General Information » Further Reading » Books

There are shelves’ worth of books on Ireland and the Irish, ranging from general to specific guides and from historical portraits to analyses of the Irish psyche. While a lot of it isn’t worth the paper it is printed on, there are some excellent informative and entertaining reads. Lonely Planet’s Irish – Language and Culture presents an interesting approach to Irish culture and provides great insights into the local lingo, although you may want to confirm any phrases with a native before you add them to your mental dictionary – some are very area specific and others plain strange! Guides to customs and etiquette or generally tackling this elusive theme of ‘Irishness’ are prone to outrageous generalisations, but can nevertheless tickle out a laugh.

If you are looking for a different kind of read that by no means can be taken seriously, try Paul Howard’s latest satirical Ross O’Carroll-Kelly’s Guide to South Dublin. How to get by on, like, €10,000 a day. Another humorous read that is part travel journal and part outrageous story telling, is Pete McCarthy’s McCarthy’s Bar, recounting his travels around Ireland under the condition that he never pass a pub with his name on it. It gives a great insight into Irish people and their legendary hospitality. There is certainly plenty to choose from, not to forget a whole body of literature which, serving as a platform for social discourse, may teach you a thing or two about Ireland and the Irish.