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Launch of Páidí Ó Sé book
Book review: Confident, congenial Cowen was a victim of bad timing
Brian Cowen was elected taoiseach in 2008, but his timing ensured his tenure at the top would be a struggle and he would forever be associated with the trying to right a listing ship of state rather than making a significant mark on history

Fri, 09 Oct, 2026

Book review: Stallone memoir is just another yarn about believing in yourself
Book review: Stallone memoir is just another yarn about believing in yourself
The title of Sylvester Stallone’s book refers to those 72 steps in Philadelphia that Rocky so famously ascended in the breakthrough film

Sat, 03 Oct, 2026

Book review: Forgotten power couple of Irish literature
Book review: Forgotten power couple of Irish literature
Margaret Kelleher has brought this singular couple back to life and shown how in matters of intellectual courage, tenacity, and depth of feeling, they demand to be our contemporaries

Sat, 26 Sep, 2026

My life in books: 'I read to understand or learn new things, rather than for escape or comfort'
My life in books: 'I read to understand or learn new things, rather than for escape or comfort'
Eoghan Daltun says it wasn’t a book that made him want to be a writer, but the temperate rainforest he has been rewilding for over 17 years now on their farm on the Beara Peninsula

Sat, 26 Sep, 2026

Book review: ‘Magill’ held power to account at time of huge change in State
Book review: ‘Magill’ held power to account at time of huge change in State
Kevin Rafter’s in-depth study of the phenomenon of the magazine is a story that will be compelling for anybody interested in late 20th-century history, journalism, or the legend that is Vincent Browne

Fri, 18 Sep, 2026

Book review: Sci-fi writers’ warnings were ignored
Book review: Sci-fi writers’ warnings were ignored
The Artificial State will see the replacement of the liberal democratic nation-state, and the consent of the governed, with the rule of people by machines

Sat, 12 Sep, 2026

Book review: A valuable and thought-provoking account of our changing nation
Book review: A valuable and thought-provoking account of our changing nation
'Forbidden Ireland' could well be described as an insightful and erudite view of the changes in Church/State relations over the last 75 years

Sat, 12 Sep, 2026

Book review: Tara Maclean’s memoir is a hymn to childhood
Book review: Tara Maclean’s memoir is a hymn to childhood
MacLean writes without the urge to flatten the people in her past into heroes and villains, and that generosity gives her memoir its unusual emotional texture

Sat, 05 Sep, 2026

Book review: Billionaires versus democracy
Book review: Billionaires versus democracy
What can we do to control those whose wealth and influence make them the dominant force in our world?

Sat, 05 Sep, 2026

Sinn Fein legal advice launch
Book review: An engrossing story of political struggle
It would not be fair to criticise her involvement in the IRA  without exploring her reasons, which is what she does in this book

Sat, 15 Aug, 2026

Book review: Painfully raw divorce memoir
Book review: Painfully raw divorce memoir
Chris Jones chronicles the dissolution of his marriage, charts the difficult terrain of the fall-out from that fissure, and embarks on a journey of emotional rehabilitation

Sat, 25 Jul, 2026

Mick Clifford: Grim story of Magdalene laundries just short of steaming with rage
Mick Clifford: Grim story of Magdalene laundries just short of steaming with rage
Officially, more than 10,000 females were incarcerated in these institutions between 1922 and 1996, although many historians say this is a gross underestimation

Fri, 24 Jul, 2026

Book review: How evil quickly erodes society
Book review: How evil quickly erodes society
This is an important book for anyone who, like Churchill, recognises that of all the systems we’ve tried, democracy is by far the best

Sat, 18 Jul, 2026

Book review: Vaccines and the idiocy epidemic
Book review: Vaccines and the idiocy epidemic
Thomas Levenson gives us a fascinating potted history of vaccination, and points out that anti-vax arguments are in fact 18th century objections repurposed for the modern age

Sat, 11 Jul, 2026

Book review: Britain’s implausible deniability
Book review: Britain’s implausible deniability
The tactics of the British army, MI5, and the RUC over the entire span of the Troubles, reached depths that were only thought possible in countries such as Chile, Uganda, and the pre-1989 communist bloc

Sat, 11 Jul, 2026

War correspondent Sally Hayden: 'In a crisis situation, you will always find love'
War correspondent Sally Hayden: 'In a crisis situation, you will always find love'
Ahead of her appearance at the West Cork Literary Festival, award-winning international correspondent Sally Hayden speaks with Donal O’Keeffe about her new book, This Is Also A Love Story

