Your official source for new Irish books each month
First Flush is the number one resource for new Irish book releases. See which books will be on the shelves each month—search by genre, keyword, author or title—or just browse through the archives.
Alongside the official Irish Bestseller Charts, all data is supplied by Nielsen Book.
The Bee Sting
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie's once-lucrative car business is going under – but rather than face the music, he's spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewellery on eBay while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way to her final exams. And twelve-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home. Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favour to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil – can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written – is there still time to find a happy ending?
Paul Murray
Published: June /
2023
Hamish Hamilton Ltd
9780241353950
656 Pages
£18.99
Hardback
United Kingdom
Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
Shifting Sentiment: Press Opinion in Ireland’s Revolutionary Decade 1914-23: 2023
Shifting Sentiment is a study of the evolving editorial commentary of Ireland's nationalist provincial newspapers on the important political events in Ireland between the Home Rule crisis of 1914 and the Civil War of 1922-23. Its purpose is to determine the role of the press in reflecting and/or driving the rapid and radical changes in Irish nationalist public opinion within this period.
Dermot Meleady
Published: June /
2023
Wordwell
9781913934347
256 Pages
€25.00
£20.00
Hardback
Ireland
British & Irish history
Oops! Why Things Go Wrong: Understanding and Controlling Error
Niall Downey – a cardio-thoracic surgeon who retrained to become a commercial airline pilot – uses his expertise in medicine and aviation to explore the critical issue of managing human error.
Niall Downey
Published: June /
2023
The Liffey Press
9781739789268
312 Pages
£22.94
Paperback / softback
Ireland
Business & management
Little Big Sister
The story of a girl growing up with dwarfism, told by Ireland's leading children's author.
Eoin Colfer; Celia Ivey
Published: June /
2023
Little Island
9781915071057
64 Pages
€12.99
£10.99
Paperback / softback
Ireland
Picture storybooks
Let The Dead
Deeply attuned to those things that make and unmake us, Dylan Brennan’s Let the Dead concerns itself with life’s alchemical processes. A couple breathe life into a doomed poppet; a photographer immortalises a corpse; Joyce and Breton rub shoulders on the streets of the poet’s adopted Mexico, where life is a tapestry of ‘delicate anthers’ and ‘disembodied tongues’. These dark meditations are set against poems which consider love, miscarriage, childbirth and the daily miracle of family life.
Dylan Brennan
Published: June /
2023
Banshee Press
9781838312695
112 Pages
€10.00
£8.99
Paperback / softback
Ireland
Poetry
Is Ireland Neutral: The Many Myths of Irish Neutrality
Here, Irish Times journalist Conor Gallagher takes an urgent, provocative dive into Irish neutrality – a core facet of Irish life – and explores how it might look in the future.
Conor Gallagher
Published: June /
2023
Gill Books
9780717195992
336 Pages
€18.99
£17.99
Paperback / softback
Ireland
Geopolitics
Girls Play Too: Inspiring Stories of Irish Sportswomen
First ever compendium of stories for 8-14-year olds about Ireland’s most accomplished sportswomen, from RTÉ sports broadcaster Jacqui Hurley. Vividly illustrated with original drawings by five Irish female artists.
Jacqui Hurley
Published: June /
2023
Merrion Press
9781785374661
64 Pages
€9.99
£8.99
Paperback / softback
Ireland
Sports & outdoor recreation (Children's / Teenage)
Flirting with Tigers
Deceptively light-footed, delivered with humour and a sometimes feisty independence of spirit, the poems in Amy Abdullah Barry’s debut collection are prompted by wonder and appreciation. If travel is an essential ingredient for this Irish-based Malaysian-born poet, what unites these wide- and far-ranging poems are the glimpses of the poet’s origin story, the personalities and relationships of an extended family life that continues to be the measure for subsequent experiences.
Amy Abdullah Barry
Published: June /
2023
Dedalus Press
9781915629081
72 Pages
€20.90
£18.50
Hardback
Ireland
Poetry
Catching Fire: Women’s Health Activism in Ireland and the Global Movement for Reproductive Justice
Catching Fire narrates how women's health activism in Ireland became a model for future activist movements with enduring lessons for achieving greater gender equity across the globe.
Beth Sundstrom (Associate Professor of Communication and Public Health, Associate Professor of Communication and Public Health, College of Charleston, South Carolina); Cara Delay (Professor of History, Professor of History, College of Charleston, South Ca
Published: June /
2023
Oxford University Press Inc
9780197743942
252 Pages
£71.00
Hardback
United States
Personal & public health
A Lesson in Malice
A lawyer attempts to solve a murder and prove her own innocence in this pacy, atmospheric page-turner
Catherine Kirwan
Published: June /
2023
Hachette Books Ireland
9781529381436
464 Pages
£14.99
Paperback / softback
Ireland
Crime & mystery
Notes for readers and publishers
First published in 1976, First Flush is a monthly listing of new Irish books. For inclusion in First Flush the title must meet one of the following requirements: Irish publisher, Irish author and/or an Irish subject.
- The information listed is true and complete to the best of our knowledge at time of publication.
- We are happy to be contacted regarding updates or corrections to book details, though all information listed will ultimately be at the discretion of the editor.
- Books Ireland disclaim any liability in connection with use of this information.
- All prices are listed in euro when available.
- We are not always able to acknowledge every press release or every book that is submitted due to a high volume, but we are grateful for each one and will be in touch if we’d like to review or feature a title or author.