Sometimes the hardest thing to buy for a bookworm is a regular novel, biography or history book. For the literature connoisseur in your life, we’ve compiled a selection of bookish gift ideas that go beyond the norm.
A literary membership
The Museum of Literature Ireland (moli.ie), in the historic Newman House on St Stephen’s Green, hosts numerous exhibitions and events throughout the year. Memberships come with such perks as unlimited free entry, exclusive tours, 10 per cent discount at the Commons Café and MoLI shop, and play a vital role in sustaining the museum’s work, including the running of community initiatives such as the Ukrainian Writers Hub. Prices start at €30 for under 30s, €60 for individuals and €80 for families.
For the writer in your orbit, the Irish Writers Centre (irishwriterscentre.ie) offers e-gift vouchers, redeemable against its courses, mentoring or membership. With both in-person and online courses available from €45, mentoring from €275, and membership from €30, your gift could be the key to unlocking the novel, memoir or short story they’ve dreamt of writing.
A literary journal subscription
Ireland’s journals are a bedrock of our literary culture and have only gone from strength to strength in recent years.
RM Block
The Stinging Fly publishes brilliant new Irish and international voices across poetry, nonfiction and fiction, and offers subscriptions from €28.
Now on its 100th issue, the Dublin Review publishes superb short stories and essays and offers subscriptions from €34.
For poetry enthusiasts, Poetry Ireland Review brings the best of emerging and established poets, as well as reviews and articles, three times a year, from €40.
No matter the reader, the options are endless, from Banshee (€25), The Pig’s Back (€22), Profiles (€13.26) and Southword (€24), to the multidisciplinary art and literature journal, Holy Show (€10), essay-specialists Tolka (€22) and many others.
A personalised book bundle
Do you have an idea of someone’s tastes but no idea what to get them? Several of Ireland’s bookshops offer book bundles, expertly curated by booksellers. At Chapters Bookstore, Dublin (chaptersbookstore.com), you can select from a range of genres and get a mystery box with up to six new books, for €29.99.
At Books Upstairs (booksupstairs.ie) you choose from a selection of themes, then write a little about the person you’re buying for, and a unique selection will be compiled, from €40. If the recipient happens to receive a book they already own, they can always exchange it for a book of the same retail price.
Kenny’s Bookshop, Galway (kennys.ie) allows you to select the value you wish to spend, enter your preferences in a comment box, and a hamper will be put together.
A year of reading
Several of Ireland’s bookstores allow you to gift a book a month to your favourite reader. At Dubray (dubraybooks.ie), the Reader’s Year (€200) or Young Reader’s Year (€150) packages come with a questionnaire the recipient fills out and sends back, so a bookseller can select books according to their tastes. Books arrive by post each month, anywhere in the island of Ireland.
O’Mahony’s bookstore (omahonys.ie) offers a similar package. The recipient’s selections can be personalised by chatting to a bookseller via phone or email, or they can choose the individual titles themselves. The Book a Month 12-month package costs €275, while a six-month package is available for €150. There are also children’s packages for €190 (12 months) and €100 (six months) respectively.
A literary donation
Each year, Children’s Books Ireland runs a fundraising drive called the Gift a Book appeal, to gift books to children and young people who need them most, through partner charities and services such as Solas Project, Children’s Health Ireland, NOVAS, Tipperary Rural Travellers’ Project and Mosney Village. As an alternative Christmas present, consider donating one book (€12), five books (€60), or a large mixed box of more than 20 books (€250). All books donated are handpicked and Irish-authored, -illustrated or -published.
Children’s bookshop Genius Juniors began as a charity initiative, and continues to live by its roots – its Donate a Book offers allow you to donate books to children in hospitals and refugee centres, for €10.
A luxury notebook or diary
Whether as a place to keep a reading log, copy down quotes, or write a novel, every reader needs a notebook. Duffy Bookbinders is a traditional bindery based on Seville Terrace, Dublin, and stocks a linen-bound Five Lamps collection, and Celtic collection, from €10 for A6 (duffybookbinders.ie).
Hubert Bookbinding in Cork stocks a wide range of handcrafted notebooks, with a particularly attractive luxury leather wrap journal from €24, with complimentary embossing.
A literary anthology or coffee table book
With a range of work curated and gathered in one place, an anthology makes the ideal gift for the person who has read everything.
Winter Papers brings together a yearly selection of brilliant new writing and artwork and with its luxurious clothbound cover makes a particularly attractive gift (€40).
Sunday Miscellany is the soundtrack to many a reader’s Sunday morning, and a new edition of selected work from the popular radio slot has just been published by New Island, Sunday Miscellany: A Selection 2023 – 2025, €19.95. (Full disclaimer: yours truly has an essay featured.)
A coffee table book that’s perfect for fans of Irish literature is Scribendi: Portraits of Irish Writers 1985-2025, by photographer Steve Pyke (The Lilliput Press). More than 100 portraits of contemporary Irish writers are compiled alongside conversations on their writing life (€39.95).
