By the latest count - 2025 numbers, Ireland's population stands at just under 5.3 million, nearly double the population of the 1960s. For all that, this nation has produced a record number of world-renowned poets and novelists. The greatest Irish writers have given us Gothic horror (Bram Stoker), Modernist epics (James Joyce), and lyrical poems full of revolutionary fervour (Seamus Heaney).
| 🎩Who? | 📅Born/Died? | 🏆Notable Works |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Swift | 1667 – 1745 | Gulliver's Travels A Modest Proposal |
| Maria Edgeworth | 1768 – 1849 | Castle Rackrent |
| Mary Anne Sadlier | 1820 – 1903 | Confessions of an Apostate The Blakes and Flanagan |
| Oscar Wilde | 1845 – 1900 | The Picture of Dorian Gray |
| Bram Stoker | 1847 – 1912 | Dracula The Primrose Path |
| George Bernard Shaw | 1856 – 1950 | Pygmalion Love Among the Artists Man and Superman |
| W. B. Yeats | 1865 – 1939 | The Second Coming Leda and the Swan |
| Peig Sayers | 1873 – 1958 | Peig An Old Woman's Reflections - Machnamh Seanmhná |
| James Joyce | 1882 – 1941 | Ulysses Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man |
| Kate O'Brien | 1897 – 1974 | Without My Cloak The Flower of May |
| C.S. Lewis | 1898 – 1963 | Chronicles of Narnia The Space Trilogy |
| Elizabeth Bowen | 1899 – 1973 | The Heat of the Day The Last September |
| Samuel Beckett | 1906 – 1989 | Waiting for Godot Happy Days |
| Seamus Heaney | 1939 – 2013 | Storm on the Island Scaffolding |
| Maeve Binchy | 1939 – 2012 | Light a Penny Candle Tara Road |
Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745)
Long before a certain Swift took over the airwaves, another Swift was making waves in literary circles. He was an expert in satire, and was prone to pointing out irony in any situation. He was also devoutly religious, and his family had many connections to the literary world.
Maria Edgeworth (1768 – 1849)
Maria Edgeworth was born in England, but moved to County Longford when she was five, after her mother died. She had 21 living siblings, from a father who married four times.
She travelled extensively, but her most impactful experiences happened in Ireland.
With a background like that, it's no wonder Maria wrote children's books about social problems, religion, and class structures.
Surely, it is much more generous to forgive and remember, than to forgive and forget.
Maria Edgeworth
Mary Anne Sadlier (1820 – 1903)
Mary enjoyed a comfortable upbringing in County Cavan, the daughter of a fairly well-to-do merchant. She lost her mother when she was five years old, but her father saw to her needs, and encouraged her writing aspirations. She published early and well, in reputable London magazines.
It all came to an end when her father died, in 1844. Mary tasted hardship, which shaped her prose from then on. She emigrated to Canada, and wrote to urge her fellow displaced Irish to retain the Catholic faith and recall Irish struggles. She married well, and became the first woman to run a company (after her husband died).
Oscar Wilde (1845 – 1900)
This Dublin-born writer may be more famous for his personal life than for his writing. Rumours about his 'debauchery' swirled around him from a young age, but trouble didn't catch him until 1895. He was found guilty and imprisoned, which gravely impacted his delicate health. His mother, one of Ireland's noteworthy women and a writer herself, suffered from her son's shame.
Balladeer Jimmy Buffett wrote a song about Oscar Wilde, called Quietly Making Noise.
Bram Stoker (1847 – 1912)
We learn from failure, not from success!
From Bram Stoker's Dracula
Where historical people from Ireland are concerned, Abraham 'Bram' Stoker features on all the lists. Born and raised in Clontarf, Dublin, He enjoyed a comfortable life, even though he was bedridden until he was seven years old. That must have given his fertile imagination a lot of time to dream up monsters.
George Bernard Shaw 1856 – 1950
This Irish playwright and diarist insisted that people call him Bernard, rather than George.
He held firm views that often went against accepted norms. He left his Dublin home to seek his fortune as a writer in England, but his contrarian nature made it hard for him to find acceptance.
He had an undeniable influence on theatre, but his novels never succeeded.
Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.
George Bernard Shaw
W. B. Yeats (1865 – 1939)
This Irish poet is one of four Nobel Prize for Literature winners hailing from Éire (Bernard Shaw also won one).
He helped drive the Irish Literary Revival, and was one of three artists to found the Abbey Theatre.
Consumed with his literary passions and theatre work, he nevertheless had time to serve as an Irish politician.
