New Irish Book Releases to Look Forward to in the Coming Months

2023 was a great year for Irish writing, and we loved celebrating so many of the books and authors published last year. With 2024 now well underway, it looks like there’s lots for book lovers to be excited about again this year. Today, we’re bringing you a little spotlight on just some of the great Irish published books that readers will be able to get their hands on in the next few months.

Whatever Happened to Birdy Troy by Rachael English

A novel revolving around a fictional 1980s all-woman Irish rock. We’re in! The latest novel by writer and Morning Ireland presenter Rachael English delves into the rise and subsequent disappearance of the trailblazing band, The Diamonds. On the brink of international success, they suddenly vanished and it was the last anyone would hear of songwriter, guitarist and legend-in-the-making Birdy Troy. Stacey Nash, host of the popular podcast ‘Whatever Happened To…?’, becomes fascinated with the band and wonders how could four young women with so much promise just disappear? As problems mount in her own life, Stacey is drawn deeper into unravelling the mystery. But, after so much time, and with the band’s members reluctant to cooperate, is it too late for the truth to emerge? Whatever Happened to Birdy Troy? is a rollercoaster journey through the rise and fall of four unforgettable friends and bandmates, in a music scene where darkness lurks beneath a veneer of glamour.

Published by Hachette Ireland in February

He Used to Be Me by Anne Walsh Donnelly

When fiction and poetry merge. In this beautiful and devastating new story by acclaimed Irish poet Anne Walsh Donnelly, Daft Matt, the Mayo man at the heart of this astonishing, form-bending story, wanders the streets of Castlebar in search of Devil’s feet – the claw marks of the cága, or jackdaws, who have spoken to him since he was a boy. Yet Matt is anything but daft. In lyrical prose, Walsh Donnelly explores the complex workings of Matt’s inner life: how he deals with the loss of his twin brother as a child, navigates the carefree days of early manhood and copes with the aftermath of the horseriding accident that would see him incarcerated in the care system for the next thirty years. Richly imagined and beautifully written, this is a story for anyone who chooses to look beyond the surface of things.

Published by New Island in February

You spin me round edited by Adrian Duncan, Niamh Dunphy and Nathan O’Donnell.

We have been loving these themed essay collections brought to you by publisher PVA, and the latest one is a brilliant new addition. With contributions from writers including Ciaran Carson, Brian Dillon, Wendy Erskine, Aingeala Flannery, Peter Geoghegan, Colin Graham, M. John Harrison, Tabitha Lasley, Declan Long, Jayne A. Quan, McKenzie Wark, and Sydney Weinberg, You spin me round is an illuminating collection of essays, an essential mixtape that takes elements of music – songs, performances, albums, gigs – as points of departure. Some of the finest writers of our time reflect on what music has meant to them at different moments in their lives. 

Published by PVA in February

Bend, Don’t Break: A Memoir of Endurance by Frank O’Mara

In the year of the Olympics comes this inspiring memoir from a man who competed for Ireland in three Olympic Games, breaking Irish and world records. Limerick man Frank O’Mara had the athletics career most only dream of. After his retirement from running, he settled in the US with his family and made his way to the top of the telecoms industry. At age forty-eight, his life changed forever when he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease and the progression was rapid. In this inspiring memoir, Frank recounts his battle with Parkinson’s. At first in denial, he eventually found the strength that made him successful as an athlete and in business – using determination, and humour to weather the worst phases of the disease. He learned to face each hurdle as he came to it: to bend, but not break. One man’s life-affirming story of facing adversity with grace and courage.

Published by The O’Brien Press in February

Habitat by Catriona Shine

This intriguing debut novel from emerging talent Catriona Shine follows seven people over the course of a week as their mid-century apartment building in Oslo inexplicably disappears. Although the neighbours are connected in a multitude of ways, they fail to grasp that this is a shared crisis. The neighbours, in turn, blame and reach out to each other, never seeing the full picture. Examining the evasive responses of these neighbours, their troubles and short-comings, and the lies they tell each other and themselves, and comparable to Kafka’s Metamorphosis or Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros in how people respond to an uncanny situation, Habitat is a striking debut to look out for and a parable perfectly fit for our uncertain times.

Published by The Lilliput Press in March

Girl in the Making by Anna Fitzgerald 

This deeply moving debut from Anna Fitzgerald captures 1970s and 1980s suburban Dublin through the eyes of Jean Kennedy, a gentle, perceptive girl growing up in a very strange world. In the company of her mother, her Aunty Ida, and her little brother Baby John F., Jean experiences love and joy. But home is not a safe place, and Jean is unequal and unprotected. When she speaks just one small part of the truth, she must quickly learn to navigate the dangers and possibilities of a world she scarcely understands. Jean’s hypnotic, unsparing and ultimately hopeful voice captures the dreams and terrors of girlhood in a brutally hypocritical world, and narrates her encounters with better ways of being. Through it all, Jean’s voice pulsates with life and passion. 

Published by Sandycove in March

Old Romantics by Maggie Armstrong

We do love a good collection of linked short stories, and this debut book, from a regular contributor to literary journals, is already making waves ahead of its publication. A woman pursues a man who cut ahead of her in a line. Two nice people report that a child is being left unsupervised at a local beach. Romances, old and new, shift and sour. Old Romantics is an acutely observed and hideously entertaining collection of linked short stories from an astonishing new talent. Slippery, flawed and acute, Maggie Armstrong’s narrator navigates a world of awkward expectation and latent hostility.

Published by Tramp Press in April

The Complete Book of Wild Swimming in Ireland by Maureen McCoy and Paul McCambridge

Outdoor swimming has only increased in popularity in recent years as people discover the joys and benefits of heading out of the pool and into the natural world around us. Embark on an adventure around Ireland with award-winning open-water swimmer and former Irish 17km champion, Maureen McCoy, and photographer Paul McCambridge, as they reveal the best swim spots you need to get to this year. Ireland is home to some of the most dramatic and beautiful outdoor swimming spots in the world. This comprehensive guide, complete with spectacular photos, will inspire you to discover new locations for swimming, diving and snorkelling in dramatic bays and magical waterfalls, in secret coves and serene rivers and lakes. 

Published by Gill Books in April

So there you have it, a select spotlight on some of the captivating books to look out for over the coming months, and just a fraction of the great Irish books being released this year. Stay tuned as we bring you more about the best in Irish publishing in 2024, and don’t forget to follow your favourite publishers online to hear their news first as they have it.