March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, is right around the corner. It’s a day where everybody can pretend to be Irish, for at least one day. We are treated to large parades featuring shamrocks, Irish dancers, bagpipes, corned beef, and beer — lots of beer. St. Patrick’s Day resonates with Americans so much due to the large number of Irish immigrants who have made America their home.

In this blog post I will draw attention to some of the books in our collection that discuss various aspects of Irish history.

The Irish Famine: An Illustrated History by Helen Litton


The Story of Ireland: A History of the Irish People by Neil Hegarty


Voyage of Mercy: The U.S.S. Jamestown the Irish Famine, and the Remarkable Story of America’s First Humanitarian Mission by Stephen Puleo


Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe


The Troubles: Ireland’s Ordeal 1966-1996 and the Search for Peace by Tim Pat Coogan


Vivid Faces: The Revolutionary Generation in Ireland, 1890-1923 by R.F. Foster


71 (DVD) A fictionalized tale of a young British soldier, left behind by his unit after a violent confrontation in Belfast.


Novelist Adrian McKinty has a series of crime novels, featuring Detective Sean Duffy, set in Northern Ireland, during the Troubles in the early 1980s.

The Cold, Cold Ground

I Hear the Sirens in the Street

In the Morning I’ll Be Gone

Gun Street Girl

Rain Dogs

Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly