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Here are some of our most recently-published titles.
For highlights and up-to-date news see What's New at O'Brien.
For information on soon-to-be published books see our forthcoming titles list.

Select any book or cover for more information on the title.

Children's books are below: click here to go straight to them!

Adult Books


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Brian Boru (pb)
Ireland's Warrior King
Damien Goodfellow
A stunning full-colour graphic novel
A powerful graphic novel that vividly recreates eleventh-century Ireland in all its complexity, violence and beauty

Signed Copies Available


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Celtic Names for Children (pb)
Loreto Todd
A dictionary of over 2,000 Celtic names from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany, with origins, meanings and pronunciation.

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Dublin City of Literature (pb)
Muriel Bolger
An accessible, entertaining guide to literary Dublin and the writers associated with it, from Swift to the present day.


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Food to Love (hb)
Edward Hayden
Treat yourself or the aspiring chefs in your life to this beautiful collection of recipes by celebrity chef, Edward Hayden. Packed with festive foods and finger-licking desserts, this book is the perfect gift for Christmas!

Signed Copies Available


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I Was a Boy in Belsen (pb)
Tomi Reichental
Tomi Reichental, who lost 35 members of his family in the Holocaust, gives his account of being imprisoned as a child at Belsen concentration camp.


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Kinane (pb)
A Remarkable Racing Family
Anne Holland
The official biography of one of Ireland’s most famous racing families. Twenty members of the immediate Kinane family from Tipperary have been jockeys: and one a world champion!

New smaller format


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Stuff Irish People Love (pb)
The Definitive Guide to the Unique Passions of the Paddies
Colin Murphy and Donal O'Dea
Do you love the taste of Red Lemonade, change into your swimming togs under a towel on the beach or find yourself admiring ‘the grand stretch in the evenings’? Then this is the book to help you explore you inner Irish(wo)man!

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The 1960s (pb)
Ireland in Pictures
Lensmen Photographic Archive
A decade of rapid change caught by some of Ireland’s premier photographers, The Lensmen. Covers everything from the visits of President Kennedy and The Beatles, to lifestyle, fashion and sport as well as the start of unrest in Northern Ireland.

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The Blasket Island Guide (pb)
Ray Stagles & Sue Redican
Beautifully illustrated throughout, The Blasket Islands traces the life, customs and traditions of the islanders.


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The Great Atlantic Air Race (hb)
Gavin Will
The stories of aviators who challenged the Atlantic Ocean between 1919 and the end of the Second World War. It tells how these pioneers lived and, all too often, died in their quest for glory. Illustrated throughout.

Signed Copies Available


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The Mammy (pb)
Brendan O'Carroll
A book of hilarious incidents, glorious characters, and a passion for life. With a new introduction by the author.

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The Miraculous Parish (hb)
Selected Poems
Máire Mhac an tSaoi
The definitive collection of the poetry of Máire Mhac an tSaoi, bilingual throughout with many new translations into English. Introduction by Louis de Paor. A beautiful gift and celebration of a major poet's work.

Signed Copies Available


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The Scrapper (pb)
Brendan O'Carroll
Brendan O'Carroll's first novel since the phenomenal success of his Mrs Browne trilogy is set in the rough world of the Dublin boxing scene and introduces a new, larger-than-life character - Sparrow McCabe.

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This Is My Life (pb)
Mary Byrne and Eddie Rowley
This book charts the remarkable life of Mary Byrne, from her early days and first signs of singing talent to her life-changing experience on X-Factor and beyond.

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Tony Gregory (pb)
Robbie Gilligan
Tony Gregory's political life has left an exceptional legacy. Robbie Gilligan, Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at TCD, covers his whole career, from local agitator to elected politician, and the campaigns from 1978-2009.

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Tweet Treats (pb)
140 characters, 140 celebrities, recipes for every occasion
Jane Travers
The shortest, sweetest, simplest recipes imaginable! Composed on Twitter, each one is complete in 140 characters.

Children's Books
Look for the flag at the top right-hand corner of our books. The colour will tell you the reading age level.

Black Flag: Picture books and storytelling to read aloud

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Best-Loved Irish Legends (hb)
Eithne Massey
Stories from long, long ago, part of an ancient oral tradition, handed down from generation to generation and written down by the Christian monks of medieval Ireland.

New pocket-sized hardback edition


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Death by Chocolate (pb)
Alan Nolan
The first book in the innovative graphic novel series Murder Can Be Fatal
Monsieur Marcel Petit-Pois, the famous Swiss detective, and his chimp PA, Tesla, investigate a series of bizarre murders at a confectionery exhibition.

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My Book of Kells Colouring Book (pb)
Eoin O'Brien
The Book of Kells is one of the world’s most famous illuminated manuscripts. Now you can colour it in yourself, with this selection of pictures big and small from this beautiful book.


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My Ireland Counting Book (pb)

One Stone Castle....

Two Irish Wolfhounds ...

