Can you recommend some writers from Ireland for me to read?

Ireland is known as the land of saints and scholars, and for good reason. It has produced some of the most impressive and prolific writers in the world – not bad for a small island on the edge of Europe! I love writing that comes from Ireland, so I'm looking for suggestions of new books and writers to try out.

Personally, I adore the classics – Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is one of my favourites, and I've seen Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" live on stage. I even made an attempt to read "Ulysses" by James Joyce, but it's a very long book and I couldn't quite finish it! Am I missing out on any other classics from Ireland?



Out of the more modern writers from Ireland, I've loved Seamus Heaney's collected poetry – "Digging" is one of my favourites, and I'm looking forward to getting more immersed in his collections. I also read a little of Belfast-born poet Sinéad Morrissey, and recently I finished "The Gathering" by Anne Enright, which won the Man Booker prize – it was absolutely excellent! Are there any other contemporary gems I should invest in to read?

Great post!

I agree with you on Joyce's "Ulysses", Samuel :) But if you manage to get past the chapter without punctuation marks, you can survive anything being thrown at you, literature-wise of course.

Right now I am reading "The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy" by Laurence Sterne. Very witty, very funny. Very quintessentially Irish, in that perspective. I'm not very far in it yet, so I can't be more elaborate in my review, but I can already thoroughly recommend it. As can the Guardian :) 

Hi, For me Ulysses is the best book ever, although I never have read it in English, I'm Dutch, so I have read it in Dutch for about 7 times, all the different Dutch translations.
I also love the poems of Seamus Heaney, most of all Saint Patrick and the blackbird.
Two years ago I was in Ireland and saw the great singer/songwriter John Spillane at the Doolin Folk Festival. When I came to Cork I bought his book and it's full of humor.
I also love the books of the dutch writer Marten Toonder, who lived a long time in Greystones. Ireland has been a great influence at his work.