BOOKS & MOVIES
I'm including many recommendations. If you would like to just get started and get an overview of Ireland and its history, why not try any of the first books. They will get you going and you may never stop.
Irish History for Dummies
Ten Men Dead - The Story of the 1981 Hunger Strike - David Beresford. This is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand modern Irish history.
The Commitments, The Van or pretty much any book by Roddy Doyle. Easy to read, lots of fun but will also introduce you to the complexities of modern Ireland.
Michael Collins : a biography by Tim Pat Coogan, 1990. ISBN 0-09-968580-9.
The Yellow Birds - Kevin Powers
Transatlantic - Colum McCann
The Testament of Mary or Brooklyn or Nora Webster by Colm Toibin
Country Girl - Edna O'Brien
Whitey's Payback - TJ English
Chang�'s Beads and Two-Tone Shoes - William Kennedy
Ancient Light - John Banville
Astray - Emma Donoghue
A Second Life - Dermot Bolger
The Bogman - Walter Macken
The Last of the High Kings - Ferdia Mac Anna
On Canaan's Side - Sebastian Barry
Solace - Belinda McKeon
Paradise Alley - Kevin Baker
The Outside Boy - Jeanine Cummins
Where Have You Been - Joseph O'Connor
City of Bohane - Kevin Barry
Saints and Sinners - Edna O'Brien
The Great Hunger - Cecil Woodham-Smith is a dispassionate but striking book on the Potato Famine of 1845-47 that caused so many Irish to emigrate to the US.
The Orange and the Green - GA Henty. A novel written around 1900 about the events surrounding the Battle of the Boyne and the Siege of Limerick. Originally for young adult audience this reads very well for adults.
The Man Who Never Returned - Peter Quinn
Tabloid City - Pete Hamill
Against The Tide (an autobiography) - Dr. Noel Browne
Lost Boys of the Bronx, The Oral History of the Ducky Boys Gang - James Hannon
Troubles, JG Farrell
South Lawn Plot - Ray O'Hanlon
Thy Tears Might Cease - Michael Farrell
Country Girls Trilogy - Edna O'Brien. Three wonderful books written by a great writer and a rebel in the soul. Ms. O'Brien is as readable as she is profound.
Borstal Boy - Brendan Behan
Alistair MacLeod's novel, "No Great Mischief" about the Clan MacDonald who came to Canada in 1779.
Donnelly Trilogy of plays, by James Reaney concerning the Irish-Canadian experience.
Tarry Flynn or The Green Fool - Patrick Kavanagh He is better known as a poet - do check out his poetry. But these two small books contain a wealth of information of what it was like to grow up in rural Ireland of the last century.
The Savage City by TJ English - if you'd like to know about crime and passion in NYC in the 60's and 70's this is the book for you. Powerful!
The Collected Stories by William Trevor - perhaps the greatest living short story writer
This is Your Brain on Shamrocks by Mike Farragher (by the Irish Voice music editor - want to plumb the depths of your Irish pscyhe? Mike's your man!)
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or Dubliners - James Joyce. These are two excellent and slim books to get a feel for Sunny Jim's work before you make the life decision to tackle Ulysses. The Dead from Dubliners is perhaps the greatest novella/short story ever written. Don't despair if you find yourself bogged down in Ulysses; it's happened to us all. Just have a drink, pop open any page and begin to read aloud. But whatever you do, don't miss Molly Bloom's closing soliloquy. It's one of the wonders of literature - and more than that - in a way that words fail to do justice.
Eamonn DeValera: a biography by Tim Pat Coogan
The IRA or The Troubles by Tim Pat Coogan
The Secret Scripture or any novel or play by Sebastian Barry. A very modern writer who delves into the past. Barry is true poet who uses beautiful language and creates unforgettable characters that leave a mark on you.
Astrakhan Cloak - Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill or any collection of her poetry. An earthy, yet spiritual, look into the soul of a powerful Irish woman.
Collected Stories - Frank O'Connor. A very readable writer with a remarkable insight into the Irish soul. Also try his biography of Michael Collins, The Big Fellah, should Coogan's be unavailable or too bloody dauntingly long.
Five Points - Tyler Anbinder. This wonderful book will give you a history of the Irish and other immigrants when they arrived in 19th Century New York City.
The Captains and the Kings - Jennifer Johnston
Station Island or any collection of poems by Seamus Heaney
Horse Latitudes or any collection of poems by Paul Muldoon
Good Behaviour and Time After Time by Molly Keane
Fools of Fortune and any collection of his short stories by William Trevor
Amongst Women or The Dark - John McGahern
Year of the French - Thomas Flanagan
Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor or any of Joe's hilarious travel books.
At Swim Two Birds or The Poor Mouth or The Poor Mouth - Flann O'Brien
Strumpet City - James Plunkett
How Many Miles to Babylon - Jennifer Johnston
The Book of Evidence - John Banville
Collared - Mike Farragher
Banished Children of Eve - Peter Quinn
The Gathering - Anne Enright
The Year of the French - Thomas Flanagan
To Hell or Barbados - Sean O'Callaghan
A Drinking Life - Pete Hamill
Let The Great World Spin - Colum McCann
A Traitor's Kiss: The Life of Richard Brinsley Sheridan - Fintan O'Toole
Poetry My Arse - Brendan Kennelly
All Souls: A Family Story From Southie and Easter Rising - Michael Patrick MacDonald
Ironweed, Legs (Diamond) or any book by William Kennedy - a Joycean narrative of the great city of Albany, NY
The Westies or Paddy Whacked by T.J. English
Green Suede Shoes - Larry Kirwan Will give you a sense of Wexford, a special town that you may choose to visit, in the first chapters, along with with a relatively dry-eyed look at a life in the music business of the last 30 or more years.
MOVIES
Calvary
Adam & Paul
A Man of No Importance
Angel
Grabbers
Hunger
The Guard
The Boys From County Clare
Breakfast on Pluto
The Magdalene Sisters
Veronica Guerin
In America
The General
Once
The Crying Game
Into The West
Ryan's Daughter
Some Mother's Son
In Bruges
My Left Foot
The Butcher Boy
Bloody Sunday
Hear My Song
The Quiet Man
In The Name of the Father
Michael Collins
Odd Man Out
An Everlasting Piece
The Field
The Commitments
The Van
The Snapper
Man of Aran
The Informer
Shake Hands with the Devil
Trojan Eddie
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Waking Ned Devine
This is the Sea
Omagh
Odd Man Out