Top 50 Irish Novels

This is one of the 743 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
89 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce 1916 Irish English
1408 Amongst Women John McGahern 1990 Irish English
355 At Swim Two-Birds Flann O'Brien 1939 Irish English
88 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
12120 The Book Of Evidence John Banville 1989 Irish English
2350 The Butcher Boy Patrick McCabe 1992 Irish English
5470 Strumpet City James Plunkett 1969 Irish English
233 The Chronicles of Narnia C. S. Lewis 1950 British English
1200 The Country Girls Edna O'Brien 1960 Irish English
151 Molloy Samuel Beckett 1951 Irish French
11280 Tarry Flynn Patrick Kavanagh 1948 Irish English
1770 The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Brian Moore 1955 Irish English
1403 The Last Bouquet Marjorie Bowen 1933 British English
52 The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy Laurence Sterne 1759 British English
12661 How Many Miles To Babylon? Jennifer Johnston 1974 Irish English
11329 The Land Of Spices Kate O'Brien 1941 Irish English
1023 Murphy Samuel Beckett 1938 Irish English
11855 The Barracks John McGahern 1963 Irish English
821 Castle Rackrent Maria Edgeworth 1800 British English
14277 The Woman Who Walked Into Doors Roddy Doyle 1996 Irish English
14278 Reading In The Dark Seamus Deane 1996 Irish English
11769 Felicia's Journey William Trevor 1994 British English
12596 The Captains And The Kings Jennifer Johnston 1972 Irish English
10895 Fools of Fortune William Trevor 1983 Irish English
2580 Good Behaviour Molly Keane 1981 Irish English
13967 The South Colm Toibin 1990 Irish English
10134 December Bride Sam Hanna Bell 1951 British English
11440 The Real Charlotte Edith Somerville, Violet Florence Martin 1894 Irish English
12095 The Emperor Of Ice Cream Brian Moore 1965 Irish English
13215 Death And Nightingales Eugene McCabe 1992 Irish English
2395 The Charwoman's Daughter James Stephens 1912 Irish English
14613 The Parts Keith Ridgway 2003 Irish English
662 The Siege of Krishnapur J. G. Farrell 1973 British English
10908 Langrishe, Go Down Aidan Higgins 1966 Irish English
11148 Black List, Section H Francis Stuart 1971 Irish English
376 Melmoth the Wanderer Charles Robert Maturin 1820 British English
14406 The Banyan Tree Christopher Nolan 1999 Irish English
12848 Birchwood John Banville 1973 Irish English
540 Uncle Silas Sheridan Le Fanu 1864 Irish English
11467 A Drama In Muslin George Moore 1886 Irish English
11468 Esther Waters George Moore 1894 British English
12601 The Big Chapel Thomas Kilroy 1971 Irish English
11469 The Black Prophet William Carleton 1847 Irish English
13918 The Birds Of The Innocent Wood Deirdre Madden 1988 Irish English
13985 Surrogate City Hugo Hamilton 1990 Irish Unknown
14564 Love And Sleep Sean O'Reilly 2002 Unknown Unknown