Irish Culture, Traditions & Folklore Books

I want to walk through time, for days, for nights, I want every kind of walk, walks under sunsets and stars, walks of rain and storms, through howling winds and the most susurrating of breezes. I want to see, I realise, not just t…

Great Irish Road Trips is your essential guide to discovering Ireland's most unforgettable journeys - from iconic coastal drives to hidden gems off the beaten track. Explore the rugged majesty of the Wild Atlantic Way, wind throug…

When world kettlebell lifting champion David Keohan heard about old tales of stone lifting, he was captivated. So he set off on a quest to see if he could rediscover any of these famous stones, and whether he could match the feats…

Every family has a story … for Liam O’Connor that story goes back to his great-grandparents, William and Norry Kennedy. Using the threads of his family’s past to weave a tapestry that is at once personal yet somehow universal, thi…

The Beara and Sheep’s Head Peninsulas, in the southwest of Ireland, are both unspoilt and hold some of Ireland’s most beautiful scenery. These routes range from short hikes to longer treks, coastal and inland, something to suit ev…

From the outside, Irish dancing seems like a wholesome world of dazzling costumes, intricate footwork and groomed hair. The sport and art form, made world-famous by the smash hit Riverdance, is an instantly recognisable part of Ir…

Nature’s Acre grew out of a single acre of Irish ground — a place that shaped me, challenged me, and ultimately taught me how to live with the land rather than on top of it. It’s a memoir about nettles and neighbours, childhood an…

Martin Doyle, Books Editor of The Irish Times, has been an arts journalist for more than 35 years and in that time has interviewed many of the most talented and successful Irish writers at different stages of their careers. This s…

Cecily Gilligan has been researching the rich world of Irish folk cures for almost forty years and, given the tradition has largely been an oral one, has been interviewing a broad range of people from around the country who posses…

In the aftermath of the Rising an outpouring of poetry also expressed the shock and grief of literary figures such as Padraic Colum, Francis Ledwidge, Eva Gore-Booth, James Stephens, Dora Sigerson Shorter and Seán O’Casey. Rebels,…

Dead as Doornails, first published in 1976, brings back into print a true classic of Irish memoir. Anthony Cronin’s account of life in post-war literary Dublin is as funny and colourful as one would expect from an intimate of Bren…

They may be coated in layers of myth and pious anecdote but dig deep enough and the pioneering leaders of Celtic Christianity are revealed as reassuringly human individuals, responding to their faith by deliberately living on the …

Writing well over a thousand years ago, the Celtic saints and their followers who penned them reflected not just the cares and concerns of their own times, but also gave voice to the universal human experience – the hopes, fears, …

After hosting a birthday pub crawl across several historic real ale pubs in London, Thomas J. Vosper was inundated with requests from friends to make it a regular occurrence, he compiled handy guides that have taken social media b…

Embrace all things Irish with these 200 interesting, important, and fun Irish words and phrases—as well as what each teaches us about the history and culture of Ireland. Céad míle fáilte! Dia duit. You don’t need to be fluent to a…

Whether raising a glass or spinning a yarn, the Irish have long had a way with words - and this delightful volume celebrates that rich tradition. Packed with clever quips, classic one-liners, lyrical blessings and colourful anecdo…

Brimming with evocative quotes, intriguing facts and delightful trivia, this pocket-sized gem raises a glass to Ireland's legendary brew. The Little Guide to Guinness takes you on a fascinating journey through time - from the rema…

A hill that cars roll up. A bridge that plays music. A chair to cure madness.An underworld gateway. Bizarre foods, films, phrases and creatures. Welcome to weird Ireland.In a journey across the island, Brinsley McNamara - curator …

A celebration of all things Irish, packed with quotes and trivia on folklore, history, celebrities and cultural highlights from the Emerald IsleWhy do we love Ireland? For some of us, it's the lush, green countryside. For others, …

Immerse yourself in the rich history and cultural significance of the Irish pub, from its humble beginnings in the 17th century to its modern incarnation as a global phenomenon. This book offers a comprehensive examination of the …

Many of us wish we had paid more attention in Irish class and could still speak the cúpla focal. When we lose our language, we lose a part of who we are. Here, Hector makes adding an Irish word a day to your vocabulary a habit tha…

The British Isles hold a unique position in the history of art, a place where local traditions fuse with international ideas in extraordinary waysAt once isolated by coastal boundaries, yet also part of larger networks of diverse …

Every family has one. Every WhatsApp group. Every office.You know the type – the lane-hogger, the queue-jumper, the clueless loudmouth who somehow thinks they’re the normal one. But what exactly is a gobshite? And more…

Get ready to go on an exciting adventure around Ireland. Unleash your imagination and sense of adventure as you discover Ireland like you’ve never seen it before! Armchair travellers of any age will be totally absorbed by Fatti Bu…

We walk past remnants of our past every day without noticing. Our ancestors left echoes of themselves all around us, if we only know where to look and how to interpret the signs. These remnants lie all over Ireland, telling us of …

A beloved Irish institution, RTÉ Radio 1’s Sunday Miscellany has been woven into the lives of listeners for over half a century. Following on from the bestselling 2023 anthology, this collection brings together some of the best br…

A new and definitive account of one of the most famous and mysterious manuscripts in the world. The Book of Kells is a mystery. It is distinct from all copies of the gospels from the early Middle Ages, not only in the quality and …

A Hunk: a strong, attractive man An Irish Hunk: something even better Hollywood has long been the home of the Hunk, but there’s a new man in town and he’s got heaps of charm and an accent that’ll make you swoon. Get ready for Os…

Peatlands – bogs, fens and heaths – are part of the Irish soul. Neither water nor land and yet both, they were once considered gateways to the otherworld. Bleak and beautiful, they are time capsules that hold a record of history g…

This is a revised and enlarged edition of John Moriarty’s first published work, which has been out of print since 1994. A Book of Revelations mediated by stories and personal excursions in literature, philosophy and sacred writing…