Add some Hurleys, Thatched Cottages, Tin Whistles, Bodhráns, Connemara Ponies and Irish Dancers (as well as lots of lively leprechauns) ... and you get a whole lot of counting fun!


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Nursery Rhymes (hb)
Margaret Tarrant
Beautifully-illustrated collection of favourite nursery rhymes from one of Britain’s greatest illustrators. First published in 1941, this lovingly-crafted edition is a must have for children everywhere.

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Sally Go Round the Stars (hb)
Nursery Rhymes from an Irish Childhood
Sarah Webb and Claire Ranson. Illlustrated by Steve McCarthy
A major, beautifully-illustrated collection of favourite nursery rhymes known and loved throughout Ireland. It includes favourite international, British and Irish rhymes as well as special Irish favourites.

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Six Million Ways to Die (pb)
Alan Nolan
Rex 'Thunderclap' Aldrin, bionically rebuilt after a failed motorcycle stunt, solves an intriguing time-travel mystery.
A graphic novel detective story unlike any other … except for the rest of the Murder Can Be Fatal series!


Purple Flag; For readers aged 5+ (includes Pandas)

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Muckeen and the Big Freeze (pb)
Fergus Lyons
Muckeen the Pig is back in his latest snowy adventure!


Yellow Flag: For readers aged 6+ (includes Flyers)

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Alfie Green and the Conker King (pb)
Joe O'Brien
It’s time for the Budsville Primary School Conker Championship, and Alfie needs to find a special conker.

New paperback edition of Alfie Green Book 6


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Marco Moves In (hb)
A Rather Remarkable Bear
Gerry Boland
An intriguing and engaging tale about a Rather Remarkable Grizzly Bear called Marco. Shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Children Award.


Red Flag: For readers aged 8+

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The Big Break Detectives Casebook (pb)
Alan Nolan
The Big Break Detectives: three school friends who, from their secret base under the school, solve crimes, right wrongs, unravel mysteries and nab evil-doers - all on their lunch break!

An exciting graphic novel for children of all ages.

Signed Copies Available



Blue Flag: For readers aged 10+

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17 Martin Street (pb)
Marilyn Taylor
When Hetty’s family move to Martin Street near Portobello bridge in Dublin, they’re not sure of their welcome.
And next door, Ben’s family are not sure about their new Jewish neighbours: it’s The Emergency and they are suspicious of strangers.


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Beyond the Cherry Tree (pb)
Joe O'Brien
Josh Bloom’s school field trip to Cherry Tree Manor is unusual - to Josh, it seems like there's something spooky about the manor, but none of the other kids feel it.

A novel of fantasy, adventure and magic!


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Eva's Holiday (pb)
Judi Curtin
Eva Gordon likes fashion, fun and hanging out with friends, so she can’t believe she has to spend the entire summer in a cottage in the countryside with her parents and eight-year-old Joey.

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Spirit of the Titanic (pb)
Nicola Pierce
Fifteen-year-old Samuel Scott moves restlessly aboard the Titanic as she sails to her doom in 1912. An eyewitness to the final days in the lives of rich and poor, crew and passengers, this is Samuel’s story …

Signed Copies Available


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Taking Sides (pb)
A Boy. A Girl. A Nation Torn Apart.
Brian Gallagher
Dublin 1922. Civil War is coming when working class Annie Reilly enters Eccles Street Convent School. Peter Scanlon, the friend of a friend, gets dragged into the war. Their friendship and loyalties are tested as Irishmen fights Irishmen on the streets.

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Thar an Trasnán (pb)
Áine Ní Ghlinn
Cluiche peile ag rang a sé. Buachaillí in aghaidh cailíní. Deir na múinteoirí nach bhfuil ann ach spraoi! Dar le hEoghan, áfach, tá i bhfad níos mó ná sin i gceist! Bród! Onóir! Stádas na mbuachaillí!

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The Silver Stag of Bunratty (pb)
Eithne Massey
In an Ireland full of war and danger, four children are determined to prevent Richard De Clare, Lord of Bunratty, from killing the magical Silver Stag to display his head on the castle walls. Adventure, conflict and danger awaits them.


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Under the Hawthorn Tree - DVD (DVD)
Young Irish Filmmakers
A film treatment of Marita Conlon-McKenna's acclaimed novel, produced in Kilkenny by Young Irish Filmmakers.

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Where the Stones Sing (pb)
Eithne Massey
A vivid story of a fight for survival in darkest medieval Dublin



Green Flag: For readers aged 12+. Young adult fiction

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Edda (pb)
Conor Kostick
Edda is a ‘virtual’ world ruled by the electronic intelligence of Lord Scanthax. Penelope is a teenager ensnared in Edda. Can she uncover the truth about her human past and gain her freedom? And are there other humans still ‘out there’?

Signed Copies Available


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Into the Grey (pb)
Celine Kiernan
"The scream was awful - a horrible desolate cry…the child led my unresisting brother up the path and further into the tangled garden. Out of my sight"

Signed Copies Available