For the sports fanatic
The Race: The Inside Track on the Ruthless World of Elite Athletics by David Gillick
(Gill Books, €22.99)
One of Ireland’s most successful 400m runners, of late best-known for his educated and empathetic post-race interviews with athletes on RTÉ, reveals the real story of what it’s like to compete at the highest level on the track. Written with well-known sports journalist Cathal Dennehy, David Gillick’s raw memoir captures the Faustian bargain that is the pursuit of excellence.
Touching Distance: Irish Rugby’s Battle with Great Expectations by Brendan Fanning
(Gill Books, €18.99)
As we draw ever closer to the 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup, Fanning rummages back through the history of the sport in Ireland, analysing its transition from amateur to professional, and reflecting upon the more recent expectations that have haunted the team, such as the elusive dream of getting to those World Cup semi-finals.
Sacrifice: A Year in the Life of a Champion Jockey by Oisín Murphy
(Bantam Press, £22)
This story of the Killarney-born jockey reaches beyond the standard sports-memoir fare. Part autobiography, part diary of the 2024 season, it delves into Murphy’s life in a notoriously ruthless and hazardous sport, and lays bare his struggles with alcohol addiction and the misdemeanours that overshadowed much of his racing career.
For the literary sophisticate
An Alternative Irish Christmas, edited by Lisa Coen and Sarah Davis-Goff
(Tramp Press) €25
With its embossed hardback cover, this anthology of stories and essays encompassing the breadth of what an Irish Christmas means makes a beautiful festive gift. Edited by Lisa Coen and Sarah Davis-Goff, it features the best of up-and-coming and established voices, including Maggie Armstrong, Soula Emmanuel, Belinda McKeon, Mike McCormack and Anne Enright.
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The Poems of Seamus Heaney, edited by Rosie Lavan and Bernard O’Donoghue with Matthew Hollis
(Faber & Faber, £40)
There’s no time like Christmas to revisit old favourites, or indeed to savour a book of poems. This hulking 1,200-page volume of Heaney’s complete works, which includes previously unpublished poems, is a timeless piece, ideal for admirers of the late Nobel laureate.
Attention by Anne Enright
(Jonathan Cape) £15.99
With her sparkling voice and clear-minded intelligence, a new collection of essays from Enright is always cause for celebration. Attention gathers work from across the Booker winner’s career, with essays that cast a critical gaze over the work and lives of other writers, from Alice Munro to John McGahern, and that examine Enright’s own family history and that of the society around her. Sure to impress any literary-minded gift recipient.
Conversation with the Sea by Hugo Hamilton
(Hachette) £15.99
In this 12th novel by the author of The Speckled People, a man returns to the west coast of Ireland, the site of his honeymoon 20 years earlier, fleeing a failed marriage in Berlin. Gradually we journey into his inner world, as real-time encounters and images blend with memories, traumas of past and present meet.
For the romantasy devotee
Katabasis by RF Kuang
(HarperCollins) £22
The world-renowned author of Yellowface pivots back to her fantasy roots with this speculative love story about two PhD students who travel to the underworld in search of a lost professor. Ideal for romantasy fans who are equally taken with the popular dark academia trope.
Brimstone by Callie Hart
(Hodderscape) £25
This sequel to the enemies-to-lovers romantasy sensation, Quicksilver, sees Saeris Fane, now queen of Blood Court, journey through fire and brimstone with her love interest, Fisher, to save their realm and friends from a new danger. Those plugged into the fantasy realms of BookTok will be dying to get their hands on this one.
For the old romantic
Our Song by Anna Carey
(Hachette) £15.99
The author of seven novels for young adults, Carey made her adult-fiction debut this year, with this charming story of two former bandmates who reconnect years later to finish a song they started writing together. By now, he’s a superstar musician, and she’s an unemployed copywriter. The book was partly inspired by Carey’s own experiences of being in a band.
Paper Heart by Cecelia Ahern
(HarperCollins) £20
Ahern’s novels have sustained romance lovers for years. Her latest offering to the genre centres on a 32-year-old single mother and origami maker who has tucked herself and her dreams away for years. It is only when she meets an astronomer from the local observatory that she begins to feel the world, and her heart, opening up. A sweet, second-chances story of love and hope.
For the crime sleuth
Clown Town by Mick Heron
(Baskerville) £22
Heron’s Slough House espionage series is going through something of a boom, no doubt owing in part to the success of Apple TV’s adaptation, Slow Horses. Clown Town, the ninth instalment of these novels, has an IRA double agent and a corrupt politician at the centre of its ever thrilling and sharp-witted world of dysfunctional spies.
It Should Have Been You by Andrea Mara
(Bantam Press) £10.99
A gossipy text accidentally sent to the community WhatsApp group is the starting point for this psychological thriller from the author of All Her Fault (now a Sky drama starring Sarah Snook). Soon things have taken a sinister turn, and a woman is found murdered. The winner of crime fiction book of the year at this year’s Irish Book Awards, this is perfect for anyone who loves pacy, twisty page-turners.
