COMMUNITY:

Irish Cultural Centre Monthly Book Club

In 2017 Dr Anne Goudsmit launched a monthly Book Club at the then newly relaunched Irish Cultural Centre. The inkling that the Irish community in London might be interested in coming together to share ideas and participate in lively discussions about Irish writing was confirmed when the first call for members brought forward over 40 responses.

Current members hail from all parts of Ireland (with a few exceptions who are second-generation Irish) and are from a wide variety of backgrounds, with different educational and life experiences. We explore the best of Irish fiction: influential writers, award-winning living authors whose work is both internationally popular and critically evaluated and we also keep a sharp eye out for new Irish authors. The books we select tend to have one thing in common: they provoke lively discussions about Irish society, about its history, its social, cultural and political life, whilst also providing a fun, enjoyable night out.

Numbers are limited to 15 as otherwise proceedings would become unwieldy and not everyone would have the opportunity to speak. We meet the first Monday of every month at the Irish Cultural Centre, 7pm - 8.30pm. 

Please note that there are currently no vacancies for new members, as the book club has reached full capacity for 2024.
However, if you think you might be interested in joining the ICC Book Club in 2025, please contact Anne Goudsmit on
[email protected] for further details and/or to be added to the waiting list.

Books read by the Irish Cultural Centre Book Club

  • Colm Tóibín, The Magician (2022)

  • Joseph O’Connor, My Father’s House (2023)

  • Paul Lynch, Prophet Song (2023)

  • Ronan Hession, Leonard and Hungry Paul (2019)

  • Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet (2020)

  • Thomas Flanagan, The Year of the French (1979)

  • Donal Ryan, The Queen of Dirt Island (2022)

  • Jennifer Johnston, The Christmas Tree (1981)

  • John Banville/Benjamin Black, Christine Falls (2006)

  • Hugo Hamilton, The Pages (2021)

  • Audrey Magee, The Colony (2022)

  • Molly Keane, Good Behaviour (1981)

  • Christine Dwyer Hickey, Last Train from Liguria (2009)

  • Sebastian Barry, Days Without End (2016)

  • Louise Kennedy, Trespasses (2022)

  • Mary Costello, The River Capture (2019)
  • Eugene McCabe, Death and Nightingales (1992)
  • James Plunkett, Strumpet City (1969)
  • Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These (2021)
  • Fintan O’Toole, We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 (2021)
  • Deirdre Madden, One by One in The Darkness (1996)
  • Joyce Cary, The Horse’s Mouth (1944)
  • Lucy Caldwell, these days (2022)
  • Thomas Kilroy, The Big Chapel (1971)
  • Jan Carson, The Raptures (2022)

  • Joseph O’Connor, Shadowplay (2019)
  • Donal Ryan, Secret Flowers (2019)
  • Dermot Bolger, Secrets Never Told (2020)
  • Emma Donoghue, The Pull of The Stars (2020)
  • John Banville, Snow (2020)
  • Brian Moore, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955)
  • Glenn Patterson, Where Are We Now? (2020)
  • Belinda McKeon, Tender (2015)
  • Kevin Barry, City of Bohane (2011)
  • Pat McCabe The Butcher Boy (1992)
  • Maggie O’Farrell, Instructions for a Heatwave (2013)

  • Edna O’Brien, The Country Girls Trilogy (1960, 1962, 1964)
  • Jan Carson, The Fire Starters (2019)
  • Seamus Deane, Reading in the Dark (1996)
  • Sebastian Barry, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty (1998)
  • Timothy O’Grady & Steve Pyke, I Could Read The Sky (1998)
  • James Joyce, Dubliners (1914)
  • Christine Dwyer Hickey’s Tatty (2004)
  • Alice McDermott, Charming Billy (1998)
  • Anne Enright, Actress (2020)
  • Dermot Healy, The Bend for Home (1996)

  • Joseph O'Connor, Star of the Sea (2002)
  • John Banville, The Book of Evidence ( 1989)
  • John Boyne, The Heart's Invisible Furies (2017)
  • Donal Ryan, From a Low and Quiet Sea (2018)
  • Sally Rooney, Normal People (2018)
  • Tom Murphy, A Whistle in the Dark (1961)
  • Colum McCann, Let The Great World Spin (2009)
  • Sam Hanna Bell, December Bride (1951)
  • Colm Tóibín, The Heather Blazing (1992)
  • Claire Keegan, Foster (2010)
  • Anna Burns, Milkman (2018)

  • Mary Costello, Academy Street (2014)
  • John McGahern, Memoir (2005)
  • Edna O’Brien, The Little Red Chairs (2015)
  • Bernard MacLaverty, Midwinter Break (2017)
  • Liz Nugent, Unravelling Oliver (2017)
  • Sebastian Barry, A Long Long Way (2005)
  • Anne Enright, The Green Road (2015)
  • Elizabeth Bowen, The Last September (1929)
  • William Trevor, Last Stories (2018)

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