Tue, 07 Jul, 2026

Book review: Nauseating but fun royal yarn
Book review: Nauseating but fun royal yarn
'1936' is a good, twisty yarn, told with gusto and laced with fascinating social history: A case study in a life coming to blows with expectations, pomp, and circumstance

Sat, 04 Jul, 2026

Summer catch-up: 20 of the best non-fiction books so far this year
Summer catch-up: 20 of the best non-fiction books so far this year
Looking for something to read for your holidays? Richard Fitzpatrick picks the top biographies, sports books and other non-fiction titles from the first half of 2026

Mon, 29 Jun, 2026

New book tells the remarkable story of Cape Clear Island in West Cork
New book tells the remarkable story of Cape Clear Island in West Cork
A new book by historian Diarmuid Ó Drisceoil explores the life and times of the West Cork island of Cape Clear

Wed, 24 Jun, 2026

Book review: True discovery of the Blaskets
Book review: True discovery of the Blaskets
Lesley Bond's 'Blasket Bound' is a pleasure to read; it is a remarkable account of her discovery of what it means to be at peace with the world 

Sat, 20 Jun, 2026

Book review: An important look at failures
Book review: An important look at failures
The snouts-in-the-trough scandal around Gay Byrne’s successor Ryan Tubridy’s pay was the catalyst for Shane Ross' fast-paced book

Sat, 20 Jun, 2026

Book review: Rome wasn’t built on fair play
Book review: Rome wasn’t built on fair play
Emma Southon's 'Servus' acts as a great corrective to an immense historical lacuna; you will see Rome in a new and sulphurous light

Sat, 13 Jun, 2026

Author Lally has 'earned more from cleaning than writing’
Author Lally has 'earned more from cleaning than writing’
Witty and observant memoir illustrates challenges of balancing a writing career with a job and family life

Sat, 06 Jun, 2026

Book review: Quest leaves no stone unturned
Book review: Quest leaves no stone unturned
David Keohan's 'The Wind Beneath the Stone' is a well-researched window into a forgotten aspect of Ireland’s rural social life

Sat, 30 May, 2026

Book review: Force of three intrepid women
Book review: Force of three intrepid women
By weaving three biographies together in one publication, Julia Cooke has created an all thriller, no filler read

Sat, 16 May, 2026

Book review: Memories through lens of the body
Book review: Memories through lens of the body
'Hungry' is a compulsive, inspiring read, from a writer who appears to have yet more to offer in terms of literary contribution

Sat, 16 May, 2026

Book review: Memoir dives into an eccentric Belfast childhood
Book review: Memoir dives into an eccentric Belfast childhood
Born in Belfast in 1972, Sinéad Morrisey was raised in the shadow of the Troubles, but somehow apart from them, thanks to her parents’ passionate belief in communism

Sat, 25 Apr, 2026

The New Yorker Festival 2015 - Andrew Jarecki Talks With Patrick Radden Keefe
Book review: Family’s quest for truth behind Zac Brettler’s mysterious death
'London Falling' goes beyond a meticulous investigation into death of the 19-year-old and looks at a city which has a porous boundary with the criminal underworld

Fri, 17 Apr, 2026

Cork City v Wexford - SSE Airtricity Men's First Division
Book review: Roy Keane’s influence on modern Ireland
Did Roy Keane influence the change in Ireland, or did the changes in Ireland enable Roy Keane to be the man he has become?

Sat, 04 Apr, 2026

Melissa Auf Der Maur Discusses Her New Book "Even The Good Girls Will Cry"
Book review: Lifestyle distorted by addiction
This deceptively compelling memoir isn’t simply another dutiful reflection on a life spent in and around music: this is one woman’s quest for certainty

Sat, 04 Apr, 2026

Book review: A gay man at war with himself who fought to free his country
Book review: A gay man at war with himself who fought to free his country
Dying at the end of a rope in an English jail, rebel Roger Casement displayed the courage that defined him

Fri, 03 Apr, 2026

Six For Your Radar: Triskel jazz, The Drama, Dónal Dineen
Six For Your Radar: Triskel jazz, The Drama, Dónal Dineen
The follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale also hits our screens 

Thu, 02 Apr, 2026

Book review: Thematic scope to why Mesopotamia matters
Book review: Thematic scope to why Mesopotamia matters
Anyone wishing to dip their toes in the wonders of Mesopotamia for the first time would do well to start with 'Between Two Rivers'

