Irish Biography

Patrick 'Paddy' Reilly is an Irish folk singer and guitarist. Born in Rathcoole, County Dublin, he is one of Ireland's most famous balladeers and is best known for his renditions...

'A delightful evocation of Irishness and of the author's deep-rooted love of the very fields of home' Publishers WeeklyAlice Taylor's classic account of growing up in the Irish countryside, the...

Christy Brown was born a victim of cerebral palsy. But the hapless, lolling baby concealed the brilliantly imaginative and sensitive mind of a writer who would take his place among...

'Keelin's compelling story is as powerful as the woman she was.' Liz NugentJoan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking is a masterpiece. This ranks alongside. How can such a beautifully...

An Irish epic, The Maximalist documents in unflinching detail and with great subtlety the meteoric rise and slow unravelling of an Irish icon. 'Biography of the Year.' The Sunday Times'Biography...

LONGLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2021'One of the year's funniest books' i Paper'Funny, smart, soulful and sometimes devastating ... It made me laugh and cry' EMILIE PINE, author of...

In 1946, twenty-six-year-old Bridget Dolan walked up the path to the front door of the Tuam Mother and Baby Home. Alone and pregnant, she was following in the footsteps of...

Homeless at 13, pregnant at 14: life was not working out the way young Deborah Somorin had hoped. And yet, Deborah is now a chartered accountant at Ernst & Young,...

Solace is that feeling of calm and comfort, that sense of peace that is all around us when we are open to finding it.Writer and photographer Catherine Drea explores the...

A BEAUTIFUL AND POWERFUL ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY FROM TRAGEDY TO RENEWAL In January 1979, when Eoin Warner was two years old, an oil tanker exploded in Bantry Bay. Among...

Jack B. Yeats was the son of portrait painter John Butler Yeats and younger brother of the poet William Butler Yeats. He spent his childhood in Sligo, which remained a...

The unheard voice of Sean Lemass - 22 hours of lost interviews reveal the private thoughts of Ireland's most transformative taoiseachLemass never left any papers or an autobiography. Instead, he...

Victorian Britain's celebrity preacher, the Irish-born Monsignor Thomas John Capel, hid a dark secret. Behind his handsome looks, rich aristocratic friends, and close ties to two Popes, he was a...

At 16, Martha collapses on the streets, suffering from starvation and exposure. She has reached rock bottom, but after Martha is taken to hospital, Lady Luck smiles kindly on her...

The Cornucopia Story is a moving memoir of love, loss and resilience. Deirdre O'Mara McCafferty recounts her life with her husband, Neil, from their first meeting in Dublin during the...

In Middle Quarter, architect John Tuomey continues the story of his life in architecture. The narrative moves from intimate laments on the loss of aging parents and artist friends to...

NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER'A beautiful book of great tenderness, love of life, and wisdom' JOSEPH O'CONNORFor almost fifty years, Michael Harding has been crafting words in a bid to express himself...

THE NO. 1 BESTSELLERShortlisted for Biography of The Year, Irish Book Awards 2025'Refreshingly honest' Guardian'Whatever your views on Varadkar and his political legacy, you'll be gripped by these stories.' Sunday...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2025The real story behind Dunnes Stores, the most quintessentially Irish shop of all, and the family drama behind itThis is the story of the...

On St Patrick's night 1961, Liam Clancy, along with his brothers, Paddy and Tom, and their great friend Tommy, four fiery and passionate young folk singers from rural Ireland, made...

Every family has a story ... for Liam O'Connor that story goes back to his great-grandparents, William and Norry Kennedy. Using the threads of his family's past to weave a...

For almost fifty years, David Marcus has been a central figure in the world of Irish literature. Virtually every modern Irish writer of note has been influenced by him. And...

'I was fascinated, moved and entertained by every page. This is the kind of book the world needs right now' DONAL RYAN_______________'My dictionary's first two definitions of 'comrade' are:A close...

In the course of a long political career, Dr Noel Browne held public office for less than three years, as Minister for Health from 1948 to 1951. In that brief...

Ornithologist Sean Ronayne always knew he was different. While he struggled to fit in at school, when he was surrounded by nature, listening to birdsong, he felt a sense of...

'But we can't possibly pack up our lives and just run away in a van for a whole year. Can we?'Susan Bennett and her husband Chris are living normal, busy...

'A must-read: it hits you right in the heart' Katriona O'Sullivan, author of Poor'Written in beautifully honest prose, and illuminated throughout by something rare and invaluable: the notes kept by...

Financial Times Business Book of the MonthSeptember 2017. Ryanair cancels over 700,000 bookings and its powerful PR juggernaut comes shuddering to a halt. For once, the airline's aggressive and flamboyant...

Life in Artane Industrial School was an education in cruelty and fear. Run by the Christian Brothers, the school has become synonymous with the widespread abuse of children in Ireland...

Telling the heart-wrenching stories of five families with whom Shane worked as a child protection worker, "Hush, Little Baby" will open your eyes to the daily struggle faced by young...

Think of stonecarving in Ireland and it won't be long before the name Seamus Murphy comes to mind. In one of the oldest traditions in the world, Seamus carved his...

In the latest instalment of Martha Long's autobiography, Ma, Now I'm Goin Up in the World, her story continues through her teenage years. At 16, Martha collapses on the streets,...

Two young brothers in Lvov, separated by war. Henryk, imprisoned by theNazis with his mother in the family home, flees with her ahead of the advancing Soviets, eventually settling in...