Top 50 Irish Novels

This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

About this list

James Joyce Center with The Irish Times, 50 Books

The James Joyce Center co-sponsored a contest with The Irish Times voting on the best Irish novels. They had a predetermined list of books which the voters could choose from.

Who voted?
Panel size (for shortlist) ≈ 10–15 experts (panel description but no head-count)
Selection method Panel-curated shortlist → open ballot of Top 10

This list was originally published in 2003 and was added to this site over 2 years ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
1 Ulysses James Joyce 1922 Irish English
88 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce 1916 Irish English
1408 Amongst Women John McGahern 1990 Irish English
357 At Swim Two-Birds Flann O'Brien 1939 Irish English
89 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
65 Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift 1726 British English
494 The Third Policeman Flann O'Brien 1967 Irish English
53 Dracula Bram Stoker 1897 British English
12146 The Book Of Evidence John Banville 1989 Irish English
2358 The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe 1992 Irish English
5480 Strumpet City James Plunkett 1969 Irish English
234 The Chronicles of Narnia C. S. Lewis 1950 British English
1202 The Country Girls Edna O'Brien 1960 Irish English
151 Molloy Samuel Beckett 1951 Irish French
11312 Tarry Flynn Patrick Kavanagh 1948 Irish English
1774 The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Brian Moore 1955 Irish English
1404 The Last Bouquet Marjorie Bowen 1933 British English
51 The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy Laurence Sterne 1759 British English
12692 How Many Miles To Babylon? Jennifer Johnston 1974 Irish English
11360 The Land Of Spices Kate O'Brien 1941 Irish English
1026 Murphy Samuel Beckett 1938 Irish English
11882 The Barracks John McGahern 1963 Irish English
821 Castle Rackrent Maria Edgeworth 1800 British English
14345 The Woman Who Walked Into Doors Roddy Doyle 1996 Irish English
14346 Reading In The Dark Seamus Deane 1996 Irish English
11794 Felicia's Journey William Trevor 1994 British English
12627 The Captains And The Kings Jennifer Johnston 1972 Irish English
10925 Fools of Fortune William Trevor 1983 Irish English
2583 Good Behaviour Molly Keane 1981 Irish English
14020 The South Colm Toibin 1990 Irish English
10153 December Bride Sam Hanna Bell 1951 British English
11468 The Real Charlotte Edith Somerville, Violet Florence Martin 1894 Irish English
12121 The Emperor Of Ice Cream Brian Moore 1965 Irish English
13248 Death And Nightingales Eugene McCabe 1992 Irish English
2403 The Charwoman's Daughter James Stephens 1912 Irish English
14694 The Parts Keith Ridgway 2003 Irish English
663 The Siege of Krishnapur J. G. Farrell 1973 British English
10938 Langrishe, Go Down Aidan Higgins 1966 Irish English
11179 Black List, Section H Francis Stuart 1971 Irish English
378 Melmoth the Wanderer Charles Robert Maturin 1820 British English
14481 The Banyan Tree Christopher Nolan 1999 Irish English
12880 Birchwood John Banville 1973 Irish English
542 Uncle Silas Sheridan Le Fanu 1864 Irish English
11494 A Drama In Muslin George Moore 1886 Irish English
11495 Esther Waters George Moore 1894 British English
12632 The Big Chapel Thomas Kilroy 1971 Irish English
11496 The Black Prophet William Carleton 1847 Irish English
13969 The Birds Of The Innocent Wood Deirdre Madden 1988 Irish English
14042 Surrogate City Hugo Hamilton 1990 Irish Unknown
14645 Love And Sleep Sean O'Reilly 2002 Unknown Unknown