Maud Gonne, the fiery Irish Nationalist, was Yeats' muse for much of his early writing career.
Her son, Seán MacBride, oversaw the repatriation of Yeats' remains to County Sligo.
Peig Sayers (1873 – 1958)
Across the human history timeline, writing is a relatively new phenomenon. For most of Modern Humans' existence, oral traditions kept mythologies alive.
The telling of myths across generations is our source of cultural wisdom, still practised today - albeit, most often in tribal nations. In Peig's Ireland, no one did it better than her.
Peig told the stories, which scribes recorded. Her books describe the lives of people in remote Irish locations, which Peig was so familiar with.
Peig (Máiréad Sayers) was born in County Kerry, the family's youngest child.
She picked up the baton from her father, who was an expert on oral tradition storytelling.
Those transcribed works faced some criticism over censorship. The writers admitted to mild 'editing', to make the stories easier to understand for audiences outside Ireland.
James Joyce (1882 – 1941)
Among famous Irish authors, James Joyce stands out for trying to establish a singing career while also trying to become a published author.
His rough upbringing in Dublin, and the early loss of his mother, may have given him the idea he had nothing to lose. So, he tried everything, and let success find him.
By all accounts, his singing voice was more than passable, but his writing paid the bills. That's the path he followed, much to readers' benefit.
For myself, I always write about Dublin ...
James Joyce
Kate O'Brien (1897 – 1974)
Like many famous Irish writers, Kate lost her mother at a young age. From five years old on, her upbringing and education took place at a boarding school.
Detached from family, she sought her fortune abroad, first in London, and then, in Spain.
Kate was a prolific writer, embracing many styles: film scripts, travelogues, fiction, and plays. For all her output, she died destitute, as interest in her work had faded, and some of it had been banned.
Wherever you go, the most of life will have to happen in your mind.
Kate O'Brien
However, starting in the 1980s, interest in Kate's work grew. Today, writers from around the world examine, analyse, and critique her work.
C.S. Lewis (1898 – 1963)
Born in Belfast (before the partitioning), this famous Irish poet and novelist had an on-again, off-again relationship with religion. He finally decided to embrace it (in 1929), and began weaving Christian elements into his writing. His friend, J.R.R. Tolkein, was disappointed that Lewis didn't choose Catholicism, but deflected criticism Lewis faced for his overt religiosity.
Clive Staples Lewis gifted the world The Chronicles of Narnia, The Space Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters, and Surprised by Joy, among other works. He has broad influence on literary circles, from writers (J.K. Rowling and Daniel Handler), to the hundreds of S.C. Lewis societies around the world.
Elizabeth Bowen (1899 – 1973)
Among the authors from Ireland discussed so far, this one might have been the best positioned for success. She came from a wealthy family with fine ancestry, which opened many doors for her.
Not to say that her writing talent wouldn't have led her to fame. She wrote about war-torn London, and Irish landed Protestants, two subjects with ample material to explore.
Writers do not find subjects; subjects find them.
Elizabeth Bowen
Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989)
This Irish author was born in Dublin, and studied Italian, French and English at Trinity College. Those languages served him well, as he penned works in French as well as English. Samuel Beckett ranks among the famous Irish authors to win a Nobel Prize in Literature. He's noted for his dark turn, on humour and in general outlook. Those tones clash with his famous quip (above).
Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.
Samuel Beckett
Seamus Heaney (1939 – 2013)
Seamus Heaney is the last of the Irish writers and poets to receive a Nobel Prize. He's also among the most famous people from Ireland. In fact, his list of honours and awards is long enough to rival his publication list.
Heaney's poems, Follower and Storm on the Island, feature in the AQA GCSE English syllabus.
Keen readers will note the political flavouring in his work, which he admitted he deliberately toned down. He even refused a Laureateship of the United Kingdom for political reasons. He made his feelings clear in his poem, An Open Letter:
Don't be surprised if I demur, for, be advised
My passport's green.
No glass of ours was ever raised
To toast The Queen. - Seamus Heaney
Maeve Binchy (1939 – 2012)
Maeve is the only 'accidental' writer on our list of famous Irish authors. Her career started while she was in Israel on kibbutz.
She wrote home frequently, as her parents were worried about her. Her parents submitted those letters to the local newspaper, which published every one of them.
That's the type of career move some Irish actor or actress might play in a movie! Maeve branched further into travel writing, and eventually took an editor's post with the Irish Times. Her first novel was just around the corner, a compilation of her newspaper articles. In all, she would publish 16 books, four short-story collections, and a novella.
It's not so hard to be a writer. Just write a letter home.
Maeve Binchy
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