Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song the best-selling book in Ireland in 2023 

Prophet Song is a 2023 dystopian novel by Irish author Paul Lynch, published by Oneworld.

Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song was the best-selling book in Ireland last year, according to figures released on Wednesday.
The book won the Booker Prize back in November and sold 45,501 copies on the back of that success.

Paul Lynch's Prophet Song, and Paul Murray's The Bee Sting.

Other big sellers included Liz Nugent’s Strange Sally Diamond, which sold 42,510 copies, The Bee Sting by Paul Murray — which won Irish Book of the Year and was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize — sold 42,072 copies, as well perennial best-seller Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us, which sold 39,938 copies, and Prince Harry’s controversial memoir Spare, which sold 38,404 copies.

In Irish biography sales, Katriona O’Sullivan’s memoir Poor topped the charts with 27,620 copies, while Born to Be a Footballer, by Republic of Ireland and Arsenal icon Liam Brady and Irish Examiner sportswriter Larry Ryan, sold 17,572 copies. 

Pat and Rosarii Spillane at the launch of his book.

In the Blood by Kerry football great Pat Spillane and Irish Examiner books editor Michael Moynihan sold 12,406 copies.

The big non-fiction sellers were two cookbooks — Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Slow Cooker Book and Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book, both by Nathan Anthony, sold 38,034 and 37,290 copies respectively, while The Hike Life: My 50 Favourite Hikes in Ireland by Rozanna Purcell sold 30,285 copies.

Fiction that figured prominently on the best-seller list includes the latest instalment in the ever-popular Aisling series, Aisling Ever After by Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght, which sold 35,293 copies, My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor, which sold 29,905 copies, and Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, which sold 28,299 copies.

The data comes from Nielsen, which covers 70% of retail sales in Ireland and 90% in the UK.