Secondhand Irish Biography Books

WINNER AT THE IRISH BOOK AWARDS 2025'Fascinating - a great read' - Miriam O'Callaghan'Brilliant, absolutely terrific' - Matt CooperWith a foreword by Richie SadlierFrom the heartbreak of losing his mother...

A powerful account of an obsessive love affair from the bestselling author of 44: A Dublin MemoirWhen Peter Sheridan's father died unexpectedly, the loss devastated his close-knit family. However, despite...

'A fearless investigative journalist and author.' PATTI SMITH'Determined, tenacious, intelligent, and honest in her approach.' ANNA BURNS'A fierce light, a formidable voice.' SINEAD GLEESONA memorial collection of writings by the...

In this long-awaited bioraphy, Wilde the legendary Victorian - brilliant writer and conversationalist, reckless flouter of social and sexual conventions - is brought to life. More astute and forbearing, yet...

Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize 2019'[A] painfully intense, courageous and gripping account of [Fanning's] journey to the underworld of madness and back. This is a brave and instructive book.'...

"Dignity was our most valuable possession". Joe Duffy is a household name in Ireland. As the presenter of RTE Radio One's "Liveline" programme, he takes the pulse of the Irish...

'Honest, funny, heartfelt ...I loved it' Cathy Kelly Clear-eyed, touching, forthright and funny, In My Mother's Shoes is Alison Walsh's delightful account of three generations of mothers -- her Nana,...

The past they tried to hide.His mother died from cancer in 1955. His father committed suicide shortly thereafter. Paddy Doyle was sentenced in an Irish district court to be detained...

Tim Cramer describes himself as 'an unrepentant Corkman' with an abiding love of the city, its hinterland and its people. Fortunate to grow up in an idyllic urban/rural environment, he...

'I have starved in some of the most beautiful places in the world . . .'The Irish Times food writer Theodora FitzGibbon's bohemian appetite for love, pleasure, good food and...

'Sensational! John Connell has done it again' - Dean KarnazesFrom the award-winning, No.1 bestselling author of The Cow BookIn The Running Book, John Connell vividly describes a marathon through County...

'Honest, vulnerable and empowering' Angela Scanlon'Poignant, profound, and moving, I have no doubt that this beautifully written book will comfort anyone who is in the process of falling apart' Louise...

Angela Collins O'Mahony came from a small farming background and originally worked as a secretary for a steeplejack company. One day she was sent to a site to deliver materials...

'We asked listeners to be honest, creative, funny, engaging and evocative in their writing ... to try to make us laugh, cry and think. We never imagined we would get...

With the imminent arrival of her third child, veterinary surgeon, Gillian Hick, decides to abandon the perils of mixed animal practice, in a favour of setting up a small animal...

In 2007, Amy Dunne was barely seventeen years old and pregnant with a baby girl who had anencephaly, meaning the baby was certain to die before or at birth.Amy, who...

'Derry Girls meets David Sedaris' Elske Rahill 'The writing is full of energy and originality' Irish Times Growing up on the Falls Road in 1990s Belfast, Alix O'Neill has seen...

The Sunday Times and Irish Times bestseller, as featured in the Sunday Independent'You're all fallen women. You've sowed the seed of Satan. You are nothing.'Mary Creighton was just 15 when...

'Derry Girls meets David Sedaris' Elske Rahill 'The writing is full of energy and originality' Irish Times Growing up on the Falls Road in 1990s Belfast, Alix O'Neill has seen...

The astonishing story of the English heiress who devoted her life to the IRAShe grew up in a Chelsea townhouse and on a Devon estate. She was presented to the...

'On Skellig Michael, thousands of birds appear and disappear, erecting towers, coming together in wings of movement which build and unravel over the empty sea. Often, no one else is...

'Long before her retirement, Judge Gillian Hussey had been conferred with the status of "legend of the bench". This book gives a wonderful insight into the complex demands and balances...

Every time I write about my heart, I write about walking. Every time I write about walking, I write about my heart. What is it like to be born with...

'Money is handy for doing messages' was a phrase the young Tommie Gorman heard from his father, growing up in Sligo in the 1960s. Struggle was never far away but...

Patrick 'Paddy' Reilly is an Irish folk singer and guitarist. Born in Rathcoole, County Dublin, he is one of Ireland's most famous balladeers and is best known for his renditions...

From humble beginnings in Romania, Josef Cretzan went on to become one of the most accomplished glass blowers of the 20th century. For 37 years his knowledge and skills were...

'Are you going into town today?' she says, which annoys me because it's something she says all the time, having forgotten she said it before, and I say, 'Jesus, Mum,...

A memoir of growing up in New York in the 1930s and in Ireland in the 1940s. McCourt tells of extreme hardship and suffering, in Brooklyn tenements and Limerick slums...

Local rather than international, the dramas and privations described in this memoir are not the stuff of headlines. This is the story of an ordinary boy growing up in Belfast...

When Rory Cowan stepped down from the role of Rory in Mrs Brown's Boys after 15 years, it made national headlines. Here, in his unique voice, the much-loved entertainer tells...

With Time to Talk, Michael Healy-Rae established himself as a new storyteller, steeped in the traditions of rural Ireland. In A Listening Ear, his superior storytelling skills come once again...

'Keelin's compelling story is as powerful as the woman she was.' Liz NugentJoan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking is a masterpiece. This ranks alongside. How can such a beautifully...

Nobody thought Rory O'Connor would make it - written off as 'thick' at school he struggled to find a career he felt he could succeed in. When a hot tip...

Green fields surrounded St Mary's National School at the foot of Three Rock Mountain in County Dublin in the 1930s. The author, as a boy, went from the little playground...

This is the story of a man from early twentieth century rural Cork who rose to the heights of the RAF and excelled as a major figure in international rugby...

Claire Walsh spent her twenties living the life she thought she was supposed to live, all the while playing hide and seek with depression. As a result, the road to...

'Sublime' - Donal Ryan, author of Strange Flowers'A book about the raw, riotous, brutally beautiful act of being alive.' - Kerri ni Dochartaigh, author of Thin PlacesAlice Kinsella was in...

In late 2018, Michael Harding was in a hotel room in Blanchardstown experiencing severe pains in his chest. He eventually phoned an ambulance and was admitted to hospital, suffering from...

#1 Irish Times Bestseller!A book about hope when the world was collapsing Irish TimesA modern travel tale, part personal pilgrimage, part political quest that captures the power of human resilience"McKiernan...

What would you do to save your child? When Vera Twomey's daughter Ava was diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that causes multiple seizures a day, the...