“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 reordering the titles from 1 to 100, to reflect their own personal preferences and thus to establish which books had inspired the deepest love.
On Thursday, we published numbers 100 to 51 and on Saturday we will reveal the top 25 Irish fiction titles of the century so far. Below are the books ranked 50 to 26.
- The 100 best Irish books of the 21st century: No 100 to No 51
- The 100 best Irish books of the 21st century: No 25 to No 1
50
Dinosaurs on Other Planets by Danielle McLaughlin (2014)
Another brilliant Stinging Fly debut short story collection. The Cork author has won the Windham-Campbell Prize and Sunday Times Short Story Award. Read our review here
49
The Wren, The Wren by Anne Enright (2023)
Nell sets out into the world but finds her history hard to escape. Her leaving causes a lifetime’s turmoil to churn in her mother, Carmel. Over both looms Carmel’s famous father, a gifted but selfish poet. Read our review here
48
Asking For It by Louise O’Neill (2015)
A harrowing exploration of a brutal gang rape of a young woman and its aftermath in a small Irish community, it fearlessly, relentlessly tackles the complex topic of sexual consent. Originally published as a young adult novel, it was adapted for an award-winning play. Read our review here
47
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan (2020)
An impressive, cerebral debut written with brio and humour, it teems with insights about class, race, language and sexuality. Ava, a young Irish graduate teaching English in Hong Kong, gets involved with Julian, an English banker, and Edith, a local lawyer. Read our review here
46
The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy (2021)
“Each story in this debut collection is a masterclass in narrative control,” writes Joseph O’Connor. “The pace of the writing is perfect. This is writing that makes Francis Bacon at his bleakest seem like Mary Poppins.” Read our review here
45
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (2024)
Sally Rooney’s fourth novel is her finest, a deeply moving story of two grieving brothers and the women they love, explored with emotional intelligence and a stream-of-consciousness technique to render the boundless complexity of the inner life. Read our review here
44
Paula Spencer by Roddy Doyle (2006)
The second in a trilogy that includes The Woman Who Walked into Doors (1996) and The Women Behind the Door (2024), it is a tender portrait of a recovering alcoholic coming to terms with grown-up children and a rapidly changing Ireland. Read our review here
43
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (2016)
This western is a masterpiece of atmosphere and language. After joining the US army, aged 17, Thomas McNulty and John Cole fight in the Indian wars and the American civil war. Their lives are vivid and filled with wonder, despite the horrors, and enriched but imperilled when a young Indian girl crosses their path. Read our review here
42
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne (2017)
Written with verve, humour and heart, this is an epic account of modern Ireland through the life story of Cyril Avery, born out of wedlock and adopted by an eccentric Dublin couple, spanning three countries, two continents and 626 pages. Dedicated to John Irving, it is on a par with some of that US writer’s best works. Read our review here
41
Ghost Light by Joseph O’Connor (2010)
An exquisite, delicate work by a master of historical fiction, based on the real-life love affair of Abbey Theatre actor Molly Allgood and playwright JM Synge and its tragic ending.
40
How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney (2023)
The Galway writer’s second novel is the tender story of how one boy and his mission transforms the lives of his teachers, Tess and Tadhg, and brings together a community. Written with verve, it’s about love, family, connection and the power of imagination. Read our review here
39
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney (2017)
A dynamic debut about the messy, overlapping relationships between four captivating characters, capturing a young, feminist consciousness. Students Frances and Bobbi, best friends and former lovers, each become involved with a married couple, Melissa and Nick, testing their friendship and characters. Read our review here
38
Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession (2019)
In this debut suffused with gentle wisdom and kindness, Leonard and Hungry Paul, two quiet friends who see the world differently, use humour, board games and silence to steer their way through modern life. Read our review here
37
Girl by Edna O’Brien (2019)
Remarkably written when the author was almost 90, a story inspired by the brutal kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls by Islamist extremists, Boko Haram. A young woman, barely more than a girl herself, must learn to survive with her child. Read our review here
36
A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (2020)
The poet’s prose debut sculpts essay and autofiction to explore inner life and the deep connection felt between two writers centuries apart. In the 1700s, Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, an Irish noblewoman, on discovering her husband has been murdered, drinks handfuls of his blood and composes an extraordinary poem, Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire. In the present day, a young mother narrowly avoids tragedy and becomes obsessed with the poem’s parallels with her own life. Read our review here
35
Wild Houses by Colin Barrett (2024)
In Ballina, a dispute over drugs results in a teenage boy being held captive in the home of a recluse, while his girlfriend tries to rescue him. It won the Nero Debut Fiction award, whose judges said: “The wit and humour belie an undercurrent of menace, and yet there is deep empathy and compassion at its heart.” Read our review here
34
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (2023)
This Booker Prize winning dystopian novel explores the rise of political extremism and the plight of refugees. Eilish Stack tries to make sense of a nightmarish social collapse as her union leader husband is detained by secret police, desperate to do whatever it takes to keep her family together. Read our review here
33
Close to Home by Michael Magee (2023)
Seán is back in post-ceasefire Belfast with a degree from Liverpool University but as a working-class outsider still faces the school of hard knocks. Louise Kennedy called it “Kneecap meets Chekhov”. Winner of the Rooney and Nero Debut Fiction prizes. Read our review here
32
Young Skins by Colin Barrett (2013)
Set in a fictional Mayo town, these stories deftly explore the wayward lives and loves of the local youth. Brilliant and acute at a sentence level. Winner of the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, Rooney Prize and Guardian First Book Award. One story, Calm with Horses, was made into a film. Read our review here
31
Solace by Belinda McKeon (2011)
This compelling debut novel subtly reconfigures and updates the archetypal story of a son’s quarrel with his father. A story of family values and divided loyalties in pre-recession Ireland, it won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and Irish Book of the Year. Read our review here
30
Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume (2015)
The story of a 57-year-old fugitive, his only comforts a mutilated dog and a love for nature. “A stunning and wonderful achievement by a writer touched by greatness,” writes Joseph O’Connor. Read our review here
29
Bad Day in Blackrock by Kevin Power (2008)
Loosely based on a real-life fatal assault outside a nightclub, this is an eviscerating portrait of the graduates of Dublin’s private schools. It was made into a film, What Richard Did. Read our review here
28
The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor (2002)
Captain Gault has decided that his Protestant family must leave their big house in rural Cork while the country is in turmoil – it is 1921. But eight-year-old Lucy can’t bear to go so she hatches a plan. Then the calamity happens. Read our review here
27
Netherland by Joseph O’Neill (2008)
A Dutch banker finds himself lost in New York after his wife and son return to London. Stumbling upon the vibrant subculture of cricket and befriended by the Gatsby-like Chuck Ramkissoon, a charismatic Trinidadian, he reconnects with his life and his adopted country. Critic Dwight Garner called it “the wittiest, angriest, most exacting and most desolate work of fiction we’ve yet had about life in New York and London after the World Trade Center fell”.
26
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney (2015)
The working-class Galway writer’s debut, the first of a “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” trilogy, won the Women’s Prize for Fiction and Desmond Elliott Prize. A young drug dealer, Ryan, navigates post-bailout Cork city and first love on the wrong side of the tracks. It’s “a big, brassy, sexy beast of a book... an accomplished, seriously enjoyable and high-octane morality tale, full of empathy, feeling and soul,” writes Joseph O’Connor. Read our review here
Additional reporting: Jessica Doyle
Panel of experts
Paul Howard, Clíodhna Ní Anluain, 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.
