We Irish are generally not great at tooting our own horns, but the 'self praise is no praise' rule that we collectively live by is disregarded when it comes to literature. On this front, it's safe to say that for a little island nation of a few million people, we're pretty damned good at that particular creative endeavour.
However, in the midst of the big publications, the celebrated authors and the titles that top bestseller lists, it's inevitable that a few gems will fall between the cracks. Here are a few excellent Irish novels that may have slipped through your net in recent years...
Catriona Lally – Eggshells
Catriona Lally's debut novel is a charming and beautifully-written story about Vivian – an outsider living in her late aunt's Dublin house, who believes that her inability to fit in with the world is because she is a 'changeling'. Despite her solitary nature, her mission in life is a simple one: to make a friend. More specifically, a friend called 'Penelope'. Set in North Dublin, there are multiple references to the city and its environs peppered throughout Eggshells, but you will see it differently via Vivian's unique worldview. There's an everyday magic to this gorgeous urban fairytale that lingers long after the last page has been turned. The good news is Lally's second book is due for publication this year.
Colin Barrett – Young Skins
Ireland is not lacking in masters of the short story, as writers like Kevin Barry and Mary Costello have proven in recent years, while the likes of Donal Ryan superbly captured post-Celtic Tiger rural Ireland in novels like 'The Spinning Heart'. This 2014 collection is almost painfully brilliant but remains seriously underrated; a concise, brutal and powerful compilation of stories that epitomise the often parochial nature of smalltown Ireland and its movers and shakers. Mayo man Barrett's writing style has an almost cinematic quality in places, as he sets scenes and spins yarns with poise and fluency – so it's no surprise that the centrepiece of Young Skins, the novella Calm with Horses, has been adapted for the big screen.
Rónán Hession – Leonard and Hungry Paul
This book was recently selected as the One Dublin, One Book title for 2021, so it's very likely that you'll be hearing more about it this year. The accolades are deserved: written by civil servant and former indie-folk musician Rónán Hession and published in 2019, Leonard and Hungry Paul is best summed up as 'a small story set in a big world'. It follows the titular friends and misfits as they navigate their exceedingly normal lives, as well as their changing relationship as their paths begin to diverge and unexpected opportunities begin to unfold. A warm, simply-told but seriously beguiling tale about friendship and the importance of being kind.
Hilary Fannin – The Weight of Love
Previously best known for her work as a journalist and playwright (as well as her 2015 memoir 'Hopscotch'), Fannin's first foray into fiction is an engrossing story that spans decades and various locations throughout Ireland and the UK. We first meet Irish emigrants Robin and Ruth in the mid-1990s, when they are both working in the same London school. Robin quickly falls in love, but a spanner is thrown in the works when his childhood friend Joseph – an impetuous, passionate artist – sweeps the fragile Ruth off her feet. Fannin documents both their affair and its aftermath, as it continues to resonate twenty years later, with an exquisite sense of delicacy and humanity. A brilliantly written, poignant and often painful examination of how lives can intertwine briefly, yet leave lasting scars.
June Caldwell – Room Little Darker
You may reckon you've had your fill of short stories in recent years, but you've never been inside June Caldwell's mind. Ever read a story about a kink-obsessed couple who end up spending weeks locked in a cage in a Leitrim kitchen? How about a man who (literally) lives in a tree? Or a story narrated from the viewpoint of a foetus? The Dublin author's first short story collection is a remarkable, offbeat, experimental, amusingly vulgar and often uncomfortable collection that pushes boundaries with language and themes. Perhaps most importantly, it is not without a deliciously dark sense of humour – and it is that, along with Caldwell's highly entertaining sense of weirdness, that will keep you turning the page.