For the history hound
The Dublin Pub: A Social and Cultural History by Donal Fallon
(New Island, €26.95)
Historian and author of the bestselling Three Castles Burning turns to the institution of the public house in his latest outing. From the taverns and ale houses of the 17th and 18th centuries, through to familiar haunts of today, the book delves into Dublin’s early houses, gay bars and shebeens, and like any good barstool raconteur, tells the stories behind some of the city’s best characters and establishments. Anyone familiar with the likes of The Long Hall, Grogan’s or The Palace will find themselves enchanted by this chronicle.
Great Irish Wives: Remarkable Lives from History by Nicola Pierce
(O’Brien Press, €19.99)
Winner of History Book of the Year at this year’s Irish Book Awards, Great Irish Wives turns the lens towards those often-unacknowledged figures in history: the women who were instrumental in their famous husband’s success. The stories of Matilda Tone, Mary O’Connell, Constance Wilde, Charlotte Shaw, Emily Shackleton, Annette Carson, Sinéad de Valera, Margaret Clarke, George Yeats and Beatrice Behan are brought into the spotlight in this fascinating reframing of the historical narrative.
For the current affairs junkie
The Secret Life of Leinster House: What You Really Need to Know About How the Country Runs by Gavan Reilly
(Gill Books, €18.99)
Political correspondent Gavan Reilly pulls back the curtain on the political system in Ireland in this behind-the-scenes insight into how Leinster House works, and what it takes to survive as a politician there. With broad knowledge and insider’s access, Reilly distils complex systems and ideas into digestible insight.
For the business buff
Dynasty: Scandals, Triumph, Turmoil and Succession at the Heart of Dunnes Stores by Matt Cooper
(Eriu, €21.99)
The family-run chain Dunnes Stores has long been a central part of Irish retail. Going back through the generations, including two Ben Dunnes (father and son), and current chief executive Margaret Heffernan, Cooper tells the real-life family saga behind the business. From arguments over who should run the business after patriarch Ben Dunne snr’s death, to political scandals, struggles with addiction and health, this is a deep dive into previously uncharted waters.
For the budding Gaeilgeoir
The Gaeilge Guide: Spark Your Connection to the Irish Language and Legacy by Mollie Guidera
(Hachette) £24.99
Through her podcast and online platform, Irish with Mollie, Guidera has spent years on a mission to make the Irish language accessible to all. Now the Dublin woman, for whom Irish is a learned language, rather than a mother tongue, has put together a guide in book form that offers practical guidance and useful phrases to help readers fall in love with Gaeilge.
Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun) by Manchán Magan, illustrated by Megan Luddy
(Gill Books) €22.99
The late author, broadcaster, environmentalist and Gaeilgeoir left us with a beautiful and fascinating body of work. This latest book, following the successful Thirty-Two Words for Field, uses the Irish language as a means of getting under the skin of our country’s ancient wisdom. Lexical learnings and musings are accompanied by beautiful pluvious illustrations by Megan Luddy.
Book-adjacent gifts for the bookworm who has everything
League of the Lexicon
(Two Brothers Games, €49)
Language lovers who can hold their own at everything from definitions to word usage, archaic words, etymology, and wordy trivia, will appreciate the gift of this lexical quiz. It features 2,000 questions across five categories, and there are also expansion packs available, such as a junior edition and slang edition.
The Ultimate Quiz Quest by William Scally and Tim Bourke
(Tara Press, €15)
Following on from 2022’s The Ultimate Politics and History Quiz, Scally and Bourke bring a second book of intellectual trivia, with 400 wide-ranging questions. Quizzers can challenge their knowledge on everything from Ireland through the years, to international politics, to history, popular culture and more. An ideal way to fill long languid days over the Christmas period.
The World of James Joyce 1,000-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle
(Laurence King Publishing) €24
James Joyce once said that he wanted, with Ulysses, to give a picture of Dublin so complete that “if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book”. With this charming curio, Ulysses diehards and idle fans alike can reconstruct to their hearts’ desires. As they puzzle their way across Joyce’s feted cityscape, they can expect to encounter such characters as Stephen Dedalus and Buck Mulligan in their Martello tower, Blazes Boylan in his carriage, and Molly Bloom in her chamber.
A subscription to a literary journal
- A quarterly feast of stories and essays from emerging and established writers, The Dublin Review published its 100th issue in 2025, and has only gone from strength to strength since it began. Previous contributors include the likes of Anne Enright, Claire Keegan and Colm Tóibín, who has a short story in the latest issue. Yearly subscriptions (€34) or two-year subscriptions (€68) are available on thedublinreview.com.
- Banshee literary journal is also celebrating a milestone this year: 10 years in publishing. With each issue featuring a variety of stories, flash fiction, poetry and personal essays from fresh contemporary voices, yearly subscriptions (two issues, €25) or two-year subscriptions (four issues, €45) are available on bansheepress.org.
- Essay-focused journal Tolka, meanwhile, is now on its 10th issue, and boasts such previous contributors as Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux, as well as some of the finest talent from these shores. Yearly subscriptions (two issues) are €22 on tolkajournal.org.
From the sports fanatic to the book-devouring all-rounder, here are the best books of 2025 to place under the tree
