstice in 2019 Kerri and her partner M moved to a small, remote railway cottage in the heart...

I felt betrayed by her. I couldn't understand why my mother allowed my father to rape, beat and torture me for 16 years ... Tara O'Brien, Dublin CityMy daughter was...

'A Dictionary of Irish Biography' is an essential reference book containing brief biographies of nearly 1,700 noteworthy and lesser-known Irish men and women. The only single volume A-Z to summarise...

The son of a Head Constable in the Royal Irish Constabulary, by the age of twenty-five, Eamonn Ceannt was married with a young son. He played the uilleann pipes and...

Sean Heuston was an Irish rebel and member of Fianna Eireann who took part in the Easter Rising of 1916. With The Volunteers, he held the Mendicity Institute on the...

The story of Tom Barry's life, peppered by his battles with the State and Church, and his constant endeavours to obtain an All Ireland Republic makes him a unique and...