Top 100 Books in Ireland

"On the land
A plant
On the plant
A leaf.
This man
Ate
The leaf."

- J.P. Donleavy from The Ginger Man

Data for this list was compiled from booksellers records gathered since 1930, hence the abscence of Joyce and others published prior to that date.

1. The Glass Lake, Maeve Binchy
2. Little Irish Cookbook, John Murphy
3. Evening Class, Maeve Binchy
4. Copper Beech, Maeve Binchy
5. Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett
6. Borstal Boy, Brendan Behan
7. The Ginger Man, J.P. Donleavy
8. Peig, Peig Sayers
9. Irish Proverbs Illustrated, Karen Bailey
10. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
11. Light a Penny Candle, Maeve Binchy
12. Trinity, Leon Uris
13. The Course of Irish History, T.W. Moody
14. New and Selected Poems of Seamus Heaney
15. Firefly Summer, Maeve Binchy
16. Echoes, Maeve Binchy
17. Circle of Friends, Maeve Binchy
18. Field of Blood, Gerald Seymour
19. The Woman Who Walked into Doors, Roddy Doyle
20. The Country Girls, Edna O' Brian
21. The Great Hunter, C. Woodham-Smith
22. To School through the fields, Alice Taylor
23. The Commitments, Roddy Doyle
24. Seek the Fair Land, Walter Macken
25. The Silent People, Walter Macken
26. The Scorching Wind, Walter Macken
27. The Flight of the Doves, Walter Macken
28. Under the Hawthorn Tree, Marita Conlon-McKenna
29. Philadelphia Here I Come, Brian Friel
30. Simply Delicious, Darin Allen
31. Translations, Brain Friel
32. Endgame, Samuel Beckett
33. Famine, Liam O' Flaherty
34. Harry's Game, Gerald Seymour
35. Crowning the Customer, Feargal Quinn
36. Reading in the Dark, Seamus Deane
37. Run with the Wind, Tom McCaughren
38. High Days and Holidays, Jenny Bristow
39. The Big Wind, Beatrice Coogan
40. Quench the Lamp, Alice Taylor
41. Michael Collins, T.P. Coogan
42. Death of a Naturalist, Seamus Heaney
43. Good Behavior, Molly Keane
44. Ireland, a History, Robert Kee
45. The Book of Evidence, John Banville
46. Paddy Clareke, Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle
47. Silver Wedding, Maeve Binchy
48. An Evil Cradling, Brian Keenan
49. The Snapper, Roddy Doyle
50. Strumpet City, James Plunkett
51. Watermelon, Marian Keyes
52. Simply Delicious Christmas, Darina Allen
53. Wildflower Girl, Marita Conlon-McKenna
54. The Spirit Level, Seamus Heaney
55. The General, Paul Williams
56. The Mammy, Brendan O'Carroll
57. Simply Delicious 2, Darina Allen
58. The Field, John B. Keane
59. A Place of Stones, Deirdre Purcell
60. Run to Earth, Tom McCaughren
61. The Boss, J. Joyce/P. Murtagh
62. The Time of My Life, Gay Byrne
63. Murphy, Samuel Beckett
64. Run Swift, Run Free - Tom McCaughren
65. Amongst Women, John McGahren
66. Ireland, 1912 - 1985, J.J. Lee
67. Irish Names for Children, Patrick Woulfe
68. Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel
69. Brendan Behan, Ulick O'Connor
70. Are You Somebody?, Nuala O'Faolain
71. Forbidden Fruit, A. Murphy/P. de Rosa
72. Happy Days, Samuel Beckett
73. Seeing Things, Seamus Heaney
74. The Sins of the Mothers, Frank Delaney
75. The Color of Blood, Brian Moore
76. The Butcher Boy, Patrick McCabe
77. Bike Hunt, Hugh Galt
78. Exploring the Book of Kells, George Otto Simms
79. Tarry Flynn, Patrick Kavanagh
80. Proverbs and Sayings of Ireland, S. Gaffney/ S. Cashman
81. Real Irish Cookery, Mary Caherty
82. City Women, Patricia Scanlan
83. Against the Tide, Noel Browne
84. 20 Years a Growing, Maurice O'Sullivan
85. Ireland Since the Famine, F.S.L. Lyons
86. Letter to Daniel, Fergal Keane
87. Secret World of the Irish Male, Joesph O'Connor
88. The Third Policeman, Flann O'Brien
89. The New Oxford Book of Irish Verse, Thomas Kinisella (ed.)
90. Foreign Affairs, Patricia Scanlan
91. Classic Irish Short Stories, Frank O'Connor
92. The Heather Blazing, Colm Toibin
93. Cal, Bernard McLaverty
94. The Tailor and Ansty, Eric Cross
95. The Collected Poems of Patrick Kavanagh
96. The Islandman, Tomas O'Crohan
97. On Another Man's Wound, Ernie O'Malley
98. The Bodhran Makers, J.B. Keane
99. Francey, Deirdre Purcell
100. The Little Black Sheep, Elizabeth Shaw

To purchase books by J.P. Donleavy, go to the Buyers' Guide.

Limited, signed edition of
The Ginger Man audio book read by J.P. Donleavy. To place an order, email me and I will put you in touch with distribution.