Sat, 21 Mar, 2026

Book review: Uncovering the roots of slavery
Book review: Uncovering the roots of slavery
'Searching for My Slave Roots' is dedicated to Malik Al Nasir’s ancestors. Some were forcibly transported from West Africa to sugar plantations in the Caribbean

Sat, 21 Mar, 2026

TFF 2009 Portrait Studio At The DIRECTV Tribeca Press Center - Day 3
Book review: White House’s layers of deceit
No US president or politician emerges from this book with any credit. According to the author, it is impossible to get elected to power in the US without becoming totally compromised

Sat, 14 Mar, 2026

Gisele Pelicot petition
Book review: ‘All I wanted was a quiet life’
'A Hymn to Life' zigzags between two narratives: from Gisele Pelicot's difficult childhood to meeting Dominique Pelicot and their 50 years of marriage and her discovery of his crimes

Sat, 14 Mar, 2026

Book review: The Irish pub: Evolving and reinvented itself through time
Book review: The Irish pub: Evolving and reinvented itself through time
Consisting of 20 scholarly but accessible essays, the book explores its subject through the prism of history, design, sociology, literature, and psychology

Fri, 06 Mar, 2026

NEWS
Book review: Fight to discover your identity
Paul Cullen had always been fascinated by the unanswered questions about his origins, but for many years pushed them to the back of his mind for fear of upsetting the people who had raised him

Sat, 21 Feb, 2026

Goetz Victims on IRT
Book review: Violent and divided, the US of a bygone era is sadly familiar
This book is long, at times dense, and tough to digest, but ultimately a worthwhile read — a story of an America that hasn't changed that much at all

Fri, 20 Feb, 2026

"Libri Come 2024 – Umanità" Literature Festival
Book review: Final Julian Barnes book an exemplary endnote
'Departure(s)' is most certainly not a novel; the book is more akin to correspondence, a signing off from a career which contains many fine novels and numerous awards

Sat, 14 Feb, 2026

Book review: The Famine years in West Kerry
Book review: The Famine years in West Kerry
Bryan MacMahon’s descriptions of events between 1845 and 1849 leave no doubt that the Famine was as bad as any famine witnessed in the television era

Sat, 14 Feb, 2026

Book extract: ‘Turnover tax’ in 1963 was fraught with political risk
Book extract: ‘Turnover tax’ in 1963 was fraught with political risk
When finance minister James Ryan introduced a new sales tax of 2.5% on all goods and services it was the most significant change to the Irish taxation system since independence

Fri, 13 Feb, 2026

Book review: How criminals are making a killing
Book review: How criminals are making a killing
Never a better time to be a criminal, says author Oliver Bullough, saying around €50bn a year washes through Europe’s money laundering schemes

Sat, 31 Jan, 2026

Book review: Fresh look at old battle scars
Book review: Fresh look at old battle scars
'The War of Independence in East Cork' makes an important contribution to the understanding of what occurred in East Cork during the 1919 to 1921 period

Sat, 24 Jan, 2026

Book review: Radical shift in political culture
Book review: Radical shift in political culture
While the  focus of 'Abundance' is the US, the problems the authors consider — in housing, transportation, energy and healthcare — apply to most developed economies

Sat, 17 Jan, 2026

Book review: Going off-piste for success
Book review: Going off-piste for success
For those who write or aspire to write, there is enough quality information in 'Joyride' for it be considered something of an instructional manual

Sat, 17 Jan, 2026

"Kinds Of Kindness" New York Premiere
Book review: False dawns and incremental gains of a writer’s slow recovery through drugs
The general argument in 'Breaking Awake' seems to be in favour of across-the-board legalisation of drugs

Sat, 17 Jan, 2026

Book review: Rare insight into an obscure Irish traditional music icon
Book review: Rare insight into an obscure Irish traditional music icon
This fine biography does that most rare of things: it brings to life, on the printed page, exactly how Tommie Potts felt the music that so defines him. And why

Fri, 16 Jan, 2026

Book review: 'Escape from the Anthill' is both illuminating and wise
Book review: 'Escape from the Anthill' is both illuminating and wise
The essays in this reissued collection are told with great wit and on a variety of fascinating subjects where there is neither a dull sentence nor a careless thought

Sat, 10 Jan, 2026

First Part Of Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Report Released
Book review: Surviving the ordeal that was the Post Office Horizon scandal
Jo Hamilton — one of the victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal — has written a personal account of the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice

Sat, 10 Jan, 2026

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