5 Essential Books to Read Before You Go to Ireland
From a collection of Yeats poems to a once-banned novel, these books are must-reads if you’re planning an Ireland adventure.
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In a country where pubs are named after playwrights and festivals celebrate poets, the literary tradition is gloriously unavoidable. These reads make good travel companions.
The Wanderings of Oisin and Other Poems
by William Butler Yeats
The first collection of Yeats’s poetry exemplifies his interest in mythology and romanticism. The title epic helped establish his reputation.
The Country Girls
by Edna O’Brien
Banned upon publication, the controversial coming-of-age novel follows two childhood friends from bleak, rural Ireland as they navigate the repressive society of 1950s Dublin.
The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics
by William Butler Yeats
Yeats’s love for Sligo influenced his second poetry collection. “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” is a classic example of the Celtic Revival style, which strove to be uniquely Irish in both structure and subject.
At Swim-Two-Birds
by Flann O’Brien
Narrated by a fictional student, the trippy, bawdy novel weaves a web of invented writers, their characters, and legendary figures and explores Ireland’s deep ties to its literary legacy.
Collected Poems
by Patrick Kavanagh
In down-to-earth, striking landscape poetry, Kavanagh maneuvers through the often harsh daily realities of life in rural Ireland in the mid 20th century.
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