32 Irish Novels to read before you die

As this is St Patrick’s Day, the international day to be, or at least aspire to be Irish, we thought it was time to play the green card. Choosing ten Irish books to read before you die was impossible.  Even twenty was too difficult.

So we chose thirty two Irish Novels you should read before you die, one for every county in Ireland.  Obviously there are notable exclusions.  We set a few ground rules.  An author could only feature on the list once.  We are only listing novels so unfortunately the great short story collections of William Trevor, Kevin Barry, Claire Keegan and Blindboy Boatclub are excluded.  Also no poets, so no room for Yeats or Heaney.

So here is our list in no particular order…

1. THE THIRD POLICEMAN (Flann O' Brien)
2. ULYSSES (James Joyce)
3. THE COUNTRY GIRLS (Edna O' Brien)
4. THE COMMITMENTS (Roddy Doyle)
5. FOSTER (Claire Keegan)
6. THE BUTCHER BOY (Patrick McCabe)
7. ROOM (Emma O' Donoghue)
8. DRACULA (Bram Stoker)
9. GULLIVERS TRAVELS (Jonathan Swift)

10. ASKING FOR IT (Louise O' Neill)
11. THE BOARDING HOUSE (William Trevor)
12. SCRUMPET CITY (James Plunkett)
13. THE SPINNING HEART (Donal Ryan)
14. THE GATHERING (Anne Enright)
15. CITY OF BOHANE (Kevin Barry)
16. BROOKYLN (Colm Toibin)
17. TARRY FLYNN (Patrick Kavanagh)
18. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (Oscar Wilde)

19. THE SEA (John Banville)
20. HOW MANY MILES TO BABYLON (Jennifer Johnston)
21. STAR OF THE SEA (Joseph O' Connor)
22. THE GLORIOUS HERESIES (Lisa McInerney)
23. AMONGST WOMEN (John McGahern)
24. TRISTRAM SHANDY (Lawrence Sterne)
25. THE SECRET SCRIPTURE (Sebastian Barry)
26. BORSTAL BOY (Brendan Behan)

27. THE GUARDS (Ken Bruen)
28. SEEK THE FAIR LAND (Walter Macken)
29. TRANSATLANTIC (Colum McCann)
30. THE NICE AND THE GOOD (Iris Murdock)
31. MR GILHOOLEY (Liam O' Flaherty)
32. SHIP OF DREAMS (Martina Devlin)

What do you think of our list? Post your own favourites or outrageous absentees in the comments section.